St. Felix of Thibiuca

Felix was an African bishop caught in the persecution of Diocletian, when officials demanded that Christian sacred books be surrendered for destruction. Butler calls his see Thiabara; it is commonly rendered Thibiuca. When the local magistrate required the books of his church, Felix refused to give them up.

The bishop was sent to Carthage and subjected to further confinement and questioning. Butler follows the version of his acts that describes a journey by sea to Sicily and onward into Italy. At the final examination Felix would neither deny that he possessed the Scriptures nor surrender them to be burned. He was condemned to be beheaded.

The account describes him giving thanks to God before his execution in 303. The heart of his witness is the refusal to purchase safety through a false answer or participation in the destruction of the Church’s books. The itinerary and place-names come from the particular version of the acts followed by Butler and should be read with that attribution.