By Fr. Elias Makos
While the manner of Saint Paraskevi's martyrdom is preserved, there are various versions about the place of her martyrdom.
However, it is indisputable that she stood out for her Christian ethos, which was connected to the truth of faith.
And she spread the gospel in various places, with the power and grace of God. God ignited a flame in her, and the Saint kept this flame unquenchable.
The brilliance of her life, made even more brilliant by her martyrdom, had an effect on others.
That is why she became the target of Christ's enemies. She was imprisoned twice and after being tortured, was released. The third time, when she was arrested, in Greece, where she had come from Rome, she was beheaded.
She endured being forced to wear a red-hot helmet, but she remained unharmed and intact, because she trusted in the Lord. The same thing happened when they put her in a boiler with oil and tar. And again when they threw her to wild beasts to be devoured.
That she was martyred in Greece and not in Rome is reinforced by the fact that she is not mentioned in the Roman Martyrology.
The place where she was decapitated is a point to be investigated, as she lived in the early Christian years and her biographers do not provide detailed information.
Later researchers mention Tempe of Larissa, others Thessaloniki, however, according to tradition, it is more likely that she was martyred in Thesprotia at the time, specifically in the place where the Pounta Monastery is today, near Kanallaki of Preveza, next to the mythical Acheron lake.
Her tomb is also preserved there, in which her headless body is said to be buried.
Over her grave, a three-aisled temple was erected in her honor, in which, according to tradition, her head was also placed.
In fact, next to the tomb, the stone is also preserved, where she was leaning and praying during her beheading.
However, a portion of her skull is housed in the Petraki Monastery of Athens.
Saint Paraskevi is credited with many healings of the sick, since with the Lord's gifts the order of nature is defeated.
Regardless of the place of her martyrdom, we believers must pay attention to the characteristics of Saint Paraskevi.
The renunciation of self, that is, the abandonment of the pleasure-loving or self-loving will, the death of the ego and her acceptance of martyrdom.
Self-denial is essentially the loss of our personal security, which we instinctively always want in this life, and companionship with Jesus on the cross and in the passion.
Saint Paraskevi chose and loved this way of life and worked on it throughout her life.
She still accepted all the trials and struggled and succeeded in appropriating Christ, knowing that no one ascends to heaven with ease.
The loss of her life for the sake of Christ and His gospel was the salvation of her life.
And we, having Saint Paraskevi as an example, let's detach ourselves from our old self, which fights with rage every change for the better.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
