Paraskeva of Rzhev

Saint Paraskeva of Rzhev was, according to local tradition, the abbess of a convent in Rzhev, but her life remains almost unknown. The Nativity of Christ Convent in Rzhev was later turned into a parish church. It is spoken of in a few works on the history of Russian monasteries, but an abbess Paraskeva is not mentioned. Only Archimandrite Leonid calls her a saint, not officially canonized, buried near the church of the former convent. No one in Rzhev knows her grave or any monument.

Filimonov's manual for icon painters describes her image thus: a blue klobuk with crosses on her head, venerable's vestments, a scroll in her hand, the other hand at her breast. So she is shown on the icon of the Synaxis of the Saints of Tver.

In Moscow there was a church of Saint Paraskeva of Rzhev at the Prechistensky Gate, with a side chapel of the Holy Martyr Paraskeva Friday. In 1531, by order of Grand Prince Vasily Ivanovich, two ancient wonderworking icons of Saint Paraskeva and of Saint Paraskeva Friday were brought from Rzhev to Moscow for renewal. They were adorned with silver and gold, copies were made, and the grand prince ordered a church built. The church was consecrated on 27 November 1531, and the original icons were sent back to Rzhev, where on 29 November a feast was kept in honour of both Paraskevas. Word of the Moscow church stops after 1685.

The author of the page asks whether Paraskeva of Rzhev may in fact be Saint Paraskeva venerated in Moldavia, whose commemoration is on 14 October (that of Rzhev was kept on 13 October). It might be suggested by the fact that at the consecration of the Moscow church the grand princess Elena, daughter of the ruler Stephen of Moldavia, was present. Against this stands the fact that the icons were brought from Rzhev itself. Today in the Dormition Cathedral in Rzhev there is an ancient venerated icon of the Great Martyr Paraskeva Friday, but no icon of the abbess Paraskeva.

Saint Paraskeva of Rzhev is commemorated on 18 July (a movable date), in the new style, in the Synaxis of the Saints of Tver.