Paraskeve the New

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For other saints with the name "Paraskeve," see the disambiguation page.

Our venerable Mother Paraskeve the New lived as a monastic in the 11th century. She is honoured in Romania as Parascheva, traditionally as Sfânta Vineri (lit. Saint Friday) and in Serbia and Macedonia as Petka. She is also distinguished from other saints of the same name with the descriptions "the New" or "the Young." Her feast day is celebrated on October 14. She is the patron saint of the Romanian region of Moldova and Romanians generally have great esteem towards her.

Life

Born in Epivat (Thrace; Byzantium, near Constantinople) in 11th century, Paraskeve was of noble origin. Her pious parents taught her as a child the words of the Gospel which say that everyone who wants to follow the Lord Jesus must give up everything. When her parents died, she gave up the world for the "desert" while still young in years. First she dedicated her life entirely to God through prayer and fasting, and then undertook ascetic struggles in the desert of Jordan.

She is especially beloved by the Orthodox peoples of Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldavia where her holy relics are kept in the Metropolitan Cathedral Church, Iaşi, Romania.

Hymn

Troparion (Tone 4) [1]

You chose a silent and solitary life;
You followed Christ your Bridegroom.
You took his easy yoke in your youth,
Arming yourself with the sign of the Cross.
You contended against spiritual enemies
Through fasting, tears and labors,
O glorious Paraskeva.
Now you stand before Christ with the Wise Virgins:
Intercede for us who honor your precious memory.

Miracles

Many miracles are mentioned as being done by God through Saint Paraskeve. According with the miracles described here, Saint Paraskeve helped people with:

---getting help in marriage , finding a great spouse
---solving health related issues
---finding stolen objects
---escaping from the power of sick angels
---getting good grades at exams and finishing degrees
---finding a job
---finding a place to live
---finding resources and ways for coming to pilgrimage to her relics
---defending the Iasi city on war
---stopping the theft
---building a Church
---defending the church
---defending life even of the unborn
---defending food from bugs

Miracles described took place because people did one or more of the following:

---prayed to the Saint in front of her relics asking for help
---read the Akhatist of the saint in front of her relics
---reading the Akhatist and the Paraclete in front of the Holy relics
---left a diptych to be comemorated at Holy Liturgy
---gave a diptych to the Church that has the Holy relics through another person visiting the Church
---prayed to the saint at home

Because of the multitude of miracles done by the Saint Paraskeve, on the day of her celebration, tens of thousand of people are coming into pilgrimage at her relics. It is possible that in the day of the celebration of a Saint, the Saint to be able to perform more miracles.

Observation:

When praying to God or in front of the relics of a Saint it is good to pray for both the problems you know about and the problems you don't know about. Regarding the problems you don't know about, you can pray for whatever Mother of God knows that you need.
A diptych is a list on which names of persons alive or departed are recorded to be read for help at Holy Liturgy in front of God. The names of living and departed are written usually in two different columns. On the diptych, in the end can be mentioned "with all their relatives" as to give help to as many people as possible. Also it is customary to write people you don't know as a way of mercy.
After doing some prayer or actions is good to pray for these to be useful.
When visiting the relics of a Saint, one can put a piece of cloth that does not get washed like a napkin or glasses or other objects on the relics of the saints . One can see a myrrh flagrance coming from some of the objects that touched the saint relics. It is useful then from time to time to touch with these objects the head or the parts of the body with problems.
For many things like for decisions that include knowing the future is good to pray to God for a good outcome
The power of the Holy relics is mentioned in Old Testament and there we see a dead person being thrown over the relics of a Prophet and that person becoming alive. If the relics of a prophet can turn death into life, the relics of a New Testament saint can do probably more because the New Law is more powerful than the Old Law.
Even if relics were venerated for the first 1500 years of Christianity in all Europe, some denominations may be uneasy with this, even if Evangelist Luke painted icons, some denominations may be uneasy with icons, even if a cloth of prophet Elijah parted the waters of a river , a miracle being performed some denominations may be uneasy with miracles being performed through objects belonging to saints, even if many Apostles wrote Holy Liturgies starting around year 60, some denominations may be uneasy with Holy Liturgy. This is life.

Pilgrimage

The Holy relics of Saint Paraskeve are located in Iasi, a city that have an International Airport of a smaller scale connected to the World. The relics are located into the Metropolitan Cathedral and can be venerated at any time the Church is open. The Metropolitan Cathedral is usually open every day. Here is an youtube movie about Iasi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkHujqDFaRk .

On the day of celebration of St Paraskeve the line to venerate the relics can last for 12 hours and can be as long as 2.5 km. It is very interesting how a Saint can intercede for such a multitude of people in front of God, anyhow with God anything is possible.

About the power of prayer in front of relics of a Saint there are many things to say, anyhow nothing compares with ones own experience so if having a problem one can consider asking in front of relics or at home , a Saint for intercession and help.

External links

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