Holy Protomartyr and
Equal-to-the-Apostles Thekla
Memory celebrated September 24
According to her biographer, St. Epiphanios, Thekla was
born of humble parents in the town of Ikonion in Asia Minor
about a quarter century after the birth of Jesus of
Nazareth. Like other girls of her class, she had no formal
education and was unfamiliar with any of the arts or the
classics. A dutiful peasant girl, she was resigned to one
day becoming a wife and nothing more was expected of her,
but she showed an intellectual curiosity which was frowned
upon by her friends but was encouraged by her mother. She
attained a degree of literacy, which was rare for a girl in
those days, and with the help of her mother found some of
the answers she eagerly sought in quest of the real meaning
of life.
It was not strange, therefore, when Thekla was eighteen
years old that her mother took her to listen and learn about
the new faith that was bringing joy to those who were poor
in spirit. She and her mother were privileged to listen to
the mightiest missionary of them all, no less than St. Paul
himself, whose message of Christ so moved the young girl
that she sought out the company of St. Paul, who personally
converted her to Christianity. She had much to learn about
the teaching of Jesus and his true light and attended every
meeting held in the the area by St. Paul and spoke with
other converts in whom she found the love of God.
When Paul was preparing to leave the area to continue his
work for Jesus, Thekla ran to her mother and begged her for
permission to go with the holy man and take up the cause for
Christ in her own way, if St. Paul would let her. Her
mother, a devout Christian herself, told her daughter she
was free to go anywhere to serve the Lord. The delighted
girl then overtook the missionary party of St. Paul and was
welcomed into the group, thereafter to become so deeply
involved that she was soon one of the ablest of the
missionaries.
It was suggested to Thekla that she undertake her own
missionary work in other parts of the lands hitherto
unreached, while the rest of the missionaries did likewise
and split up into groups that fanned out into all directions
of the pagan countries. With St Paul's blessing she set out
on a journey into many strange lands, some of which were
hostile and others of which were anxious to hear the words
of the girl whose reputation had preceded her. She won
countless numbers of pagans to the new faith but was finally
apprehended by an unnamed pagan ruler whose barbarism struck
terror into the hearts of his subjects.
There ensued a series of tortures that would have ended
the life of any mortal at the outset, but the Lord had seen
fit to make Thekla superhuman, in answer to the cruelties of
the enemies of early Christianity. When she was cast into a
fire, she walked away unscathed. Lances bounced off her and
nails could not penetrate her skin. When the onslaught on
her person had been thwarted at every turn, her pagan foe
retreated in awe. She died of natural causes at the age of
ninety and was declared a Saint and Isapostolos
(Equal-to-the-Apostles).
from Orthodox Saints, v. 3
by Fr George Poulos, Holy Cross Orthodox Press
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