Saint Barbara

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Saint Barbara
Saint Barbara in her tower
Virgin and Martyr
Born	unknown, ;Nicomedia[1]
Died	Third century, Nicomedia
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Catholic Churches Eastern Orthodox Oriental Orthodox Churches Western Orthodox
Feast	December 4
Attributes	Three-windowed tower, palm, chalice, lightning, a crown of martyrdom
Patronage	Artillery gunners, masons, mathematicians, miners, military engineers, stonecutters, against lightning,[2] anyone who works at risk of sudden and violent death
Catholic cult suppressed	1969
Saints Portal

Saint Barbara, known as the Great Martyress in Orthodox churches, was a Christian saint and martyr, who lived in the third century.

Contents 1 Her story 2 Her memory 3 Validity of her legend 4 Trivia 5 Gallery 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Her story

The legend of Saint Barbara says that she was born about 300 A.D. in Nicomedia, Bithynia in Asia Minor. Her father, Dioscurus, was the head of a wealthy aristocratic family. Her parents adored her for her beauty, intelligence and modesty. Dioscurus, who was cruel and a pagan, had her shut in a tower in order to preserve her from suitors.

Influenced by the deacon Valentinus, who later became a bishop and martyr, she nevertheless secretly converted to Christianity. Her father commanded that she be built a bath-house, so that she would not have to use the public baths. The design for the bath-house originally had two windows, but Barbara had a third installed to commemorate the Trinity. She also carved a cross into the marble floor.

Her father, seeing these changes, discovered that she was a Christian. Dioscurus went to his daughter, and when she tried to convert him to Christianity he became furious and wanted to kill her. However, her prayers created an opening in the tower wall and she escaped. Pursued by her father and guards, she hid in a gorge in the mountains. She stayed hidden here until a shepherd betrayed her. As legend has it, the shepherd was transformed into a marble statue and his herd into grasshoppers.

Despite being tortured, Barbara held true to her faith. During the night, the dark prison was bathed in light and new miracles occurred. Every morning her wounds were healed. Torches that were to be used to burn her went out as soon as they came near her. But she did not waver from her faith. Her father had her taken to a Roman imperial magistrate during a persecution of Christians, who ordered her to be beheaded, and directed that her father carry out the sentence himself. He dragged her up to a mountain and murdered her. However, after having done so, he became frightened and tried to run away but, according to the story, was struck dead by lightning in divine retribution. This was the fourth miraculous occurrence during Barbara’s long and painful martyrdom, and according to the legend and the Julian calendar, Barbara died a martyr’s death on 4 December 306 A.D. Juliana of Nicomedia suffered the death of a martyr along with Barbara and was likewise sainted.

Another legend that is somewhat similar is that Saint Barbara was the daughter of Dioscorus, a tyrannical father who was jealous of her beauty. He locked her in a tower because of his jealousy and also because he was afraid that she would be taken away from him, if she was to be married. Before he went off on a long journey, he ordered a beautiful bathhouse to be built for her. Before she was sent away she heard about the teachings of God and Jesus. While Saint Barbara was in the tower, she found God and accepted the Catholic faith. As, her trust in her religion grew stronger, she asked that the bathhouse be rebuilt, this time it having three windows, representing the Holy Trinity. When her father returned, he was aghast at the new bathhouse and was furious when Barbara told him she was a Christian. He brought her before a judge who declared that she be tortured and then beheaded. Dioscorus beheaded her himself and, on the way home, was struck dead by lightning. Most people think that this was a consequence of his actions. Saint Barbara was a martyr, which means that she died for her faith.

[edit] Her memory

St. Barbara was formerly one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Her association with lightning caused her to be invoked against lightning and fire; by association, she also became the patron of artillery and mining. Her feast was formerly celebrated on December 4; in the 1969 reform of the Roman Catholic liturgy her public cultus was suppressed to a purely local celebration, and her name was dropped from the litany of saints.

In the 12th century, the relics of St. Barbara were brought from Constantinople to the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kiev, where they were kept until the 1930s, when they were transferred to St. Vladimir's Cathedral in the same city. Her veneration in the Eastern Orthodox Church remains very popular and her feast day is celebrated on December 4.

In the Spanish language, the word santabárbara means the magazine of a ship or fortress. It was customary to have a statue of Saint Barbara at the magazine to protect the ship or fortress from suddenly exploding. She is the namesake of the U.S. city of Santa Barbara, California, located north of Los Angeles. The Franciscan mission there is named in her honor. There were many churches dedicated in her name in Russia, including the one in Moscow next to Saint Basil's Cathedral and in Yaroslavl.

[edit] Validity of her legend

Although Barbara's legend is recounted in Caxton's version of the Golden Legend and she counts as one of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages, there is considerable doubt of her existence. There is no mention of her in earlier martyrologies, and her legend is no older than the seventh century. Her cultus did not spread until the ninth. Various versions differ on the location of her martyrdom; it is variously located in Tuscany, Rome, Antioch, Heliopolis, and Nicomedia.^[3]

This is not uncommon. Many of the so-called martyrs of the 3rd and 4th centuries were actually pagan gods and goddesses brought into the Catholic litany of saints in an effort to convert their followers. For example, the Lupercalia was brought into the Church as St. Valentine's Day, with Valentine replacing Lupercus. Brigid was a goddess in Ireland prior to the arrival of the Church--interestingly, Brigid, like Barbara, is associated with fire in her pagan guise--and Patrick has been associated with Lugh. Saint Ursula is probably Old Urschel, who was responsible for the souls of dead virgins in her native Sweden. (Urschel may be another name for the Viking goddess Freya.) Some of these people, Patrick in particular, most certainly existed, but following their canonization their miracles were blended with older pagan legends. The existence of others is purely fictional.^[4]

[edit] Trivia

• She is depicted in art as standing by a tower with three windows, carrying a palm branch and a chalice; sometimes cannons are depicted by her side.

• Because of her identification with lightning and cannonry, in Santería she is identified with the god Shango, god of lightning and war.

• For similar reasons, Robert Heinlein, in his book Space Cadet, named her the patron saint of people who deal with high explosives, and therefore rocketmen. the launch field at the academy is named for her, and following the crash of a training flight, a mass is said in her honor.

• The Order of Saint Barbara is a military honor society of the US for both the US Army and the US Marine Corps field artillery.

• Saint Barbara is referenced in the song "Don't Let Me Explode" by the rock band The Hold Steady. Before performing the song at 2006's Lollapalooza music festival, lead singer Craig Finn told the story of Saint Barbara to the crowd of several thousand fans.

• A painting similar to the van Eyck shown below is featured in Elizabeth George's "A Place of Hiding," but is attributed to a later Dutch painter, Pieter van Hooch.

• The painting in the upper right corner of this page entitled "Saint Barbara in her tower" appears in science historian James Burke's book "Connections" and is used to illustrate various scientific advances that had been made at the time of the painting. The young lady is not identified in the book.

[edit] Gallery

Saint Barbara flees from her father, by Peter Paul Rubens (c. 1620)	The Holy Family with Saint Barbara and young Saint John, by Paolo Veronese (c. 1565)	Saint Barbara, by Jan van Eyck (c. 1437)	Traditional holy card design for Saint Barbara
A Greek Orthodox Church ikon of Saint Barbara.	Saint Barbara by Corrado Parducci

[edit] References

1. ^ History of Saint Barbara
2. ^ Olga's Gallery of Christian Saints - St. Barbara
3. ^ Bulfinch, (2001). "One Hundred Saints". Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company.
4. ^ Walker, Barbara G. The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 1983.

[edit] External links

• Catholic Forum profile for Saint Barbara
• Saint Barbara in Orthodoxy
• Royal Artillery: St Barbara
• United States Field Artillery Association: Saint Barbara
• An image of a 16th century French sculpture of Saint Barbara, holding a tower
• Information on Saint Barbara as patron of Santa Barbara, California
• A Day to Honor Saint Barbara