Antiochian Women's Month

WOMEN'S MONTH RESOURCES

Metropolitan Philip's 2012 Letter (PDF)

2012 Sermonette (Word)

2012 Cover Letter from Vice-President Dianne O'Regan (Word)

2012 Project: The Convent of St. Thekla

Tri-Fold Brochure with information on the 2012 Project, past projects, and the Qualifications and Application for the Antiochian Women's Scholarship (PDF)

March has been designated as Antiochian Women’s Month by His Eminence Metropolitan Philip. Each year, women are encouraged to express the fullness of their ministry in the Church. Sponsored by the North American Board of the Antiochian Women, all local chapters are encouraged to hold activities during the month and have women more fully participate in the Liturgy by reading the Epistle, taking the collections, delivering the homily, and ministering to their parish, their diocese, and the Archdiocese.

Women are also encouraged to minister to the needs of the poor, infirm and aged, engage in local charitable and humanitarian works, and raise funds for the Project of the Antiochian Women. By doing so, they fulfill their mission of a sisterhood serving Christ through serving others.

The women are in their third year of their Project "The Convent of St. Thekla" at Antiochian Village. Thanks to the efforts of the Antiochian Women throughout our Archdiocese, we have been able to raise $217,862.76 to date.

The "Convent of St. Thekla" is a vision that His Eminence Metropolitan Philip has had for many years. With the arrival of Mother Alexandra in July 2009, much has transpired. She has prepared the home for monastic life, where she is now residing; a site for the Convent on the grounds of Antiochian Village has been established and has been approved for construction by local and state authorities; and an architect, Douglas Shoop of St. Mary’s Orthodox Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been hired and has completed the schematic drawings for the Convent. The architectural renderings can be found on this year’s Project poster, the Project tri-fold, and via the website of www.antiochian.org/sainttheklaconvent.

Noted NAB Vice-President Dianne O'Regan:

The monastic life has existed within the Church from the very beginning. It was St. John the Baptist who left his home to live the ascetic life – a “voice crying in the wilderness” – to prepare the way for our Lord. It was St. Paul who wrote of the monastic life being ordained and blessed by God. The first Christians knew this and looked upon those who lived the ascetic life as angels on earth. Those who devote those lives to monasticism turn their total focus on God and the Heavenly Kingdom, to which we all aspire.

St. Thekla was called the First Martyr because she was the first Christian woman who suffered torture and persecution for the sake of Christ. She was given the title, "Equal to the Apostles," because she preached, taught and baptized as did the Twelve Apostles.

St. Thekla was from the city of Iconia, was born of pagan parents and was considered to be a great beauty. In 45 A.D., when she was eighteen, St. Paul came to Iconia to preach the word of God. He urged the people to pursue a life of purity and chastity, and to pray and love one another. St. Thekla listened to his every word from her bedroom window and was so moved that she refused to eat. Her mother became very concerned and urged her husband, who was the governor, to persuade their daughter to maintain her pagan faith. St. Thekla’s father thought St. Paul’s words were absurd, and that paganism was the tradition of their ancestors. He asked Thekla to come back to her senses. However, she politely told her father that paganism had no principle, and the statues that they worshiped were made of immovable stones and were without soul and spirit. They did not hear or see, but Paul’s God was the real great God, the Creator of the universe.

Upon hearing Thekla’s words, her mother became so enraged that she told her husband, "Burn this hypocrite." Thekla’s father then ordered St. Paul out of the city, and Thekla to be burned at the stake. As she bravely approached the burning wood, Thekla made the Sign of the Cross over the flames. The sky suddenly became full of dark clouds, it began to thunder and lightening and to rain heavily, so much so that it extinguished the flames.

St. Thekla’s father then ordered her to be thrown into a dark well with fierce lions, but they became tame in her presence. Next, she was tied to the horns of bulls and hot irons were placed on her clothes, but the fire only burned the ropes that tied her. Even when placed in a room with venomous snakes, the snakes fled, and Thekla remained unharmed.

When her father ordered her head to be cut off, St. Thekla fled to Antioch, then toward Syria. Her father’s men remained in pursuit, but St. Thekla escaped, traveling on foot through valleys and over mountains. When she reached the base of Maloula Mountain, she was exhausted and unable to go any further. She knelt, raised her hands and prayed to God. Suddenly, the mountain split in two and a stream of water rushed under her feet. St. Thekla passed through the gap in the mountain and found at its end a cave, where she lived in order to devote her life to the prayer and worship of God. Here she remained – praying, fasting, preaching, baptizing, and curing the sick, until her death at the end of the first century. St. Thekla was buried in the cave, where her remains can be found to this very day.

Please join the North American Board of the Antiochian Women as they continue this worthwhile Project – "The Convent of St. Thekla" at Antiochian Village. In so doing, you can help make this exciting vision for the future a reality.