THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
Sermons (1873, 1889); and The Doctrine of the Lord's Supper (18S7, 1899). He was general editor of The Cambridge Bible for Schools (Cambridge, 1877 sqq.; New York, 1879 sqq.).
PERPETUA, SAINT: North African martyr; b. about 180; d. at Carthage Mar. 7, 202 or 203. The historicity of her martyrdom is confirmed by the Depositio martyrum of the Liberian chronicle of 354, Tertullian (De anima, lv.), and the Latin Passio 86. Perpetua et sociorum, which are essentially authentic (ed. T. Ruinart, Acta primorum martyrum sincera et selecta, Regensburg, 1859, pp. 137-146). The latter source contains a wealth of historically interesting details. While essentially Montanistic in spirit, its author, who can not have been, as some have maintained, Tertullian, had not broken with the Church.
Perpetua and her fellow martyrs were among the first victims of the persecution of Septimius Severus (q.v.), coming under the scope of the edict of 202, which forbade conversion to Judaism or Christianity under heavy penalties. According to the Passio, she and three of her companions were catechumens. The Governor Hilarianus condemned them all indiscriminately to fight with the wild beasts in the amphitheater for treason in refusing to sacrifice to the genius of the emperor and his eldest son, Antoninus Caracalla. Herein he was guilty of an illegal act, for Perpetua, whom her passion describes as belonging to the higher classes, could lawfully be punished for high treason only by being beheaded.
The Acta of Perpetua are extant in several recensions, notably a Latin version (ed. B. Aub£, Les Chretiens dans Vempire romain, pp. 521-525, Paris, 1881), and one in Greek (ed. J. A. Robinson, TS, vol. i., part 2, Cambridge, 1891). Both these recensions erroneously date the martyrdom of Perpetua in the persecution of Valerian and Gallienus (254 or 255). Authorities differ as to which is the original recension, the Latin or the Greek, and Adolf Hilgenfeld has even maintained (ZWT, xxxiv. 367-369) that both the Greek and the Latin versions are based on a Punic original.
(Franz Gorres.) Bibliography: ASB, Mar., i. 632 sqq.; B. Aube, ut sup., pp. 53-277, 509-525; G. N. Bonwetsch, Tertullian, pp. 75-84, Bonn, 1878; F. Gorres, in JPT, iv (1878), 273- 327, 313-315; idem, in ZWT, xxxiv (1891), 235-243; A. Pellet, Les Martyrs d'Afrique, Lille, 1885; P. Allard, Hist, des persecutions, ii. 2-157, Paris, 1886; J. Fiihrer, Ein Beitrag zur Lrisung der Felicitas-Frage, Leipsic, 1890; L. Duchesne, En quelle langue ont ete ecrits les Actes des saiiites Perpetue et Felicite? Paris, 1891 (cf. on the same subject Massebieau, in RHR, 1891), 97-101; CQR, xxxii (1891), 68-69; Analecta Bollandiana, xi (1892), 100-102, 369-373; DCB, iv. 305-307; Harnack, Litteratur, i. 818- 819.
PERPETUAL ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT: A continuous act of worship performed by several orders in the Roman Catholic Church. It consists in the constant presence of some one or more of the members of the particular order before the altar engaged in devotion which has the sacrament as its special object. Probably the earliest of the orders was that founded in Paris in 1654 by Mother Mechtilde, a Benedictine nun
and abbess whom the troubles of the period had driven from her position. The foundation was stimulated by Picott6, a Sulpician priest, at the instance of Anne of Austria, who wished a vow made in behalf of the deliverance of France from war. The order adopted the rule of St. Benedict (see Benedict OF NURSIA AND THE BENEDICTINE ORDER) to
which special constitutions were added and printed in 1705. The order spread through France and is represented in Holland and Poland. The perpetual adoration is observed also by the Monachette del Corpus Domini (founded in 1683), a body of Dominican tertiaries; and numerous congregations of Franciscan, Augustinian, and other monks and nuns have adopted the ceremony.
PERRIN, WILLIAM WILLCOX: Church of England bishop; b. at Westbury-on-Trym (3 m. n. of Bristol) Aug. 11, 1848. He received his education at King's College, London, and Trinity College, Oxford (B.A., 1870; M.A., 1873; D.D., 1893; honorary fellow of King's College, London, 1902); he was made deacon in 1871 and priest in 1872; was curate of St. Mary's, Southampton, 1871-81; and vicar of St. Luke's, Southampton, 1881-93; being consecrated bishop of British Columbia in 1893.
PERRINISTS. See Libertines, 2.
PERRONE, GIOVANNI: Italian Jesuit; b. at Chieri (9 m. s.e. of Turin) Mar. 11, 1794; d. at Rome Aug. 28, 1876. He studied at Turin, and in 1815 entered the Society of Jesus. Soon afterward he was appointed professor of dogmatics at Orvieto, and in 1823 was transferred to the Roman College at Rome. After being rector of the College of Ferrara in 1830-33, he resumed his professorship in Rome, but in 1848 he was obliged to flee on account of the revolution. He found refuge at Stoneyhurst, England, but as soon as the Jesuits were reestablished in Italy, he returned to Rome. He was head of the Roman College in 1853-73, and finally became rector of the Gregorian University, as well as consultor to several congregations and theologian of the Dataria. Perrone aided materially in the condemnation of Hermesianism (see Hermes, Georg); and no less important was his participation in the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8, 1854). His chief work is the Prcelectiones theological (9 vols., Rome, 1835- 1842; abridged ed., 5 vols., 1845; 47th ed., 2 vols., Turin, 1896). He also wrote many dogmatic, ethical, and ecclesiastical treatises, of which the most important are the following: De immaculato Beatce Virginis Maria conceptu, an dogmatico decreto definiri possit (Rome, 1847); 11 Protestantesimo e la regola difede (3 vols., 1853; a storehouse of modern Jesuit polemics against Protestantism) ; San Pietro in Roma, ossia la verita storica del viaggio di San Pietro a Roma (1861); De Domini nostri Jesu Christi divinitate adversus hujus cetatis incredulos, rationalistas et mythicos libri tres (3 vols., Turin, 1870); and De Romani pontificis infallibilite sen Vaticana definitio contra novos hmreticos asserta et vindicata (1874). (Paul Tschackert.)
Bibliography: A. and A. de Backer, Bibliothbque des ecrivains de la socitti de Jisus, ed. C. Sommervogel, vi. 559 sqq., Paris, 1891 sqq.; KL, ix, 1813-15,