St. Thecla

 We are on the downward slope of our Saint alphabet for this November - we have reached the letter 'T'! Our Saint for today is from the first century, St. Thecla.

According to tradition, Thecla was a young noblewoman from Iconium who heard St. Paul discourse on virginity. She adopted his teaching for herself and became estranged from her fiancé and her mother. They witnessed her sitting at her window listening to St. Paul teach and became concerned that she would follow his teaching  "one must fear only one God and live in chastity" and turned to the authorities to punish both Paul and Thecla. 

Thecla was miraculously saved from burning at the stake by the onset of a storm. She traveled with Paul to Antioch. There a nobleman desired Thecla and tried to rape her. She fought him off, tearing his cloak and knocking his coronet off his head. She was put on trial for assault and was sentenced to be eaten by wild beasts. She was once again miraculously saved from death.

She continued to travel with Paul and preach the word of God. She encouraged other women to follow her example by living a life of chastity. She became a healer, performed many miracles and continued to endure persecutions. Thecla is venerated as a martyr, but details of her death are scarce and probably pious fiction (as are most of the details of her life, more than likely). 

Thecla's feast day is celebrated on September 23 in the Catholic Church and on September 24 in the Eastern Orthodox Church.