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Chapter 2 - Saint Thecla in Geʿez Hagiographical Literature

From Confessor to Martyr

from Part I - An Act to Follow

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2022

By
Damien Labadie
Edited by
Ghazzal Dabiri  and
Flavia Ruani
Ghazzal Dabiri
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
Flavia Ruani
Affiliation:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris
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Summary

Though not as famous as in Coptic traditions, Saint Thecla is still an important figure in Ethiopic hagiography. In most Ethiopic texts, she is known under the honorific title of “Thecla the Apostolic” (Ṭeqalā ḥawāryāwit). Ethiopians venerate her amongst the major saintly Christian figures as her Life is told and commemorated in the Synaxarium, the official Ethiopic book of saints. Moreover, a whole book, entitled the Book of Thecla (Masḥafa Ṭeqalā), is devoted to her. An abridged version of The Acts of Paul and Thecla, it tells the story of Thecla’s meeting with Paul, her conversion, her two trials, and the final healing of the governor who condemned her. This latter text is a noteworthy witness to the veneration and cult of Thecla in the Ethiopic realm. Thecla is also explicitly alluded to in other hagiographical texts, like the Epistle of Pelagia (BHO 890) and the Martyrdom of Abouqir, John, the Three Virgins, and Their Mother (Synaxarium, 6th of Yakkatit). Other Ethiopic Acts of saints also seem to refer implicitly to Thecla as a model for martyrs, especially female martyrs, such as the unedited martyrdom of her namesake, Thecla, and her four companions (BHO 1157 for the Syriac version).

Keywords

HagiographyGe’ezEthiopiaSynaxariumMartyrdomFemale sainthood
Type
Chapter
Information
Thecla and Medieval Sainthood
<I>The Acts of Paul and Thecla</I> in Eastern and Western Hagiography
 , pp. 61 - 84
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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