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Ana Maria Padurean

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Re: October is almost redy
10/15/2008 5:29:51 AM
Hello Beth :-)

Sorry for just finding your post over here!

Welcome to Romania.


The folk "wisdom" and traditions are mainly based upon observation, so ...
I remember while being a kid I spent many of my vacations at my grandparents, and I often heard my gradmom saying things like that, but I never followed them to see they are that way or not! I guess they were as she was very convinced about that!

Autumn, in Romania is so beautiful and so colorful



Thank you for coming and see you more around! :-)

With lots of friendship,
Anamaria
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Ana Maria Padurean

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Re: October the 1st St. PROCOAVA
10/15/2008 6:10:00 AM
St. Procoava is the one who covers the earth with snow during the winter.
The young girls are praying to this saint in order to give them a beautiful hair.



This way the men will like them more and the chance they get married soon increases. The marriage also means that the girls will have to wear something to cover their hair.

http://www.ziaruldevrancea.ro/photo.php?id=4409

Well, who does this, these days?! :-)

Wish you all a wonderful hair, married or not :-)
With lots of friendship,
Anamaria
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Ana Maria Padurean

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Re: October 14th St. PARASCHEVE
10/15/2008 7:04:45 AM


An important religious feast, this day marks the beginning of the preparations of the flock for the winter and also the opening of some fairs where pastoral products are traded. People fast and don`t work on this day, otherwise existing the danger of getting ill.

Saint Paraskeva the New, who have her holy relics in Iasi, Romania

Iasi, the capital of the province of Moldavia, has a population of about 400,000 and is situated in the north-eastern part of Romania. - this will be the topic for another thread!

The city has many historical and architectural monuments and harbors the second largest university in the country, with and a student population of about 30,000.

The Metropolitan Cathedral "Saint Parascheva" was founded by Veniamin Costachi, a Romanian educator and school organizer of the early 19th century.



The building was completed and consecrated in 1839, after 6 years of considerable efforts. Between 1880-1887 King Carol I of Romania (1866-1914) renovated, expanded, and redecorated the edifice, which is now the largest and the most beautiful metropolitan cathedral in Romania.

Inside the cathedral, in a silver coffin, lie the relics of Saint Parascheva. She is considered the Patron Saint and Protector of Moldavia and each year, on October the 14th, on the Saint’s Day, hundreds of thousands of people from al over the county and abroad come on a pilgrimage to Iasi to pray by her relics, and to ask the saint to intercede for them and their families.



Her holy relics were brought to Iasi in 1641 by
Prince Vasile Lupu.



Moldavian Voivod (Prince) between 1634-1653

In the Eastern Orthodox tradition there are three different saints known as:
St. Parascheva.
The first one was born in Rome, in the 2nd century, and is considered a healer and a protector of cattle and crops. She is commemorated on August the 8th. The second one was born in Iconia and she died during the reign of the emperor Diocletian in the 3rd century. Her feast day, October 27th, is observed mostly in Dalmatia. The third one, the one whose relics are sheltered in the metropolitan cathedral in Iasi, Romania, lived around the year 1000 A.D. and is the best known and the most widely revered by Eastern Orthodox Christians. Variations of her name include St. Parascheva of Tirnovo, St. Parascheva the Serbian, St. Parascheva of Belgrade, St. Parascheva the New, St. Parascheva the Young, and St. Parascheva of the Balkans.

St. Parascheva was born at the beginning of the 11th century A.D. into a wealthy, noble, and pious Christian family in the town of Epivat (now in Turkey) on the shores of the Marmara Sea. At the age of ten, while attending the liturgy in the "Church of the Holy Theotokos", she heard the words, “Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me.” The words of the Lord had a profound effect on the young girl, and they became the subject of her meditations. The future St. Parascheva began to dress poor people in her expensive clothes - her good deeds later earning her recognition as a patron saint of such trades as spinning, sewing, weaving, and knitting – but her parents objected, finding the girl's charity more than they could understand or support, and trying to get her to stop. To follow her calling, Parascheva abandoned her wealth and privileges, left her parents, and ran away to Constantinople. There, near relics of saints, she spent her time in prayer, meditating on the words of Christ.

To elude her parents, who were traveling from city to city trying to find her, she moved to Chalcedon, and then to the "Church of the Most Holy Theotokos", in Heraclea Pontica, near the Black Sea. She spent the next five years there, living an austere life of continuous prayer and devotion. During her prayers she received visions of the Holy Virgin Mary and in one of the visions, she was instructed to go to Jerusalem. After spending some time in the city, she joined a convent in the Jordanian desert. A few years later, she returned to Constantinople and then, at the age of twenty-five, moved to the village of Katikratia where, at the "Church of the Holy Apostles", she lived the remaining two years of her life.

Legend has it that many years later an old sinner was buried near her grave. Parascheva appeared in a dream to a local monk, showed him the place of her burial, and asked him to “take that stinky corpse away from me. I am light and sun, and I cannot bear to have near me darkness and stench.“ The monk, with some local help, began to dig out the place he had seen in his dream and when they found the remains of the Saint, her uncorrupted body was emitting spiritual fragrances. Then they interred the Saint in the "Church of the Holy Apostles", where she had spent the last years of her earthly existence.

Later on her relics were moved to Tirnovo, in Bulgaria, then to Belgrade, in Serbia, and finally to Constantinople. In 1641, they were given as a gift to the Prince of Moldavia, Vasile Lupu, in recognition of his support for the Ecumenical Patriarchy of Constantinople. Her intact relics have remained in Iasi ever since. She is venerated as the Protector of Iasi and all of Moldavia and each year, hundreds of thousands of Orthodox faithful and hierarchs from many countries gather in Iasi to celebrate her feast day and venerate her holy relics, which continue to work miracles.

Here are some more photos about the coffin and the relics:


















Every year crowds of people are coming all over the country to pray here to keep them safe and aside from illness and for help to recover from illness.

To see the pics enlarged right-click them to open in a new window or tab.

I very much hope you will enjoy this tour.

With friendship,
Anamaria

Thanks to OrthodoxPhotos.com

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Joe
Joe Downing

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Re: October 14th St. PARASCHEVE
10/15/2008 7:24:05 AM

Hey Anamaria,

Wow!  I enjoy reading about the customs and holidays in other countries. 

Thank you for sharing this!  I hope to visit Romania one day!

Appreciative hugs,

Joe

***ADLAND BULLETIN BOARD*** What is Xtreme X2O? ###Get some X2O and Jerky RADICAL for the TRUTH! Laus Deo! ** HUG DEPARTMENT: Always OPE
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Jen
Jen Maxwell

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Re: October 14th St. PARASCHEVE
10/15/2008 2:18:20 PM

Hello Annamaria,

Romania is an intriguing country steeped in history, and
I love reading all about it.  When you go back to the 1st
and 2nd centuries, I have trouble trying to match my mind
to a time so long ago.

Thank you for the information and glorious pictures.

Have a wonderful day,

Jen

Award Winning System cancels mortgage and debt interest on steroids! Without paying more each month! "The ultimate ignorance is the rejection of something you know nothing about and refuse to investigate
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