E05574: The Miracles of Saint Thekla recounts how *Thekla (follower of the Apostle Paul, S00092) healed the broken legs of two women, one Christian and one pagan (though hesitating between Judaism and Christianity); the cure caused the latter's conversion to Christianity. Written in Greek at Seleucia ad Calycadnum (southern Asia Minor) in the 470s.

Miracles of Saint Thekla, 18

The same miracle was accomplished for two different women. One of them was called Aba, from Seleucia [ad Calycadnum] and of a noble and illustrious family. The other one, by the name of Tigriane, was from Tarsus, and also from an illustrious family; she was a Christian.

Tigriane, coming from Tarsus, rushed to the shrine of Thekla. On her way there, she fell from her mule and broke her leg. So she cried out against the martyr and said she suffered on her account. But the following night she obtained a miracle. The martyr visited her and, instead of instructing her to do anything or use a medicine, she simply ordered her to rise up from her bed and walk to the shrine. The woman did this and realised with amazement that her leg had been healed. She thus hastened to the shrine, not on the mule, but walking on her own feet with praises, prayers and hymns. She was happy that the miracle proved not to be just a dream but a vision.

The other woman, Aba, was still a pagan, but she was vacillating between Judaism and Christianity. She likewise fell from a mule and broke her leg, but even more seriously than the other woman, since in her case the broken bone split the flesh covering her leg and was sticking out. She suffered for a long time and there was no remedy to cure her, neither from the Jews, nor from the pagans, not even from Sarpedonian Apollo. Thus, whether on the advice of another or at her own initiative, the woman had herself transferred to the church of Thekla. There, she invoked the martyr with tears and lamentations. And less than three days afterwards she also was cured and could stand and walk on her own feet, and she returned to her home.

Ποῖον δὲ καὶ τὸ τῆς θεραπείας φάρμακον; Πάντως ὅτιπερ βούλεσθε καὶ τοῦτο μαθεῖν. Οὐ πολυτελές, οὔτε περίεργον, οὔτε τῆς τῶν ἀσκληπιαδῶν ἀλαζονείας κόμψευμα. «Τὸν γὰρ ῥύπον, φησὶν ἡ μάρτυς, τῶν περικειμένων τῷ ἐμῷ θαλάμῳ κιγκλίδων τούτων περιξέσασα, τῷ πεπονθότι μέρει τοῦ ποδὸς ἔμπλασον, καὶ παύσεις μὲν παραχρῆμα τὸ πάθος, χρήσῃ δὲ τοῖς ποσὶ πρὸς ὃ κεχρῆσθαι δεῖ τοῖς ποσί.» Καὶ ἡ μὲν εἶπεν, ἡ δὲ ἔπραξε, καὶ τὸ θαῦμά γε μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος βοᾶται παρά τε ἐκείνης ἔτι καὶ τῶν ἐκείνην θεασαμένων βαδίζουσαν, θέουσαν, ἐνεργοῦσαν τῷ ποδί, τὸ δὴ μεῖζον καὶ χριστιανὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ τοιούτου γεγονυῖαν θαύματος, καὶ χριστιανὴν οἵαν εἰκὸς ἐκ πείρας γενέσθαι τοιαύτης. Ἡ γὰρ τοῦ ποδὸς θεραπεία καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς συνεβλάστησε θεραπείαν· καὶ οὕτως ἀμφότερα ἐξ ἑνὸς ὑπῆρξε τοῦ θαύματος.

'What was the medicine prescribed for the treatment? Surely you want to know this too! Nothing expensive or complicated, nothing ingenious of which the Asklepiades [i.e. physicians] boast: "Scrape up," says the martyr, " the filth (rhypon) lying at the gates of my chamber and plaster it on the injured part of your leg, and immediately you will stop the suffering, and you will use your feet for the purpose for which they are intended." Thekla said this, and Aba did it, and the miracle is still proclaimed up to our own day by this woman and by those who have seen her walking, running, and using her leg. Even more important is the fact that she became a Christian as a result of this miracle, and a Christian such as it is natural to become after such an experience. For the healing of the leg produced a concomitant healing of the soul: both healings thus resulting from a single miracle.'

Text: Dagron 1978. Translation: Johnson 2012. Summary: J. Doroszewska.