"If you want to get healthy, come to me!" - from the miracles of Saint Paraskeva

Those who come to the "Pious One", as her friends call her, pray to her for the solution of everyday problems, ask her for comfort for the troubles that have befallen them, health, prosperity in the home, and joy. And the Saint listens to each one and does not delay in coming to the aid of those who put their hope in her power and pray to her with faith. The miracles of the Pious Paraskeva are countless. Many are known from the stories of those who received them, but many have remained the secret of those who experienced them.

Saint Parascheva of Iași, Romania, enjoys a special cult in the country, as if different from all the other saints who have relics in Romania. Every day at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Iași, from morning until late evening, a small continuous pilgrimage is made, with believers of all ages and from all places, who come to pray. Especially, on holidays, during fasts and every Friday (considered the day of the Venerable Parascheva), many believers come and worship with faith, bringing flowers, gifts, and clothing that they touch to her relic, in order to receive help, health, and blessing. Because the saint heals the lame, the deaf, the crippled, the crippled and all kinds of diseases, even those considered hopeless; she removes all incurable weakness, just by touching the relic.

Here are some of the miracles performed by the Venerable Parascheva, recounted by believers in letters sent to the priests serving at the Metropolitanate of Iași, recorded in the Romanian Patericon and in the book The Sufferings of Mother Blondina, a Martyr of Siberia:

• An engineer with lung disease was hospitalized for surgery. During this time, his mother went to the relics of the Venerable Parascheva, asking her for health for her son. For two weeks, the doctors kept postponing the surgery. And noticing that the lung lesions had miraculously healed, they told the patient that there was no need for surgery and to return home because “there is someone praying to God for you!”

• One day, a 40-year-old woman entered the Holy Metropolitanate, running through the church and crying loudly. A serving priest who was in the church at the time asked her what was wrong. She told him that she had sinusitis, but, not having time to treat herself, she found herself with terrible headaches, and then her whole head swelled up. Finally, going to the doctor, he told her that her entire brain was covered with pus and that he had to perform a very difficult operation, but that she would not survive this operation, and therefore she should wait for death. The priest asked her if she believed in God, and she said yes, but she rarely came to church, having a job, children and great poverty. Then, he made her alms and took her to the Pious, where she worshipped. The priest says that only three months later, he met her on the street, healthy and cheerful. The woman then told the servant of God that “about three weeks after I gave the pomelnik, pus began to flow from my nose, and it flowed for a long time. All the infection drained from the brain and I became healthy”.

• A three and a half year old child suddenly stopped speaking. Then the mother took the child in her arms and came to ask for help from Saint Paraskeva. While she was praying with tears, suddenly the child cried out: “Mother, mother! Here is the Lord-God!” Thanking the Most Venerable Paraskeva from the heart, the mother returned home with the healthy child.

• Once, a lady came from Bucharest, bringing a large and beautiful Persian carpet as a gift to Saint Paraskeva. The priest who was at the relic of the Venerable asked her what this gift meant. She told him that her husband, a 45-year-old man, had fallen ill, and despite all the progress in medicine, the doctors could not find a cure for his illness, telling him to prepare for death, that he had cancer. But one day a friend came to their house and told them that he was leaving for Iași, advising them to give him money and alms to take to Saint Paraskeva. Two months later, the man got well without any treatment and, as a thank you, his wife personally brought this carpet to Saint Paraskeva.

• Another woman, upset that her husband’s entire face was covered in ugly boils that festered and caused him great pain, came to Saint Paraskeva, cried, prayed, and gave alms. Many doctors had tried various treatments and ointments to cure him, but everything was in vain, and it seemed that after each treatment, the wounds became more inflamed and spread further. When she came to Iaşi, the woman touched the relics of the saint with the clean handkerchief she had with her, and when she got home, she put the handkerchief on her husband's face, and his pain subsided. After a week, the boils also disappeared.

• A priest from Transylvania says that he was sick with lung problems and, after taking many injections with antibiotics, he felt that he was starting to go blind. When he went to the doctor, he confirmed his misfortune. Immediately, the priest got on the train and came to Iaşi. It was 10:00 p.m., and the Cathedral was closed. Then he knelt outside, next to the wall where the relics of Saint Parascheva were, and prayed for several hours, crying. The next day, he felt that he was healthy, and to this day, he has no problems with his eyes or lungs, and he also serves the Holy Mass at a monastery in Transylvania.