The Nun Paraskeva the Serbian
Commemorated on October 14
The Nun Paraskeva the Serbian
was born into a pious Bulgarian family, living during the XI Century in the
village of Epivato, betwixt Silistra and Constantinople. One day, while listening
to Divine-services, the words of the Lord pierced her heart like an arrow:
"Whoso doth wish to come follow Me, let him deny himself" (Mt. 16:
24). From that time she began to give away her clothing to the needy, for which
reason she endured much grief from her family. Upon the death of her parents,
the saint was tonsured into monasticism and withdrew to the Jordan valley,
where she famously asceticised into old age.
But two years before her death an
Angel appeared to the Nun Paraskeva and bid her return to her native-land,
which she did. The saint died peacefully. Her relics, resting at the cathedral
temple at Yassa, are marked by incorruptibility and many an healing.
© 1996-2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos.
