Paraskeva Friday | |
|---|---|
 Saint Paraskeva-Friday,Galich, Russia, photo before 1917 | |
| Venerated in | Folk Orthodoxy |
| Influences | Priyah,Freyja,Mokosh[1] |
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In thefolk Christianity of SlavicEastern Orthodox Christians,Paraskeva Friday is a mythologized image based on apersonification ofFriday as the day of the week and the cult of saintsParaskeva of Iconium, called Friday andParaskeva of the Balkans.[1] In folk tradition, the image of Paraskeva Friday correlates with the image ofSaint Anastasia of the Lady of Sorrows, and theSaint Nedelya as apersonified image of Sunday.[1] Typologically, Paraskeva Pyatnitsa has parallels with day-personifications of other cultures, for example, the TajikBibi-Seshanbi ('Lady Tuesday').[2]: 368
The wordparaskeva (Greek:παρασκευη,Greek pronunciation:[/pa.ɾa.sceˈvi/]) means "preparation [for the Sabbath]".[citation needed]
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The image of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa according to folk beliefs is different from the iconographic image, where she is depicted as an ascetic-looking woman in a red maforiya. The carved icon of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa from the village of Illyeshi is widely known. It is revered in the Russian Orthodox Church as a miracle worker and is housed in the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.[3]
The most common idol was the sculpture of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa – not only for Russians, but also for neighbouring peoples.[4] The folklorist A. F. Mozharovsky writing in 1903,[a] noted that in the chapels "in foreign areas" there were "roughly carved wooden images of Saints Paraskeva andNicholas ... All carved images of Saints Paraskeva and Nicholas have the common name ofPyatnits ['Friday']".[5] Sculptures were widespread among the Russians. According to a 1908 historical sketch of Sevsk, Dmitrovsk and Komaritskaya volost by Svyatsky, commonly, Paraskeva were:[6]: 22 "a painted wooden statue of Pyatnitsa, sometimes in the form of a woman in oriental attire, and sometimes in the form of a simple woman in poneva [traditional skirt] andlapti [bast shoes] ... placed in churches in special cabinets and people prayed before this image".
The popular imagination sometimes gave Paraskeva Fridaydemonic features: tall stature, long loose hair, large breasts, which she throws behind her back, which brings her closer to the female mythological characters likeDola,Death, andRusalka (mermaid).
ForEast Slavs, Paraskeva Friday is a personified representation of the day of the week.[7] She was calledLinyanitsa,Paraskeva Pyatnitsa, Paraskeva Lyanyanikha, Nenila Linyanitsa. Paraskeva Friday was dedicated 27 [O.S. ] October as Paraskeva Muddyha Day and [O.S. ] 10 November as Day of Paraskeva the Flaxwoman. In the church, these days commemorateParaskeva of the Balkans andParaskeva of Iconium, respectively. On these days, no spinning, washing, or ploughing was done so as not to "dust the Paraskeva or to clog her eyes."[citation needed] It was believed that if the ban was violated, she could inflict disease. One of the decrees of the Stoglav Synod (1551) is devoted to the condemnation of such superstitions:[4]
Yes, bypogosts and by the villages walk false prophets, men and wives, and maidens, and old women, naked and barefoot, and with their hair straight and loose, shaking and being killed. And they say that they are Saint Friday and Saint Anastasia and that they command them to command the canons of the church. They also command the peasants inWednesday and inFriday not to do manual labour, and to wives not to spin, and not to wash clothes, and not to kindle stones.
According to beliefs, Paraskeva Friday also oversees the observance of other Friday prohibitions, including washing laundry, bleaching canvases, and combing hair.[8]: 445 In the stories Paraskeva Pyatnitsa spins the kudel left by the mistress,[1] punishes the woman who violated the ban, tangles the thread, maybe skin the offending woman, takes away her eyesight, turns her into a frog, or throws forty spindles into the window with orders to strain them until morning.[9]
There was a ritual of "driving Pyatnitsa" documented in the 18th century: "InSmall Russia, in the Starodubsky regiment on a holiday day they drive a plain-haired woman named Pyatnitsa, and they drive her in the church and at church people honour her with gifts and with the hope of some benefit".[9][10]: 168 Until the 19th century, the custom of "leading (driving) Pyatnitsa" – a woman with loose hair – was preserved in Ukraine.[11]
AmongUkrainians there was a belief that Friday walks were littered with needles and spindles of negligent hosts who did not honour the saint and her days.[11]
Inbylichki and spiritual verses, Paraskeva Pyatnitsa complains that she is not honoured by not observing the Friday prohibitions – they prick her with spindles, spin her hair, clog her eyes with kostra (shives). The icons depict Paraskeva Friday with spokes or spindles sticking out of her chest (compare with images of Our Lady of the Seven Spears or Softening of the Evil Hearts).[1]
In eastern Slavic cultures, wooden sculptures of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa were also placed on wells, sacrifices were brought to her. The sacrifices, emblematic of women's work, might be clothes, kudel (long bundle of fibre for spinning), threads, and sheep's wool; these were thrown down a well. The rite was calledmokrida, which may allude toMokosh.[12]
The Russians prayed to Paraskeva Pyatnitsa for protection against the death of livestock, especially cows. The saint was also considered the healer of human ailments, especiallydevil's obsession, fever, toothache, headache, and other ailments.[citation needed]
The celebration of the ninth Friday after Easter was widespread among Russians. InSolikamsk, the miraculous deliverance of the city from the invasion ofNogais andVoguls in 1547 was remembered on this day.[13]
InNikolsky County,Vologda province, on the ninth Friday there was a custom to "build a customary linen": the girls would come together, rub the flax, spin and weave the linen in a day.[4]
For theKomi peoples, the ninth Friday was called the "Covenant Day of the Sick" (Komi:Zavetnoy lun vysysyaslӧn). It was believed that on this day the miracle-working icon of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa (Komi:Paraskeva-Peknicha) from the chapel in the village of Krivoy Navolok could bring healing to the sick. There is still a tradition ofcrucession to the Ker-yu river, where elderly women and girls wash temple and home icons in the waters blessed with the icon of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa. The water is considered holy for three days after the feast and is collected and taken away with them. Dipping icons in standing water was considered a sin.[14]
Among theSouth Slavs, the day of 27 [O.S. 14] October is celebrated everywhere.
In some regions ofSerbia andBosnia, they also celebrate 8 August [O.S. 26 July], called inSerbian:Petka Trnovska,Petka Trnovka, and inMacedonian:Trnovka Petka,Mlada Petka,Petka Vodonosha. InBulgarian Thrace, St. Petka is dedicated to the Friday after Easter, and in Serbia, the Friday (Požega) before St. Evdokija Day (14 [O.S. 1] March).[1]
In Bulgarian it is known asPetkovden,St. Petka,Petka, orPejcinden. InMacedonian:Petkovden; and inSerbian:Petkovica,Petkovaca,Sveta Paraskeva,Sveta Petka,Pejcindan.
... на придорожныя часовенки-пятницы ставятся иконы св. Параскевы. Теперь это такъ, но было время, что въ часовенки въ инородческихъ мѣст-ностяхъ ставились рѣзныя изображенія изъ дерева грубой работы св. Параскевы и Николая угодника. Они были одѣты въ соотвѣтственныя облаченія. Николай Чудотворецъ въ свя тительскія ризы, а великомученица Параскева была одѣта въ тз'ник\' христіанки первыхъ вѣковъ изъ бѣлаго холста и закрашена разными самотканными убрз'сами, поясами и т. п. Къ часовнямъ приходили мѣстные инородцы: чз'ваши, черемисы, мордва, вотяки, мещеры и даже рзт сскіе. Они з'сердно молились иконамъ рѣзнымъ, ставили свѣчи, жертвовали деньги, клали яйца и вѣшали полотенца. Такія рѣзныя изображенія святой Параскевы и Николая Чудотворца еще и нынѣ можно видѣть въ каменныхъ часовняхъ на торговыхъ плоиіадяхъ въ г.г. Козмодемьянскѣ, Чебоксарахъ, въ селѣ Остолоповѣ, Казанской губ., и другихъ. чѣстахъ. Всѣ рѣзныя изображенія святыхъ Параскевы и Николая носятъ общее названіе пятницъ.
... [I]cons of St. Paraskeva are placed on roadside chapels on Fridays. This is true now, but there was a time when roughly carved wooden images of St. Paraskeva and St. Nicholas were placed in chapels in foreign areas. They were dressed in appropriate vestments. Nicholas the Wonderworker in priestly vestments, and the Great Martyr Paraskeva was dressed in the Christian attire of the first centuries made of white linen and covered with various homespun ornaments, belts, etc. Local foreigners came to the chapels: the Chzvashi, Cheremis, Mordvins, Votyaks, Meshchers, and even Russians. They prayed fervently to the carved icons, lit candles, donated money, laid eggs, and hung towels. Such carved images of Saint Paraskeva and Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker can still be seen today in stone chapels on trading squares in the cities of Kozmodemyansk, Cheboksary, in the village of Ostolopovo, Kazan province, and other places. All carved images of Saints Paraskeva and Nicholas bear the common name of Fridays.