Life
Saint Venerable Mother Paraskeva — known in the Serbian people as Sveta Petka — was born in the mid-tenth century in the town of Epibatos (present-day Selimpaşa) on the shore of the Sea of Marmara, between Silivri and Constantinople. She came from a prosperous and pious family noted for its prayer and charity. Her brother Euthymios likewise walked the path of holiness and became Bishop of Madytos (989–996).
Even as a girl she felt a deep love for Christ. Hearing in church the words of our Lord — “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross” — she resolved, after the death of her parents, to distribute all her possessions to the poor. She left her hometown, went to Constantinople, and took monastic vows in the Church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia), receiving the monastic name Paraskeva. She then journeyed to the Jordanian desert, where she spent many years in strict ascetic struggle — fasting, prayer, tears, and vigils — deep into old age.
When an angel of God appeared to her in a dream and commanded her to leave the desert and return to her homeland, she obeyed and set out toward Epibatos. After her return she lived two more years and reposed in Christ in the neighboring settlement of Kalikratia, at the close of the tenth or the beginning of the eleventh century. She was buried apart from others, as an unknown ascetic — only much later were her identity and holiness revealed through divine visions granted simultaneously to a devout man named Euphemia and a devout George. Her incorrupt relics were then solemnly raised and became a source of many miracles.
The relics of Saint Petka had a turbulent journey through the centuries: from Epibatos they were taken to Constantinople, and in 1238 Bulgarian Tsar John Asen II transferred them to his capital, Tărnovo. After the fall of Tărnovo (1393–1396) they passed briefly through Vidin, then Bursa, then Wallachia. In 1398 they came to the Serbian Županjac, around 1400 to the monastery of Ljubostinja, and in 1417 were solemnly brought to Belgrade, where they rested in the cathedral church for more than a century. After the fall of Belgrade in 1521, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent transferred them to Constantinople; in 1641 the Moldavian ruler Vasile Lupu obtained them and brought them to Iași (Romania), where they rest to this day in the cathedral church. Two fingers of her right hand are preserved in the Chapel of Saint Petka on the Kalemegdan fortress in Belgrade.
In the Serbian people she is called “Petka” because she traditionally fasted on Fridays, in remembrance of Christ’s Passion. She is to be distinguished from Saint Paraskeva of Rome (July 26, Old Calendar) and Saint Paraskeva of Iconium, with whom she is often confused. In Serbian tradition she is “the Serbian Petka” — consoler of women in distress, guardian of the family, protectress of maidens, widows, spinners, weavers, and the chaste, and a helper to seafarers.
Tropar (Tone 4)
Having loved the peaceful life of the desert and voluntarily following Christ thy Bridegroom, thou didst take up His easy yoke from thy youth, arming thyself with the sign of the Cross against spiritual enemies. By thy labors, fasting, and tears thou didst quench the fiery arrows of the Evil One, glorious Paraskeva. And now thou dost pray to Christ God for all of us, that He may save our souls.
Kontakion (Tone 6)
O holy and desert-loving dove, Paraskeva, God-bearing mother — the faithful glorify thee in song; for thou didst cast away the tumult of the world and embrace the yoke of the Cross, drawing near to Christ through ascetic labor and fasting. Beseech Him to deliver us from every affliction and to preserve us in the Orthodox faith.
About the Feast
Petkovica — the feast dedicated to Saint Petka — is celebrated on October 27 by the New (Gregorian) calendar, corresponding to October 14 by the Old (Julian) calendar. It falls in autumn, at the time when the fields have been harvested and Serbian families traditionally begin their winter preparations.
Petkovica is especially popular as a “women’s feast” — it is kept by families in which the women of the household are particularly honored, and it is often inherited by widows and elder Serbian women who wish to place their home and children under the protection of Saint Petka. It is widely celebrated in Šumadija, eastern Serbia, Vojvodina, and among Serbs in Bosnia.
Because Petkovica does not fall within a fast period (unless it coincides with a Wednesday or Friday), the feast-day table may include meat, though a Lenten spread is often prepared in honor of the saint’s ascetic example. The slava bread and slava wheat (koljivo) occupy the central place. Customary dishes include Lenten stuffed cabbage, prebranac, salads of fresh and pickled vegetables, boiled fish, and seasonal fruit — walnuts, apples, quinces. The mistress of the house prepares the bread, while the priest or senior family member cuts and breaks it with a prayer to Saint Petka, asking for the health of the women of the household and the flourishing of the home.