October 5 is the day of remembrance of blessed Paraskevi of Diveyevo. On this memorable day, Bishop Aristarkh of Vanino and Pereyaslavl served the Divine Liturgy and prayer service at the Kazan Cathedral, the resting place of the blessed elder’s holy relics. After the services, the sisters met at the blessed Paraskevi’s house for a prayer service commemorating the holy elder. 

Blessed Paraskevi Ivanovna began her ascetic labors as an elder of the Diveyevo monastery in 1883, a year before the Blessed Pelagia’s death. Blessed Pasha was 88 at that time. She continued to offer spiritual guidance to the monastics and pilgrims for another 32 years until her death at the age of 120 in 1915.

Blessed Pelagia chose Paraskevi Ivanovna as her own replacement with the same goal in mind as Venerable Seraphim who sent Pelagia to Diveyevo years earlier. The goal was to save the souls of the monastics from the onslaught of the enemy of mankind and many temptations and passions uncovered only by the blessed elders’ gift of clairvoyance.    

Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarine Alexandra Feodorovna visited Diveyevo during the festivities of Venerable Seraphim’s glorification. Their Highnesses stopped at blessed Paraskevi’s who foretold the birth of an heir and the fall of autocracy in Russia. After meeting the blessed elder, the Tsar used to say that she was a glorious servant of God. 

Paraskevi Ivanovna left behind the legacy of endless stories about her clairvoyance, as the throngs of pilgrims would flock to her cell seeking prayers and blessings. 

With the grace of God, the blessed elder’s house survived until our days. It has become the blessed Paraskevi’s museum exhibiting the remarkably restored cell with its modest furnishings. 

The museum houses unique pieces, such as Paraskevi Ivanovna’s shirt with pink flowers and a simple light blue dress she used to put on when she partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Nun Seraphima (Bulgakova) passed on both pieces to the museum. There are other mementos of blessed Paschenka: some photos, a lock of her hair, a bookmark made from the moire ribbon, a wooden wool comb, threads and a piece of linen woven by the blessed woman herself.