Equal-to-the-Apostles
Protomartyr, Equal-to-the-Apostles Thecla of Iconium
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Protomartyr, Equal-to-the-Apostles Thecla of Iconium — a disciple of the Apostle Paul, converted by his preaching in Iconium, who refused marriage, miraculously escaped burning at the stake (a sudden storm extinguished the flames) and being torn apart by beasts in the arena at Antioch (a lioness defended her), baptized herself, and lived as a hermit into old age in a cave near Seleucia in Isauria; the first female martyr in church tradition and one of the few women glorified as Equal-to-the-Apostles.
St. Thecla was born in Iconium (Asia Minor) into a noble pagan family and was betrothed to a nobleman. Hearing the Apostle Paul preach on virginity and the Kingdom of Heaven, she believed in Christ and broke off her engagement, for which her own mother condemned her to be burned — but a sudden storm extinguished the fire, and the saint remained unharmed. Following St. Paul to Antioch in Pisidia, she again faced persecution: thrown to wild beasts in the arena, a lioness defended her from the other predators. During these trials Thecla baptized herself, without a priest's assistance, in a pool of water dug in the arena. Freed through the intercession of Queen Tryphaena, she was sent by St. Paul to preach the Gospel on her own. She withdrew to an ascetic life in a cave on a mountain near Seleucia in Isauria, where she lived into old age, instructing many and working miracles. She is venerated as the first female martyr of church tradition (protomartyr) and one of five women glorified by the Church as Equal-to-the-Apostles.
NOTE: the category has been corrected from "great martyr" to "equal-to-the-apostles" — Thecla's canonical designation in the Orthodox Church is specifically "protomartyr, equal-to-the-apostles," not "great martyr."