Saint Paraskeva was the daughter of Iconian Christians who especially honored the day of suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ — Friday. Therefore, when God, on the same day, gave them a daughter, they also called her Friday (Paraskeva — in Greek).
Subsequently, it turned out that Paraskeva, preserving the memory of Christ’s suffering with her name, preserved it in her heart, having joined the passions of Christ with her suffering.
Left behind after the death of her parents on a significant estate, the holy virgin distributed her property to the poor and poor. Having dedicated the virginity to the Lord, she constantly glorified Him among the pagans in Iconium.
During the reign of Diocletian (257—305), for the daring confession of the Crucified One, the saint was thrown into prison and then put to torture. The reverend was torn to her bones, but in prison an Angel visited her and healed all her wounds. Another miracle happened when the saint was brought into the temple of Idol; At her command, all the idols fell and turned to dust. During the next torment, the flame of fire, which scorched the saint’s body, was so ignited that the wicked tormentors were burned by it. Finally, Saint Paraskeva was truncated with a sword.
In honor of the Holy Great Martyr Paraskeva, a women's community was founded in 1865 in the Insarsky district of the Penza province on the site of the appearance of the saint's icon around 1780. The liberation of the peasants (1861) made the landowners in need of selling the lands. The peasants bought it and, having cut down the forest, decided to open a convent. Through landowner Maria Mikhailovna Kiseleva, the peasants applied for the Highest permission to open the Paraskevo-Voznesenskaya community, which was opened in 1865.