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