Great is the merit of the saints before the Lord. Many of them from an early age sought to perfect the kingdom of heaven. Such was Paraskeva Friday, whose parents tried to raise their daughter in faith and chastity. Having taken upon herself the martyr’s cross, she, through her spiritual deed, once again witnessed the incomparable great power of God, which repented of idolaters and their gods.
Life
St. Paraskeva Friday was born in the III century BC. e. in the Roman Empire in the city of Iconium (the territory of modern Turkey). At that time, the ruler of the state was Diocletian, who persecuted those who preach Christianity. The girl’s parents sacredly believed in the One Trinity, living according to the Law of God. They always kept fast, honored Wednesday and Friday, recalling these days the sufferings of Jesus Christ, who suffered in pain as the atonement of human sins. For fear of God and unwavering faith in Him, the Most High gave his parents a daughter. They called her Paraskeva, which means “Friday”, since the girl was born on that day. Unfortunately, the righteous soon departed to another world, leaving the young girl alone on the sinful earth. Saint Paraskeva Friday continued the work of her parents, keeping the commandments of God and remaining chaste. Even then, she chose for herself the heavenly Bridegroom - Jesus Christ, thinking only about being with him.
The girl was beautiful in body and soul. Many wealthy men got married to her, but she remained adamant. Paraskeva's parents left their daughters a good inheritance. The great martyr Paraskeva received the received money Friday not for herself, but for clothes and food for the poor. All the charms of life: expensive vestments, jewelry and entertainment - the girl considered it temporary and perishable. Instead of earthly pleasures, Paraskeva prayed and preached faith in Jesus Christ.
Confessor of the Lord
Despite the fact that Christians of those times were terribly persecuted, Paraskeva continued to preach the faith of Christ. Many young men, seeing the immaculate beauty of the saint, offered her to marry and bow to the idol, in order to save their lives and not be subjected to cruel torment. But the great martyr Paraskeva Friday always answered that the one God is Jesus Christ and He is her only Bridegroom. Some townspeople, thanks to the saint, turned to faith, while others reproached her for such sermons.
Once, Diocletian ordered his subjects to go through the cities of the Roman Empire in search of Christians who avert the rest from idolatry. Eparch Aetius was ordered to visit the city of Iconium and find secret believers in the one Lord.
The people met the sovereign with great honors. The townspeople, without hiding, said that there is one girl named Paraskeva who confesses Jesus Christ and does not go to the temple to worship idols. Hearing this, Aetius demanded to immediately find her and bring her before the court. Warriors quickly found the girl and sent her to the eparch. Aetius, seeing the beautiful Paraskeva, was fascinated by her beauty. The saint was not sad, but rather glowed with joy. Aetius wished to know whether people slander the beautiful girl. Paraskeva answered without fear and doubt that she was a true Christian and confessor of the Lord. Aetius invited her to worship the gods in the temple of idols. For this, he promised her to save her life. The citizen of the emperor did not hide the fact that he liked Paraskev very much, and he offered the saint to marry him. But the maiden was adamant. “My only bridegroom is Jesus,” she answered. Aetius threatened Paraskeva with the agonizing suffering that the executioners had prepared for her. But the girl was not afraid of this, because she knew that after all the tortures the Lord would take her to him. The enraged Aetius ordered the executioners to take off her clothes and beat the young body with oxen. During terrible torment, Paraskeva did not utter a word of mercy, but only inwardly praised the Lord. Aetius, unable to observe how they destroy the beauty of the girl, ordered the executioners to stop and once again ordered the saint to go to worship the idols. Paraskeva, gritting her teeth, was silent. For this, Aetius insulted the entire Christian family, after which the girl spat in his face. For the eparch, this was the last straw. Beside himself with anger, he ordered the executioners to hang Paraskevu upside down and tear her with iron claws.
The unfortunate woman prayed, and her blood warmed the earth. When the executioner saw that the girl was already dying, he informed Aetius of this. He ordered Paraskeva to be thrown into prison, so that the destruction of the earth would be more painful for her.
Angel phenomenon
Wounded and exhausted, Paraskeva Friday lay on the floor of the prison cell, as if dead. But the Lord, seeing her all-embracing love for the Holy Trinity, sent the Angel to the girl. He appeared to Paraskeva with a cross, a crown of thorns, a spear, a cane and a sponge. Angel comforted the tormented girl, rubbing her wounds. Christ healed Paraskeva - the body became healthy again, and her face lit up with radiant beauty. The girl shone like an angel. In gratitude for healing, Paraskeva began to glorify the Lord.
Unexpected discovery
In the morning, the guard, appearing in the Paraskeva prison cell, discovered that the girl was completely healthy. Filled with joy, she sang prayers and praised the Lord. Frightened, the guards rushed to Aetius and reported an unprecedented miracle. The eparch called Paraskeva to him and said that her healing was the merit of the idols worshiped by the Romans. Aetius, taking the girl by the hand, led her to one of the temples. Paraskeva, not resisting, entered the temple Turning to heaven, she said a prayer to the Lord, after which a terrible earthquake occurred. All the statues of the gods collapsed and turned to dust. Many who have seen this have converted to Christianity. And only Aetius regarded this as a ritual of powerful magic, ordering the saint to be suspended from a pillar and to burn its sides with lamps. Paraskeva again turned to the Lord. Through her prayers, the Almighty averted the hot fire from the virgin, directing it to the torturers. The people who saw the miracles performed by the Lord through Paraskeva believed in Jesus Christ, rejecting paganism. Aetius was afraid that he would lose his power, which was based on a belief in idols. Therefore, he ordered Paraskeva to be chopped off. Finally, the Lord takes the soul of the tormented, fragile girl into the Kingdom of Heaven, where she was expected to be eternal bliss.
The fate of the eparch
Having finished with the long-suffering Paraskeva, Aetius, as if nothing had happened, decided to go hunting. On the road to the forest, his horse, standing on its hind legs, threw the ruler to the ground. He died on the spot, sending his soul to eternal perdition to the underworld.
After that, Christians, many of whom believed in the Lord thanks to Paraskeva, took the body of the virgin and were able to bury her in the house church.
The relics of the saint healed the mental and physical illnesses of people through her prayers before the Lord.
Image of the saint
Paraskeva Friday, the icon of which is presented in this article, is depicted as a fair-haired girl with a crown of thorns on her head. She is dressed in red maforium and blue cover. In the left hand, the great martyr holds a scroll with the text of the Symbol of Faith, and in the right hand - a cross symbolizing faith in Christ and the suffering that Paraskeva suffered Friday. The saint icon up to the 20th century was in every peasant house. Farmers especially honored her image, decorating it with elegant ribbons, flowers or a robe. On the day of remembrance of the Great Martyr (November 10 in a new style), peasants necessarily came to church service and consecrated the fruits that were stored in the house until next year.
Also in Russian villages, on the Paraskeva Friday holiday, it was customary to consecrate a piece of linen cloth, which hanged the image of a saint. That is why in Orthodoxy one can also find another name for the Great Martyr - Paraskeva Lnjanitsa. The peasants prayed to the saint for the preservation of cattle, especially cows.
Paraskeva Friday ... What is this saint praying for?
First of all, people involved in agriculture and domestic life, as well as those who have livestock, resort to her help. Paraskeva Friday, having vowed a virgin, prays before the Lord for those who expect a worthy bridegroom. Those who cannot conceive a child for a long time can also turn to the great martyress in the hope of a miracle of procreation. Paraskeva Friday also helps to establish peace in the family, which all Orthodox Christians pray for.
The saint heals the spiritual and physical ailments of believers, especially in cases of unbearable pain, as well as during devilish temptations.
Oddly enough, Paraskeva Friday also helps in trade matters, which they pray for those associated with this activity. Hence the tradition to organize fairs on Friday.
The Paraskevs are often placed at springs and wells in order for the water to gain healing power. In Russia, it was also customary to tie flowers to her image, and then make a decoction of them, which was used to treat not only physical, but also mental illness. Paraskeva’s Friday prayer was so powerful that people hid its text in a piece of cloth, which was applied to a sore spot and healed.
Cover me soon!
In Russia, people revered Paraskeva Friday as the intercessor of girls who want to get married. That is why they even prayed for Pokrov, asking for help in matters of love. Paraskeva Friday, who never thinks about marriage and vows virginity, helps chaste girls make a worthy choice in the desire to create a family.
Friday Keeper
Saint Paraskeva appeared to our ancestors as a strict woman who commanded them to strictly observe fasting on Wednesday and Friday, namely, not to do household chores and not to cause discord among the people. She also forbade them to eat fast food these days. The saint came to many peasants in visions, so no one doubted that it was the great martyress herself. That is why in some parts of our country the custom to postpone sewing, washing clothes and other things on Paraskeva Friday is still preserved.
Our ancestors also said that according to
the holy Great Martyr went to the villages of Little Russia, whose body was punctured with needles because of the sins of women who did not observe strict fasting in the days allotted for her. In honor of Paraskeva in Russia, 12 Friday days were established, which were timed to coincide with some great holiday, such as the Annunciation, Easter, the beginning of Great Lent, etc.
Pagan origins
In ancient Russia, the image of Paraskeva Fridays was often mixed with the pagan goddess Mokosha, who was revered as the guardian of the family hearth. Therefore, the Orthodox saint is credited with patronage of agriculture and household life.
Some believe that the veneration of Paraskeva by traders is due to the fact that since ancient times Friday was a fair day.
Similar debates about the patronage of the saint were debunked by the Holy Synod, which forbade the confusion of the image of the great martyr with the pagan goddess. But the tradition of consecration of fruits and sources has survived to the present day.
At the crossroads of the roads of Russia, special poles or lodges were previously set up, on which the pedestrian was supposed to make a sacrifice. With the adoption of Christianity, such buildings were removed, and towers and chapels were built in their place. Many of them were erected in honor of Paraskeva Friday.
For example, the Paraskeva Pyatnitsa Chapel, located in Krasnoyarsk on Karaulnaya Gora, is considered one of the famous buildings. This tower is considered a symbol of the city. Her image can be found on a ten-ruble note in 1997. Similar chapels are also erected in other cities of Russia.
Temples and churches in honor of the saint
In memory of the great martyr, many Orthodox complexes were built, the central figure of which was Paraskeva Friday. In Butovo, a church was erected that dates back to the 16th century. The wooden temple was burned during the Lithuanian invasion. The stone version was rebuilt by the end of the 17th century. The church was restored in the XX century. Paraskeva Fridays Temple was built in the form of a ship - a spiritual guide for the Orthodox. Crowned with golden domes, it is as if inviting people to a long and difficult but worthy voyage along the river of life and faith.
The Paraskeva Friday Church is also built in Yaroslavl. Its official name is Pyatnitsko-Tugovsky temple. It was built at the end of the 17th century. One of its chapels is dedicated to the Feast of the Annunciation. The Paraskeva Fridays Temple experienced special hardships in the 30s of the XX century. Then, by order of the Soviet authorities, the bell tower and one of the domes were demolished. It was only possible to restore the Paraskeva Pyatnitsa church by the end of the 20th century, when the church was transferred to the Yaroslavl diocese.
How to contact a saint?
The prayer of Paraskeva Friday read with all my heart is very effective. After all, all saints are mediators between the Lord and people. The petitions of martyrs and reverends in the face of the Almighty are always fulfilled. Therefore, prayer is an indispensable component of the life of an Orthodox person. In domestic affairs, as well as love affairs, Paraskeva Friday became an assistant to the Russian people. What do young girls pray and ask for? Of course, about a worthy bridegroom. For such cases, there is a special prayer addressed to Paraskeva. In it, the virgins ask the saint to help them find her husband, just as the great martyress found her heavenly bridegroom.
Many churches dedicated to Paraskeva Friday are located in small villages and towns. One of these is the church in Hvoshchevatka, Voronezh region. In this relatively small village (population not exceeding 300 people), people are trying to build a temple that was once destroyed during the bombing of World War II. Not far from this church is a holy spring called "Seven Streams", known for its healing power not only in the Voronezh region, but throughout Russia.
You can also visit the Pyatnitsky temple in Suzdal, whose official name is St. Nicholas Church. On the site of the now standing stone building was a wooden complex named after Paraskeva Friday. And although in 1772 it was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the locals still call it Pyatnitsky. Initially, the church was intended for winter services. That is why it was built in the style of Posad architecture. This type of temples is characterized by elongated east-west forms and semicircular apses. A distinctive feature of the Suzdal Pyatnitsky temple is the octagon located in the middle of the structure, placed on the four and crowned with a dome in the form of a flowerpot. Such a structure is not typical for Suzdal architecture.
Thus, Saint Paraskeva Friday was revered and will be revered by Orthodox Christians for its spiritual exploits. For many of them, this great martyr is an example of great spiritual strength and courage, unshakable faith and all-embracing love for the Lord, as well as the main intercessor of the people before the Almighty.