SHE WAS BORN A.D. 16 IN THE CITY OF ICONUIM IN TURKEY. HER PARENTS WERE PAGANS. THEKLA WAS ABOUT 18 YEARS OLD WHEN THE APOSTLE PAUL CAME TO HER TOWN TO PREACH. SHE WANTED TO ATTEND, BUT BEING FEMALE, SHE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO GO TO HEAR HIM SPEAK. SO, WHEN SHE SAT BY HER WINDOW, SHE DISCOVERED SHE COULD HERE HIM, AND AFTER HEARING HIS TESTIMONY, SHE DECIDED THAT SHE WANTED TO CONVERT TO THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.
SHE SNUCK AWAY FROM HER PARENTS' HOME AND SET OUT TO FIND PAUL, BUT WHEN SHE FOUND HIM, SHE WAS DISHEARTENED WITH HIS REFUSAL TO BAPTIZE HER. DISHEARTENED, YES, BUT SHE DID NOT GIVE UP. SHE INFORMED HER PARENTS OF HER DECISION TO FOREGO MARRIAGE IN ORDER TO BE BONDED WITH THE LORD, AND THEY WERE ENRAGED AND ASKED THE GOVERNOR PUNISH THEIR WAYWARD DAUGHTER. AS A PARENT MYSELF, IT IS HARD FOR ME TO IMAGINE DEMANDING CORPORAL PUNISHMENT FOR EITHER OF MY CHILDREN, BUT THOSE WERE DIFFERENT TIMES WITH DIFFERENT WAYS OF DOING THINGS.
IT WAS DECIDED THAT THEKLA WOULD BE PUNISHED BY FIRE; SHE WAS TIED TO THE STAKE AND A FIRE WAS LIT AT HER FEET. ALL WAITED FOR HER TORTUOUS SCREAMS, BUT INSTEAD, A THUNDERSTORM BEGAN AND EXTINGUISHED THE FLAMES. THEKLA WAS SET FREE AND BANISHED FROM HER HOME.
SHE THEN SET OUT TO ANTIOCH IN SEARCH OF PAUL, BUT, SHE WAS A YOUNG, ATTRACTIVE WOMAN WHO WAS TRAVELING ALONE. A NOBLEMAN CAUGHT SIGHT OF HER AND LUSTED AFTER HER. HE PLEADED WITH HER FOR HER AFFECTIONS AND ATTEMPTED TO BUY HER WITH WORLDLY SEDUCTIONS, BUT THEKLA DEFIED HIM. SO, ONCE AGAIN THEKLA WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH.
THIS TIME SHE WAS PLACED IN AN ARENA TO SUFFER DEATH BY LIONNESS, BUT WHEN THE LIONESS WAS RELEASED, THE ANIMAL CALMLY LAID AT HER FEET. NEXT, THEY SENT IN A BEAR; THE LIONESS AROSE AND KILLED THE BEAR; THEN, THEY SENT IN A FAR MORE VIOLENT AND ONCE AGAIN THE LIONESS ATTACKED. THIS TIME, BOTH LIONS PERISHED. AND ALL THE WHILE, THEKLA HAD REMAINED CALM, CONTINUING TO PRAY FOR STRENGTH.
THE AUTHORITIES TRIED EVERYTHING--FIRE, DROWNING HER, LIONS, BULLS, BEARS--BUT THEKLA COULD NOT BE KILLED. DEFEATED, THE AUTHORITIES THEN RELEASED THE MAIDEN, AND SHE WENT ON TO SETTLE IN A DESOLATE REGION IN THE MOUNTAINS WHERE SHE PREACHED THE GOSPEL AND LIVED UNTIL THE OLD AGE OF 90.
TO MANY, THEKLA WAS CONSIDERED TO BE AN EQUAL TO THE APOSTLES; TO OTHERS, SHE WAS 'JUST' A WOMAN WHO DID NOT KNOW HER PLACE IN RELIGIONS HIERARCHY. TODAY, THEKLA IS CONSIDERED A SAINT IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH, BUT IS VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN TO MOST OTHER CHRISTIANS. AND, EVEN MORE IRONICALLY, SHE SEEMS MOST UNKNOWN TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTERS. SHE WAS A WOMAN THAT COULD NOT BE KEPT DOWN AND EVEN THOUGH SHE LIVED IN AN AGE WHEN WOMEN WERE THOUGHT OF AS SUBORDINATE TO MEN, THEKLA STOOD HER GROUND AGAINST THE PATRIARCHY AND WON. IN MY EYES, SHE IS A GODDESS.
Suggested e-books:
Tuesday Lobsang Rampa - Feeding The FlameTuesday Lobsang Rampa - Living With The Lama
Howard Phillips Lovecraft - In The Vault
Tags: powerful black magic what is a love spell wiccan candle magic beginners magic spells magic book of spells austin osman spare black magic free ancient magic books
