ST THECLA AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS OF AKSHA - 9 JUNE

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JUNE

Saints celebrated on the 9th of June

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SAINT THECLA AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS OF AKSHA

These Martyrs are commemorated on June 9, and also June 6. The holy virgins Thecla, Mariamna (Mary), Martha, Maria, and Anna (Enneim), “who preferred to die than to be unfaithful to their heavenly Bridegroom,” suffered (Asseman-Zingerle, I. 100*) in the year 346 in Aksha (Asa, Kasciaz) in Assyria. A priest named Paul had recently succumbed to the pressure exerted by the government authorities, who had intimidated him, had seized his possessions and then proceeded to try to force him to reveal names of other Christians in order to have his possessions returned to him. The wretched man, who had therefore renounced his faith in favour of the prescribed official religion, named Thecla, Mariamna, Martha, Maria, and Anna, who had previously been under his spiritual care, as followers of Jesus Christ.

Their arrest and first interrogation followed promptly, and these holy ladies received one hundred lashes. During this torture, they cried out incessantly: "We will not exchange worshipping God for worshipping the sun as you require of us; we will not become senseless fools who reject the Creator and worship things that were created by Him." Thereupon, Paul was ordered to kill the holy virgins; his reward was to be the money that had been taken from him when he was imprisoned. The deluded man was not ashamed to accept the commission. The holy virgins spoke to him: "Vile shepherd! You rage against your own flock and slaughter its lambs? You become a wolf, avaricious one, and strangle the sheep of your flock? We received the reconciling sacrament from your hands, you gave the life-giving blood to our mouths, and now you come with the sword to take our lives, with the murderous steel to secure our salvation! We go to Jesus, our highest good, our eternal possession, but you, however much you crave it, will not rejoice in your possession. We come before you to the eternal judge, and we will be your accusers; the punishment of divine justice will overtake you. Deliver us, insolent one, from your sight! We do not want to see you tormented by the rope, writhing in despair as a hanged man, clenching your hands in your misery, kicking your feet together, and plunging into hell!" 

The prophecy came true. No sooner had the priestly executioner carried out the work of the evil one who, through the fratricide Cain, had introduced manslaughter among humankind, than he was strangled that very night by the faithless government officials who had robbed him in the first place. 

This is essentially what the acts of their martyrdom relate which have been preserved, in which Mariamna is called Mary, while Enneim is called Anna. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 5, Augsburg, 1882, p. 444)

*A hagiography source used by the authors 

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Thecla and Companions may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org