Venerable Martyr Paraskeva (+138–161)

The Venerable Martyr Paraskeva was the only daughter of right-believing parents. From her youth she dedicated herself to the service of the Lord. After the death of her mother and father the saint distributed all her property to the poor, became a nun, and took up the labour of an apostle: she tirelessly preached the teaching of Christ among the pagans and set many of the godless on the way of salvation. When this was reported to the Emperor Antoninus Pius (138–161), Saint Paraskeva was seized and brought before the tribunal. The blessed one boldly confessed her faith before the judges. Neither promises of honour and glory nor threats of torture and death could bend the Lord’s chosen one. They put a red-hot helmet on the saint’s head and threw her into a cauldron of boiling pitch, but the martyr, protected by the grace of the Holy Spirit, remained unharmed. When the emperor looked into the cauldron, Paraskeva splashed a few drops of the boiling pitch into his face, and he was blinded. The desperate autocrat asked the lamb of Christ herself for help, and she, by prayer offered to the Lord, gave the lawless man back his sight. After this the emperor stopped Paraskeva’s torture and set her free.

Going about preaching the Gospel, the blessed mother came to a city governed by Asclepius. Here she was again arrested, brought before the tribunal and sentenced to death. The condemned woman was taken to be devoured by a dreadful serpent that dwelt in a cave, but by making the sign of the cross she killed the reptile. Shaken by this miracle, Asclepius and the inhabitants of the city believed in the true God and set His handmaid free. Paraskeva went on preaching the saving teaching. In a city where a certain Tarasius was governor, the venerable mother was seized and, after cruel torture, beheaded (+138–161).