Saint Petka was born in the 11th century in the city of Epivat, which is between Silivria and Constantinople. Her parents were very religious and raised their children to be pious. After her parents died, St. Petka strictly devoted herself to the monastic life, and with fasting and prayer, she committed her life to God. After five years of fasting and prayer, she went to the Holy Land (Palestine) to live in the desert of Jordan.
In her old age, she returned to Constantinople to the Church of Holy Theotokosin Blaherna to venerate the miraculous icon of the Mother of God.
Two centuries after her death (1238 A.D.), the Bulgarian emperor John Asen decided to move St. Petka's relics from Epivat, which then was under the Crusader's control, to Trnovo, the capital of Bulgaria. After the Turkish occupation of Bulgaria, the relics were moved again--this time to Vidim on the Danube (Vlaska). In 1396 when the Turks also conquered this area, the Serbian princess Milica acted to bring the holy relics to Belgrade. In 1417 the Church of St. Petka was built in Belgrade and her holy relics were placed there. In 1521 after the mighty Sulleyman II conquered Belgrade, St. Petka's remains, along with many Serbian families, were moved to Constantinople. There her remains were received with great respect and solemnity and the Sultan brought them to his castle. Numerous miracles occurred there, which caused the holy Mother Petka-Paraskeva also to be worshipped by Muslims. In 1641, with permission from Constantinople's patriarch Partenije I, the pious Moldavian ruler Vasilije Lupul brought St. Petka's remains to Moldavia's capital, Jash, where on 14/27 October they were placed in the church of the Three Holy Hierarchs, where St. Petka's holy relics continued to glorify the Lord with wonders and miracles.
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