Saint Thecla, a virgin and native of Iconium was popular in the early Church. She was so impressed by St. Paul the Apostle’s preaching that she became his follower and a perpetual virgin. Legend has it that because she was a Christian, attempts were made to torture her by fire, rape, and eaten by wild beasts, yet she was miraculously protected all three times showing a martyr’s heroic faith. Eventually, she lived as a hermit though persecuted until her death. She is called the protomartyr among women.
