Tens of thousands of pilgrims have already passed to the relics of Saint Parascheva. About 12,000 is now waiting in a row to worship
The believers are waiting in a row to worship in the face of the racle of the Holy Cuvioase Parascheva. Photo source: Agerpres
About 12,000 people stay, on Friday night, a row of several kilometers waiting to worship at the rack with the relics of Saint Cuvioase Parascheva, which was removed in a special canopy on the esplanade in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Iași, reports Agerpres.
Since the beginning of the pilgrimage, according to the organizers, over 59,000 pilgrims have passed to the Saint Parascheva to worship and pray.
This year, over 30 restaurants, cafes and pastors have announced that they will prepare 40,000 food, tea and water packages that will be divided free of charge to the believers who come to the pilgrimage to the Metropolitan Cathedral in Iasi. Another 100,000 servings with food and tea will be offered by the parishes and monasteries within the Archdiocese of Iasi.
For the persons who come to this period in Iasi to worship at St. Parascheva, the representatives of the Archdiocese of Iasi also prepared 100,000 copies with the “pilgrim's guide”, which contains details about the program, routes and useful recommendations.
The organizers announced that they also provide the “pilgrim's phone”. Also, on the websites doxologia.ro and mmb.ro are displayed in real time information on the place where the last person is located in a row and the waiting time until the scrape of Saint Parascheva.
The annual pilgrimage to the relics of Saint Parascheva
Between October 8 and 15, the Metropolitan Cathedral in Iasi becomes a place of pilgrimage, as the dedication of St. Cuvioase Parascheva is celebrated on October 14th. Annually, this pilgrimage participates, on average, 300,000 believers in the country and abroad, which transforms Iasi into one of the largest pilgrimage centers in the country.
Also known as Saint Friday, Cuvioasa Parascheva was born in the town of Epivat, today the Cape Kaliacra, from Thrace, on the Marmara Sea, in the first half of the eleventh century. The relics of Cuvioasa were kept for almost 200 years in a church in Epivat, then in Târnovo, and in the sixteenth century they were taken to Constantinople. In 1641, on June 13, the voivode Vasile Lupu managed to bring them to Iasi, placing them in the church of the “Holy Three Hierarchs”.
Currently, the relics of Cuvioasei Parascheva are at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Iasi. The rack of Saint Parascheva was moved here from the end of the 19th century, in 1888, after the relics escaped from the fire in the “Three Hierarchs” Church.
