A saint's day
St Paraskeva of Iconium
Also called Paraskeva Pyatnitsa
The Great Martyr Paraskeva of Iconium was born to a rich and pious family who so revered the day of the Lord's Passion that they named their daughter for it. She gave her life to Christ, refused to sacrifice to idols, endured beating and iron claws, was miraculously healed in prison and was beheaded. In Russia she is loved as Paraskeva Pyatnitsa, the women's intercessor, and churches and wayside chapels bore her name.
The dates
- Kept on
- 28 October (10 November on the Old Calendar)
- Next, New Calendar
- Next, Old Calendar
The New Calendar (the Greek, Antiochian, Romanian and Bulgarian churches, the OCA and most converts) keeps fixed feasts on the church date; the Old Calendar (the Russian, Serbian and Georgian churches, Jerusalem and Mount Athos) keeps them 13 days later. Pascha and the feasts that follow it are kept on the same day by both.
How the day is kept
Russian village girls prayed to her for a good bridegroom, and Orthodox women ask her for a happy marriage, peace in the home and the health of their children.
In old Russia she guarded market days and fairs, and by folk custom no spinning was done on her day.
Three holy women share the name: Greeks chiefly honor St Paraskevi of Rome, the protector of the eyes, and Serbs, Bulgarians and Romanians St Paraskeva the New, whose relics rest at Iasi. Each family keeps the name day of the saint its own tradition follows.
Name days
These names keep their name day on this feast: