Thecla of Kitzingen
Saint Thecla of Kitzingen (Tecla of England, Heilga) (died ca. AD 790) was a Benedictine nun and abbess. Born in England, she went to Germany to assist Saint Boniface in his missionary labors. Background Sometime after the death of Aldfrith of Northumbria around the year 705, his widow, Cuthburh, the sister of King Ine of Wessex, established a double-monastery in her brother's kingdom at Wimborne in Dorset. St. Richard of Wessex was one of the underkings of the West Saxons, and married to Winna, the sister of St. Boniface. Before starting on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, with his two sons, Richard entrusted his eleven year old daughter Walpurga to the abbess of Wimborne. Walpurga was educated by the nuns of Wimborne Abbey, and later became a member of the community. Boniface, kept up a frequent correspondence with the community of Wimborne. Life Born in southern Britain, Thecla was a relative of Saint Lioba. Thecla and Lioba were educated at Wimborne Abbey and later joined the Benedictine community of nuns there. When Boniface wrote the Abbess Tetta, requesting helpers with his missionary work In Germany, Thecla and Lioba were among those sent. Boniface seems to have had a threefold