The Orthodox Christians following the old calendar celebrate the Feast of Saint Parascheva on October 27. Archpriest Octavian Mosin, spokesman for the Moldovan Metropolitan Church, has told Info-Prim Neo that the Feast of Pious Parascheva started to be celebrated 3-4 centuries ago, after he relics were brought to Iasi, where they remain until now. At least one church bearing the name of Saint Parascheva exists in every district of Moldova. Saint Parascheva was born in the village Epivat in Eastern Tracia, at the beginning of the XIth century, in a wealthy, noble, and pious Christian family. At the age of ten, while attending the liturgy in the "Church of the Holy Theotokos", she heard the words, “Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me.” The words of the Lord had a profound effect on the young girl, and they became the subject of her meditations. The future St. Parascheva began to dress poor people in her expensive clothes - her good deeds later earning her recognition as a patron saint of such trades as spinning, sewing, weaving, and knitting – but her parents objected, finding the girl's charity more than they could understand or support, and trying to get her to stop. To follow her calling, Parascheva abandoned her wealth and privileges, left her parents, and ran away to Constantinople. There, near relics of saints, she spent her time in prayer, meditating on the words of Christ. To elude her parents, who were traveling from city to city trying to find her, she moved to Chalcedon, and then to the "Church of the Most Holy Theotokos", in Heraclea Pontica, near the Black Sea. She spent the next five years there, living an austere life of continuous prayer and devotion. During her prayers she received visions of the Holy Virgin Mary and in one of the visions, she was instructed to go to Jerusalem. After spending some time in the city, she joined a convent in the Jordanian desert. A few years later, she returned to Constantinople and then, at the age of twenty-five, moved to the village of Katikratia where, at the "Church of the Holy Apostles", she lived the remaining two years of her life Later on her relics were moved to Tirnovo, in Bulgaria, then to Belgrade, in Serbia, and finally to Constantinople. In 1641, they were given as a gift to the Prince of Moldavia, Vasile Lupu, in recognition of his support for the Ecumenical Patriarchy of Constantinople. Her intact relics have remained in Iasi ever since. She is venerated as the Protector of Iasi and all of Moldavia and each year, hundreds of thousands of Orthodox faithful and hierarchs from many countries gather in Iasi to celebrate her feast day and venerate her holy relics, which continue to work miracles.