St. Paraskeva

St. Paraskeva (Bulg. Petka) lived in the second half of X century in the Byzantium Thrace. She was born in the town of
Epivates, near Kallikratia and her parents were devout and respected people. The legend says that when she was ten years old, Saint Petka heard in the church the voice of Jesus Christ and decided to dedicate her life to faith. She dressed like a beggar and often gave her property to the poor. When her parents died, she left her home and visited the sacred place of Constantinople (Istanbul) and spent five years fasting near the isolated Church Virgin Mary’s Cerecloth in Iraklia. After five years she left to the Holy places, she visited Jerusalem and the Holy Land and established herself at the Jordanian Desert. Knowing that she would die soon, she returned to Epivates through Istanbul and established herself in the Church of the Holy Apostles where she lived isolated and holy life and died after two years. Sympathetic citizens buried the nun outside the city limits as she was a foreigner.

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