Thecla of Kitzingen

Who they were

Thecla was an English Benedictine nun of Wimborne in Dorset, a relative of St. Lioba, whom she accompanied to Germany when St. Boniface asked for nuns to help his mission. After living under Lioba's rule at Tauberbischofsheim, she was made abbess of the new abbey at Ochsenfurt by Boniface, and later also of Kitzingen on the Main.

One of Boniface's letters is addressed to Lioba, Thecla and Cynehilde as heads of communities, showing how the nuns shared in his work. She died at Kitzingen about 790 or later, and the Roman Martyrology commemorates her on 15 October.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: she has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

An English nun who helped St. Boniface bring the faith and monastic life to Germany.