E05649: The Miracles of Saint Thekla recounts how *Thekla (follower of the Apostle Paul, S00092) prevented the burial of a certain Hyperechios in her church at Seleucia in Asia Minor. Written in Greek at Seleucia ad Calycadnum (southern Asia Minor) in the 470s.

Miracles of Saint Thekla, 30

There was a man of great renown for his nobility, artistic sense, cultivated manners and strong Christian belief. His name was Eusebios and he was one of the orators serving in the imperial administration. This man greatly admired a certain Hyperechios when he was still alive, for his supremacy in every virtue and his talents. Also, they both came from the same city of Dalisandos. When Hyperechios died, Eusebios could not find a more prestigious honour than to bury him in the church of Thekla. He received permission of Maximos who at that time presided over the church of the martyr, and the grave diggers started their work and began to dig up the pavement.

Καί πως ἀθρόως ἐπέστη τούτοις ἡ μάρτυς ἐπιτιμῶσα, ἐγκαλοῦσα τόλμης αὐτοῖς, ἐκπληττομένη καὶ ὑποχωρεῖν ἤδη παρακελευομένη. Οἱ δὲ τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν ἥτις καὶ ἦν ἠγνόησαν—οὐδὲ γὰρ ἦν ἐκείνων τὸ οὕτω παράδοξον καὶ δυστέκμαρτον πρᾶγμα καταλαβεῖν—, ὑπεχώρησαν δ’ οὖν ὅμως· ὡς δὲ καὶ μικρὸν ἐνδόντες καὶ αὖθις ἐπεχείρησαν, παρέστη καὶ ἡ μάρτυς αὖθις αὐτοῖς, ἐμβριθέστερον δὲ καὶ ὀργιλώτερον εἰς αὐτοὺς ἀπιδοῦσα λοιπόν, καὶ οἷα τῶν ἄγαν χαλεπαινόντων ἐστίν, ἄπνους μὲν αὐτοὺς παραχρῆμα ἐποίησεν, ὡς μηδὲν μεῖναι τῶν μελῶν ἄτρομον ἢ ἀκλόνητον—φοβερὰ γὰρ ἡ μάρτυς, οὐ κινοῦσα μόνον τὴν ἰσχύν, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ βλέπουσα ἀτενὲς πρὸς οὓς ἂν καὶ δεηθείη τοιούτου βλέμματος—, μικροῦ δ’ ἂν καὶ τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοὺς ἀπέρρηξεν, ὡς καὶ ἑτέρων λοιπὸν εἰς τὸ ταφῆναι δεηθῆναι χειρῶν, εἰ μὴ αἰδοῖ τοῦ Μαξίμου τούτων μὲν ἐφείσατο. Αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ Μαξίμῳ καὶ μάλα ὀνειδιστικώτερον νύκτωρ ἐπιστᾶσα παρῄνεσε μὴ οὕτω τοῦ νεὼ καταφρονητικῶς ἔχειν, ὡς τὴν τῶν πολυανδρίων καὶ τάφων δυσωδίαν εἰς αὐτὸν μεταφέρειν. Μήτε γὰρ εἶναί τι κοινὸν τάφοις καὶ εὐκτηρίοις οἴκοις, πλὴν εἰ μή τις ἄρα καὶ νεκρὸς γεγονὼς μὴ εἴη νεκρός, ἀλλὰ ζῇ τε τῷ Θεῷ καὶ ἄξιος ᾖ τοῦ καὶ μάρτυσιν συνοικεῖν καὶ ὁμοστεγεῖν, ὡς Συμπόσιος ἐκεῖνος ὁ θεσπέσιος, ὡς Σάμος ἐκεῖνος ὁ θεῖος ἀνήρ, ὡς εἴ τις ἄλλος παραπλήσιος ἐκείνοις.


'All at once the martyr stood before them, rebuking them, accusing them of insolence, striking them with fear, and commanding them to withdraw at once. They did not realize at first who she was – it was not their lot to comprehend an event so strange and unexpected – but they withdrew nevertheless. After waiting a little while they got to work again, and again the martyr stood before them, this time looking at them with a more severe and angry gaze, as is typical of those who are extremely irritated. She immediately knocked the breath out of them, so that none of their limbs remained free of shaking and trembling – for the martyr is fearsome, not only when she exercises her strength, but also when she gazes directly at those who might be deserving of such a gaze – and she nearly deprived them of their lives, so that other hands would be required for their burial, but she spared them out of respect for Maximos.

When she presented herself to Maximos himself during the night, she exhorted him that he should not have been so disdainful of her church as to introduce into it the foul smell of burials and tombs. There was nothing in common, she said, between tombs and houses of prayer, unless someone who has died is not really dead but is alive to God, and is worthy to dwell together under the same roof as the martyrs, such as the divine Symposios, or Samos, the famous holy man, or someone else of the same quality as they.'

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