05 — Equal-to-the-Apostles

The honor in which the Church holds St. Thecla — Protomartyr among women and Equal-to-the-Apostles — and the theology her figure dramatizes: the fusion of virginity and martyrdom as the two crowns of the consecrated life.

Files

File	Description
the-title-and-the-model.md	The titles “Protomartyr” (among women) and “Equal-to-the-Apostles”; what each names; Thecla as the archetype of the virgin-martyr and the consecrated woman; her place among the company of women Equal-to-the-Apostles.
virginity-and-martyrdom.md	The theology the narrative embodies: consecrated virginity as a spiritual martyrdom, the “baptism of blood,” and the joining of the two crowns in Thecla’s figure.

See Also

• The Patristic Thecla — the Fathers who built this theology around her
• Women Apostles and the Debate — the apostolic teaching that grounds the title
• St. Nina of Georgia — a fellow woman Equal-to-the-Apostles