E05769: The Miracles of Saint Thekla recounts how *Thekla (follower of the Apostle Paul, S00092), at her shrine at Seleucia, reinstated beauty to a woman, making her attractive again to her husband. Written in Greek at Seleucia ad Calycadnum (southern Asia Minor) in the 470s.

Miracles of Saint Thekla, 42

Κἀκείνου δὲ μνημονευτέον, οὗ καὶ μόλις πως μνήμην ἔλαβον. Καλλίστη τις ἦν μὲν εὐγενὲς καὶ σεμνὸν γύναιον, συνῴκει δὲ ἀνδρὶ οὐ μάλα σώφρονι, ἀλλὰ καὶ λίαν ἐπτοημένῳ περὶ τὰς δημώδεις ταύτας ἡδονάς, καὶ οὔτε τῇ κατὰ νόμον ἀρκουμένῳ μίξει, καὶ ταύταις ἀπλήστως κεχρημένῳ. Ταύτης οὖν τῆς Καλλίστης ἕν τι τῶν ἐπὶ σκηνῆς γυναίων, ὃ καὶ αὐτῷ τούτῳ συνεφθείρετο, λωβᾶται δηλητηρίοις φαρμάκοις τὴν μορφήν, χαρίεν δὲ ᾔσχυνε πρόσωπον, ὡς ἂν ἡ μὲν μηκέτι πρὸς ἡδονῆς εἴη τῷ ἀνδρί, αὕτη δὲ τὸ ἐκείνης ποιοῖ, καὶ συγκαθεύδοι τῷ μὴ προσήκοντι. Πεπονθυῖα δὲ τοῦτο καὶ διαζευχθεῖσα τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἡ Καλλίστη, τοῦ τῆς ὄψεως αἴσχους ἑτοίμως πρὸς μῖσος ἐνάγοντος τὸν Παπίαν—τοῦτο γὰρ ἦν ὄνομα τῷ ἀνδρί—, καταφεύγει πρὸς τὴν μάρτυρα, τήν τε αὐτῆς δυστυχίαν τήν τε τῆς ἑταίρας διηγουμένη κακουργίαν, καὶ δεομένη τυχεῖν τινος θεραπείας, ὥστε καὶ τὴν τῆς μορφῆς ἀπολαβεῖν εὐπρέπειαν καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς εὔνοιαν.

Ἀκούει τούτων ἡ μάρτυς, καὶ σφόδρα ἐπικαμφθεῖσα τῷ πάθει—καὶ γὰρ ὀχετοὺς δακρύων ἐπηφίει τοῖς λόγοις τὸ γύναιον, οὐδὲν δὲ οὕτως εὐχῆς καρύκευμα κάλλιστόν ἐστιν ὡς δάκρυον δαψιλές, ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς βάθους ὑπερχεόμενον—, σημαίνει καὶ προστάττει τὴν θεραπείαν εὐθύς· «Λαβοῦσα γάρ, φησί, ῥύμματα ταυτὶ δή, τὰ πρὸ τοῦ ναοῦ τούτου πωλούμενα, καὶ ἀναδεύσασα οἴνῳ, τούτῳ τὴν ὄψιν ἀποκλύσαι, καὶ τὸ αἶσχος εὐθὺς ἀπονίψεις.» Ὃ δὴ καὶ παραχρῆμα ποιήσασα ἡ Καλλίστη, παραχρῆμα καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν μορφὴν τῆς λώβης καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα τῆς ἑταίρας ἀπήλλαξε, πολὺ χείρονος λώβης. Ἅμα γὰρ τοῖς ῥύμμασι καὶ τὸ ποιοῦν, ὥς φασι, τὸ αἶσχος συνεξέπεσε, καὶ ἦν πάλιν ἡ Καλλίστη καλλίστη τε τὴν μορφὴν καὶ ἀρέσκουσα τῷ ἀνδρί.


'I need to relate the following miracle, which was somewhat difficult for me to recollect. Kalliste was a well born and respected woman, but she lived with a husband who was not very prudent but was greatly distracted by worldly pleasures – not being satisfied with legitimate sexual intercourse – and he was insatiable in his pursuit of these pleasures. A certain woman of the stage, who had committed fornication with this man, spoiled Kalliste's appearance by means of poisonous drugs and disfigured her beautiful face, in the hopes that Kalliste would no longer be attractive to her husband and that she herself might become his wife and might share the bed of someone inappropriate for her. Kalliste, after suffering this injury and separating from her husband – since the shame of her appearance was enough to compel Papias (the man's name) to hate her – sought refuge with the martyr, narrating her misfortune and the villainy of the prostitute. She asked to receive some remedy, so that she might recover the beauty of her appearance and her husband's good will.

The martyr heard her request and was greatly moved by her suffering – for the woman added buckets of tears to her words, and there is no finer garnish for a prayer than an abundance of tears, which are shed from the very depth of the soul. Thekla showed and prescribed the remedy straight away: "Take this soap," she said, "the kind that is sold in front of my church, and soak it in wine, then wash your face with it, and you will immediately cleanse away the shameful disfigurement." Kalliste did this straight away, and immediately freed her original appearance from its disfigurement and delivered her husband from the prostitute, a much worse abomination. For, together with the soap, that which caused the shameful disfigurement, as they say, was also washed away. And once again Kalliste was "very beautiful" in her appearance and pleasing to her husband.'

Text: Dagron 1978. Translation: Johnson 2012.