Story
**Saint Thecla, the First Woman Martyr | Saint Thecla the Wonder-worker**
Saint Thecla is the disciple of Saint Paul the Apostle. She is counted as the first of the women martyrs in Christianity, just as Saint Stephen is counted the first of the martyrs, for she endured many deaths even though her blood was not shed. Many of the Fathers saw in her a small image of the virgin Church adorned with every virtue, immediately after Saint Mary; so much so that when many of the Fathers praise a great female saint, they call her "the new Thecla."
**Her Faith**
She was raised in Iconium and was known for her surpassing beauty, alongside her noble character, her wealth, and her learning, for her father, one of the nobles of the city, took care for her education. She was deeply versed in philosophy and mastered poetry; she was eloquent of tongue, full of boldness, yet in modesty and good manners.
Many young men sought her hand, and her parents settled upon one of the wealthy young men, the son of one of the nobles, who was called Thamyris.
Around the year 45 A.D., as the two saints Paul and Barnabas were passing through the city of Iconium on the first missionary journey (Acts 13:51 (Acts 13:51)), and as she was sitting at the edge of a window in the upper part of the house, seeing Saint Paul and hearing his words, the Spirit of God drew her to delight in the Gospel. The saint met the Apostle Paul and listened to him, declared her faith, and then was baptized. During her continual sittings she felt a deep longing for the virgin life, and so she began to cast off vain adornment and to take no thought for jewelry and pearls, and likewise she shunned the parties and the banquets, a matter which troubled her mother.
The mother began to coax her and to counsel her to return to her former ordinary life, that she might marry and have children, and that she might also support her in her old age; but the saint declared with all firmness her desire for virginity for the sake of the Lord, and so the mother began to threaten her. The mother resorted to Thamyris to help her persuade her daughter to marry, and he began to flatter her, reckoning that he was able to draw her heart to the amusements of the world; but she persisted in the life of virginity.
**Her Care for Paul in the Prison**
The mother felt that a disgrace was attaching to her through her daughter's refusal of marriage, and Thamyris felt that Thecla had broken his pride, so his love for her turned into a fierce hatred. Wishing to do her harm, he stirred up the governor against her teacher Paul the Apostle, and he was cast into prison.
The saint grasped the words of Paul the Apostle: "the word of God is not bound" (2 Timothy 2:9 (2 Timothy 2:9)), and so she slipped into the prison to stand beside her teacher, to hear his evangelical words and to spend of her money upon him; for Saint John Chrysostom says: "Saint Thecla, at the beginning of her conversion, offered what she had of jewels for the relief of Paul the Apostle; yet you who are old in the religion and who pride yourselves on the Christian name do not help Christ with anything you might give in alms to the poor."
The Apostle was scourged and then driven out, while his disciple was arrested.
**In the Midst of the Furnace**
The mother rose against her daughter, and Thamyris too rose against her, and the judge tried to persuade her to turn back from faith in Christ and to submit to the law of nature, that she might marry; but she refused with persistence. He kindled before her the furnace of fire, yet she paid it no heed, but prayed to God and came forward courageously of her own accord into the midst of the furnace.
There came a violent wind, lightnings, and thunder, and as the rains poured down the fires were quenched, and no harm befell her, while harm befell some of those around her. As everyone fled, she set out beyond the city and accompanied Saint Paul until she settled in Antioch.
**Her Torments in Antioch**
In Antioch, one of the great men of the city, named Alexander, was captivated by her beauty. He found her one day on the road and tried to assault her, but she escaped from his hands and began to rebuke him in the midst of the crowds; indeed she tore his garment and cast the turban of his head into the mire, so he wished to take vengeance upon her. He denounced her to the governor, who condemned her to be cast among the ravening beasts.
The crowds came to watch the beautiful girl being torn by the ravening beasts. But when the governor gave his order to release her, they hastened to her to kneel at her feet and to lick them with their tongues, so the governor supposed that the beasts were not hungry, and ordered the attempt repeated on the following day. When the spectacle was repeated, the cries of the multitudes rose up demanding her pardon, though a few demanded her death, calling her a sorceress.
Thecla was cast into prison, and on the third day she was bound to the feet of two raging bulls; and as she suffered greatly, she cried out that the Lord would receive her spirit, but suddenly she was loosed from the bulls, which set off to throw the executioners to the ground and to destroy them.
She was also cast into a pit containing venomous serpents, yet no harm befell her. Finally the governor ordered her set free, especially as many of the noble women, both Christian and pagan, were enraged at Alexander's conduct toward her on the road; and a noblewoman named Tryphaena embraced her.
The First Martyr Thecla (first century) — from the manuscript of the Menologion of Emperor Basil II, tenth century, the Vatican Library