E05589: The Miracles of Saint Thekla recounts how *Thekla (follower of the Apostle Paul, S00092) exposed a thief and found a cross he had stolen, which had been dedicated to her at her shrine at Seleucia. Written in Greek at Seleucia ad Calycadnum (southern Asia Minor) in the 470s.

Miracles of Saint Thekla, 22

This miracle Thekla performed for the sake of one of her own treasures.

Τῶν γὰρ ἀνιερωμένων αὐτῇ σταυρῶν ἕνα τις ὑφελόμενος, ἔν τινι μέρει τῆς ἐπ’ αὐτὴν ἐκ τοῦ ἄστεος ἀναγούσης ὁδοῦ φέρων, εἴς τι φυτὸν εὖ μάλα κατώρυξεν. Ἡ δὲ μάρτυς καὶ γέλωτος μὲν ἀφορμὴν ἐποιήσατο τὸ περὶ αὐτὴν τοῦτο δρᾶμα, ὡς ἂν μηδὲ αὐτῆς ἀφειδούντων τῶν βελτίστων κλωπῶν, καὶ εἴπερ οἷόν τε λήσειν αὐτῆς τὸ πανδερκές τε καὶ θεῖον ὄμμα. Ἐπιφοιτήσασα γοῦν τῶν αὐτῆς ὑπηρετῶν καὶ παρέδρων ἑνί, καταμηνύει πάλιν καὶ τὸν φῶρα καὶ τὸ φώριον καὶ τῷ ἀποκοσμηθέντι τόπῳ τὸν ἱερὸν σταυρὸν ἀποδίδωσι. Τῷ δὲ τὸν σταυρὸν ἔχειν νομίζοντι αὐτὸ τοῦτο περιῆν μόνον, τὸ καλεῖσθαι ἱερόσυλον.

'Someone stole one of the crosses dedicated to her and, taking it to a certain place along the road that led out of the city [Seleucia] toward her own shrine [Hagia Thekla], he hid it very well inside a tree. At first, the martyr laughed at this action against her, because these excellent thieves did not spare even her, as if it were possible to escape her all-seeing and divine eye! Then, she went to visit one of the servants and attendants at her shrine and, again, indicated the thief and stolen object and thus restored the holy cross to the place from which it had been robbed. But the only profit for the one who reckoned that he possessed the cross was being called a "temple robber."'

Text: Dagron 1978. Translation: Johnson 2012, lightly modified. Summary: J. Doroszewska.