Icon with Saint Venerable Parascheva from Iași – embroidered, framed, 21x27cm
The Venerable Parascheva, also known as Saint Friday in Greek (Αγία Παρασκευή), is venerated with holiness in the Holy Orthodox Church, especially in devout countries such as Romania, Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria. She is considered the protector of Moldova.
She was born in the late 10th century, in the village of Epivat in Thrace, near Constantinople.
Born and raised by wealthy, righteous, and devout parents, learning to love and worship the holy things, she was guided towards good deeds, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving.
At the age of ten, in a church dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos, she heard the words of the Gospel: "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me" (Mark 8:34).
This call of the Lord ignited in her heart the desire to live in complete perfection, so she distributed all her goods to the poor and, renouncing the pleasures of this world, withdrew into monastic life.
Every year, on October 14th, the entire Orthodox Church celebrates the life and holiness of the Venerable Mother Parascheva. Highly honored in Moldova for over three hundred and fifty years, her relics rest in Iași, being a source of blessing and healing, both spiritual and physical, for all who call upon her in prayer with humility.
The relics of Venerable Parascheva were transferred from Belgrade to Constantinople in the year 1521. In 1641, on June 13th, her relics were brought to Iași from Constantinople by Prince Vasile Lupu and placed in the church he himself founded, the Church of the Three Holy Hierarchs. Since 1889, her relics have been kept in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Iași.
On her feast day, a large pilgrimage takes place annually in Iași, attended by hundreds of thousands of believers from across the country. This pilgrimage to her relics in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Iași has become one of the most significant religious events in Romania. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims gather each year in Iași on the second weekend of October to honor the memory of Saint Venerable Parascheva, while the city itself celebrates these days as its own.
