SAINT THECLA, PATRON SAINT OF SITGES & TARRAGONA

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Thecla, the saint of the early Christian Church, who is venerated on a day like today in places like Sitges and Tarragona.

Thecla, in Ancient Greek Θέκλα, Thékla, was a saint of the early Christian Church, and a reported follower of Paul the Apostle. The earliest record of her life comes from the ancient apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla.

The Acts of Paul and Thecla is a 2nd-century text (c. AD 180) which forms part of the Acts of Paul, but was also circulated separately. According to the text, Thecla was a young noble virgin from Iconium who chose to leave her fiance so she could convert to Christianity and follow Paul.

In the text, it is said that Thecla spent three days sitting by her window, listening to Paul speak about the Christian God and the importance of living in chastity. Thecla's mother, Theoclia, and fiance, Thamyris, became concerned that Thecla was going to follow Paul's teachings. They turned to local authorities to punish Paul for being a Christian and mak[ing] virgins averse to marriage. Paul was sent to prison, where Thecla visited him, kissed his bonds, and refused to leave him and return to her mother and fiance. Paul was made to leave the city and Thecla was condemned to be burned.

However, Thecla was miraculously saved from burning at the stake by the onset of a storm. She then encountered Paul outside of Iconium, where she told him, I will cut my hair off and I shall follow you wherever you go.

She then traveled with Paul to Antioch of Pisidia. There, a nobleman named Alexander desired Thecla and attempted to rape her. Thecla fought him off, tore his cloak, and knocked his coronet off his head, which caused her to be put on trial for assault. She was sentenced to be eaten by wild beasts, but was again saved by a series of miracles. In one scene, female beasts, particularly lionesses, protected her against her male aggressors. While in the arena, she baptized herself by throwing herself into a nearby lake full of aggressive seals, who were all killed by lightning before they could devour her.

Thecla rejoined Paul in Myra, wearing a mantle that she had altered so as to make a man's cloak. As she traveled, she preached the word of God and encouraged women to imitate her by living a life of chastity. According to some versions of the Acts, Thecla lived in a cave in Seleucia Cilicia for 72 years, where she continued to spread Christianity.

It is also said that Thecla spent the rest of her life in Maaloula, a village in Syria. There, she became a healer and performed many miracles, but remained constantly persecuted. In one instance, as her persecutors were about to get to her, she called out to God, a new passage was opened in the cave she was in, and the stones closed behind her. Before her death, she was able to go to Rome and lie down beside Paul's tomb.

Thecla is counted as the patron saint of Sitges and Tarragona in Catalonia, where the cathedral has a chapel dedicated to her. Her feast day remains the town's major local holiday.

More information: New Liturgical Movement

 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are those who have kept the flesh Chaste,
for they will become a temple of God.

Saint Thecla