(3RD CENT.)
[Authority for the lives of these Saints: the lections in the
proper offices for this day in the church of Lentini, in Sicily.]
S. Thecla was a noble virgin of Lentini, and daughter of S. Isidore. She
buried the bodies of the martyrs with loving reverence. For three years
she suffered from paralysis, and could not leave her bed, but was healed
by the prayers of SS. Alphius, Philadelphus, and Cyrinus. When they
were in prison for the faith, she visited them and ministered to their
necessities, and when they had been slain and cast into a well, she
extracted the bodies and buried them. Tertullus, the governor, hearing
of this, sent for her, but his sudden death saved her from injury.
During the persecution, she concealed Agatho, Bishop of Lipari, in one
of her farms; and when the persecution was over, she and her friend
Justina spent their fortunes in works of mercy.