Saint Thecla of Kitzingen (''Tecla of England, Heilga'') (died ca. AD 790) was a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

nun and abbess. Born in England, she went to Germany to assist

Saint Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant ...

in his missionary labors.

Background

Sometime after the death of

Aldfrith of Northumbria Aldfrith (Early Modern Irish: ''Flann Fína mac Ossu''; Latin: ''Aldfrid'', ''Aldfridus''; died 14 December 704 or 705) was king of Northumbria from 685 until his death. He is described by early writers such as Bede, Alcuin and Stephen of Ripon ...

around the year 705, his widow,

Cuthburh Saint Cuthburh or Cuthburg, Cuthburga ( ang, Cūþburh; died 31 August 725) was the first Abbess of Wimborne Minster. She was the sister of Ine, King of Wessex and was married to the Northumbrian king Aldfrith. Life Cuthburh was the daughter of ...

, the sister of King

Ine of Wessex Ine, also rendered Ini or Ina, ( la, Inus; c. AD 670 – after 726) was King of Wessex from 689 to 726. At Ine's accession, his kingdom dominated much of southern England. However, he was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor ...

, established a double-monastery in her brother's kingdom at

Wimborne Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Poole ...

in Dorset. St. Richard of Wessex was one of the underkings of the West Saxons, and married to Winna, the sister of

St. Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

. Before starting on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, with his two sons, Richard entrusted his eleven year old daughter Walpurga to the abbess of Wimborne. Walpurga was educated by the nuns of Wimborne Abbey, and later became a member of the community. Boniface, kept up a frequent correspondence with the community of Wimborne.Casanova, Gertrude. "St. Thecla." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 14 May 2018]

Life

Born in

southern Britain England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Engli ...

, Thecla was a relative of

Saint Lioba Leoba, OSB (also Lioba and Leofgyth) (c. 710 – 28 September 782) was an Anglo-Saxon Benedictine nun and is recognized as a saint. In 746 she and others left Wimborne Minster in Dorset to join her kinsman Boniface in his mission to the German peo ...

. Thecla and Lioba were educated at Wimborne Abbey and later joined the Benedictine community of nuns there. When Boniface wrote the Abbess Tetta, requesting helpers with his missionary work In Germany, Thecla and Lioba were among those sent.David Farmer, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Saints'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978), 367-8. Boniface seems to have had a threefold purpose in summoning these Anglo-Saxon nuns as his auxiliaries: to propagate the full observance of the Benedictine Rule by new foundations; to introduce it into already founded monasteries, and to restore its observance in others; and finally to bring their gentle influence to bear on the local people, both by example and by the education imparted to their children. In 748, they arrived in Bischofsheim ("bishop's place") where Boniface founded a convent, and Lioba was made abbess. Later, Thecla became abbess of

Ochsenfurt Ochsenfurt () is a town in the district of Würzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. Ochsenfurt is located on the left bank of the River Main and has around 11,000 inhabitants. This makes it the largest town in Würzburg district. Name Like Oxford, the t ...

. Sometime after 750, Upon the death of Hadelonga, foundress and first Abbess of

Kitzingen Kitzingen () is a town in the Germany, German state of Bavaria, capital of the Kitzingen (district), district Kitzingen. It is part of the Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants. Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County i ...

on the Main, she was called to supervise that abbey as well.Harmeling O.S.B., Deborah. "Tetta, 'Noble in Conduct' and Thecla, 'shining Like a Light in a Dark Place'", ''Medieval Women Monastics''
(Miriam Schmitt, Linda Kulzer, eds) Liturgical Press, 1996

Veneration

Her

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

is 15 October but alternative feast days of 27 or 28 September also appear in liturgical books. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, Thecla’s relics were enshrined at Kitzingen, but were later dispersed during the

German Peasants' War The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt (german: Deutscher Bauernkrieg) was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It failed because of intense oppositio ...

References

Sources

* ''Asamblea Eucarística.'' México: Ed. Progreso. 2009. . {{authority control 790 deaths 8th-century Christian saints Anglo-Saxon nuns People from Wimborne Minster Benedictine abbesses Year of birth unknown Christian female saints of the Middle Ages 8th-century English nuns 8th-century Frankish nuns