Thousands of pilgrims from the country and abroad participated on Saturday morning in the procession of the reliquary with the relics of Saint Pious Paraskeva around the cathedral of the Metropolis of Moldova and Bucovina in Iasi.

• Believers cover hundreds of kilometers and wait for hours to worship the relics of Saint Paraskeva / 300,000 people are expected to make the pilgrimage from Iasi in the next few days

Around 6:00 a.m., the Akathist to St. Paraskeva was read in the Metropolitan Cathedral, later the reliquary was taken out and carried in a procession around the cathedral, then placed in a specially arranged canopy in the Metropolitan yard for the worship of the faithful. .

The council of 32 priests, headed by p.s. Nichifor Botoshanianu, carried the casket with the relics of St. Paraskeva in the procession. There were four stops, one at each corner of the cathedral. In addition, the procession went to the pedestrian Štefan cel Mare si Sfant, Sfant Paraskeva gate and entered St. Andrew’s gate.

Thousands of pilgrims took part in the procession. Most of them came to Iași from Friday morning and sat in line, waiting for the moment when they would worship the relics of the holy pious Paraskeva. Most of the pilgrims are from Voluntari, they were brought to Iasi by 150 carriages.

In the following hours, the clergy will perform the rite of consecration of water and Holy Liturgy.

Pilgrims who will go to worship the relics of the pious Saint Paraskeva these days will also be able to honor the relics of Saint Andrew of Crete, nicknamed the “exarch of church singers.” The remains will be brought to Iasi on Wednesday evening from the Cathedral of Arkalochori in Crete.

Also known as Holy Friday, the pious Paraskeva was born in the city of Epivatus, now Cape Kaliakra, in Thrace, on the shores of the Sea of ​​Marmara, in the first half of the 11th century. She would die at the age of 27 in her native village of Epivat. The relics of the Pious were kept in the church in Epivat for almost 200 years, then in Tyrnovo, and in the 16th century they were transported to Constantinople. In 1641, on June 13, Voivode Vasile Lupu managed to bring them to Iasi, placing the “Sphinxes of the Three Hierarchies” in the church of the monastery.

The relics of St. Paraskeva were transferred to the Metropolitan Cathedral at the end of the 19th century, in 1888, after the relics remained intact after a fire in the Church of the Three Saints. Since then, the relics of the venerable Paraskeva are in the Metropolitan Cathedral in Iasi.

Saint Pious Paraskeva is honored throughout the Romanian Patriarchate and is considered the protector of Moldova and all the suffering. The decision to canonize Saint Paraskeva was made by members of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1955. At the same time, the date of the celebration of St. Paraskeva was set – October 14. (Source: Agerpres)