When she was eighteen years old, Saint Thekla was sitting in the neighbourhood and heard through the door of a house Saint Paul preaching about Christ. She longingly listened to his words and came to love Christ and decided to dedicate her life to Him. She therefore told her parents and fiancee about this and called off her marriage to which they strongly disagreed, and for this reason Saint Paul was locked in prison.
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During the night, Saint Thecla secretly left her home and bribed the prison guards to let her see Saint Paul by giving them her own gold ornaments. Saint Thecla spent three days and nights sitting at the feet of the Holy Apostle Paul in his prison cell, listening to him speak about Christ and the Christian way of life.
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