With due decency, the pious people of the free province of Famagusta honor the memory of the glorious First Martyr and Isapostolos Theklis in the homonymous seaside chapel within the boundaries of our metropolitan area.
On the eve of the holiday Wednesday, September 23, 2020, the festive Vespers was celebrated.
Orthros, Thursday, September 24, 2020, 6: 30-9: 00 am, Orthros and the Divine Liturgy will be performed. In the afternoon of the same day, at 6:00 pm, the Vespers and the Prayer will be performed in Agia Thekla.
Saint Isapostolos Thekla
Agia Thekla, the First Martyr and Isapostolos, came from Konya, Asia Minor. Her mother was Theoklia, who came from a noble and prominent family and was a pagan, like Thekla. At the age of 18, Agia Thekla got engaged to someone called Thamyris, but their marriage was annulled because Thekla became a Christian due to the preaching of the Apostle Paul.
The Saint met the Apostle Paul at the house of the pious family head Onisiforos, where she heard him preach the word of God. For three days the Saint neither ate nor went to her house listening to the divine sermon of the Apostle Paul. When her mother and her fiancé learned of Thekla's new habits, in order to confine her to idolatry, they arranged for Paul to be imprisoned. Of course, the Saint was not intimidated, but instead went secretly and met him in prison to listen to the sweet words of Paul and to learn about Christianity. The persecutors then threw Thekla into the fire without burning, since God intended for her, but they managed to expel the Apostle Paul. When the Saint was free, she looked for the Apostle Paul, whom she located in a tomb together with Onesiphorus.
She decided to follow Paul and they arrived in Antioch, but there her beauty made her suffer a lot. Nevertheless, nothing could discourage the divinely inspired Thekla. The people were stunned as no beast devoured her no matter how many times they tried to kill her. After the passage of time, Saint Thekla went to Myra in Lycia, from where, after the motivation of the Apostle Paul, she returned to Iconium to preach the Gospel there. He then took refuge on a mountain near Seleucia, where he practiced asceticism and in the name of Jesus Christ healed many sick people. However, her action annoyed many doctors of Seleucia and they sent paid young men to rape the virgin, thus believing that the Saint would lose her power.
Agia Thekla was not afraid at all when she saw them. She raised her hands and prayed for her salvation and miraculously a stone was torn for her to enter. There he rested forever close to God, at the age of 90.
Our church celebrates the memory of Saint Protomartyr and Isapostolos Theklas on September 24th.
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