On March 7, 203, Perpetua fought with the beasts in the arena of Carthage just weeks after her baptism as a Christian. She and her maid Felicity and four companions had been arrested and convicted on the charge of being Christians. Perpetua left behind a prison diary recording the events of her arrest, trial, imprisonment, and martyrdom.[i] This diary, unusual in giving a first-person account of martyrdom, is also notable as the earliest writing known to be written by a Christian woman.

Born to a peasant family, Nicholas Herman (1611-1691) supported himself as a soldier until crippled by an injury and then as a footman, before he sought life in a monastery in Paris.

Coauthored by Ginger Hanks Harwood

Spirits were at an all-time high among those who believed in William Miller’s proclamation of the Advent Near as October 22, 1844, approached! The Lord they loved above all else was coming to dissolve the chasm dividing earth and heaven and take them home. God was creating a new world where former things are passed away and all things made new.