Saint Venerable Paraskeva (or «Saint Friday», as people call her) is one of the saints most loved by Romanians. Her relics, housed in the Metropolitan Cathedral in Iași, have been carried for centuries through villages afflicted by drought, war and illness. At her feast on October 14, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims queue for hours — many with entire lists of names, for the living and the dead.
Prayer to Saint Venerable Paraskeva
Venerable Mother Paraskeva,
most venerable mother and bride of Christ,
who left earthly goods behind
and obtained heavenly gifts,
who loved fasting and prayer
and followed Christ with humility,now, standing before God among the venerable saints,
ask for mercy upon our souls.We turn to you, venerable mother,
for your prayer has great power before God:
save us from troubles, illnesses and sorrows,
ask for health for our bodies
and salvation for our souls,that we may sing to you with love:
Rejoice, Venerable Mother Paraskeva! Amen.
The short prayer (in times of need)
Saint Venerable Paraskeva, our mother,
do not abandon us, but help us
and pray to Christ our God for us!
What people ask Saint Paraskeva to help with
- Health and healing — especially long and serious illnesses;
- Children — many mothers turn their eyes towards her;
- Family and home — for «the home in evil's path»;
- Drought and the fruits of the earth — her relics have traditionally been carried through the fields;
- For the dead — pilgrims bring entire lists of the departed to her relics.
How commemoration is performed
In Iași, pilgrims write on lists the names of loved ones (living and dead) and hand them in for commemoration at the cathedral. At home, those unable to travel there can offer: alms (a gift to a poor person in the saint's name), a lit candle at church and, above all, the evening prayer with a petition to the saint. October 14 is the feast day — with fasting on the eve, from the evening of October 13.
Who Saint Paraskeva was
A young woman from Thrace (the eleventh century) who distributed her wealth to the poor and lived as a hermit in Constantinople and the Holy Land. She died at 27, but her veneration continued to grow; her relics reached Iași in 1641, where they have remained for almost 400 years — Moldavia's «most victorious army», as tradition says.
Frequently asked questions
Are Saint Paraskeva and «Saint Friday» the same? In folk tradition, yes: because the saint died on a Friday and her veneration is linked to Friday (a day of fasting and prayer for the dead).
Can one ask for something «with fulfilment»? The Church teaches us to ask «with prostrations and patience» — and, if the request is not fulfilled, to receive the «no» as an answer, not as forgetfulness. Saints are not vending machines; they are friends.
