Page:The Apocryphal Acts of Paul, Peter, John, Andrew and Thomas.djvu/50

 Lord liveth in heaven? For whether thou desirest wealth, the Lord will give it to thee through me ; or thy child, behold, I am standing beside thee."

And having thus testified, she went to Seleucia and enlightened many by the word of God; then she rested in a glorious sleep.

Note. — In some MSS. we read after Seleucia "and dwelt in a cave seventy-two years, living upon herbs and water. And she enlightened many by the word of God. And certain men of the city, being Greeks by religion, and physicians by profession, sent to her insolent young men to destroy (or corrupt) her. For they said: She is a virgin, and serves Artemis, and from this she has virtue in healing. And by the providence of God she entered into the rock alive, and went under ground. And she departed to Rome, to see Paul, and found that he had fallen asleep. And after staying there no long time, she rested in a glorious sleep ; and she is buried about two or three stadia from the tomb of her master Paul.

"She was cast, then, into the fire when seventeen years old, and among the wild beasts when eighteen. And she was an ascetic in the cave, as has been said, seventy-two years, so that all the years of her life were ninety. And having accomplished many cures, she rests in the place of the saints, having fallen asleep on the twenty-fourth of the month of September in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and strength for ever and ever. Amen."

In a more expanded form the end of Thecla is thus described in Grabe's text as given by Lipsius, 1. c. p. 271 ff. : " And a cloud of light guided her. And having come into Seleucia, she went forth outside of the city one stadium. And she was afraid of them also, for they worshipped idols. And it guided her to the mountain called Calaman or Rhodeon; and having found there a cave, she went into it. And she was there many years, and underwent many and grievous trials by the devil, and bore them nobly, being assisted by Christ. And some of the well-born women, having learned about the virgin Thecla, went to her, and