Saint Barbara
| Saint Barbara | |
|---|---|
 Saint Barbara in her tower | |
| Virgin and Martyr | |
| Born | third century (?) in Nicomedia (in one version of her legend) |
| Died | c. 306 (?) in Nicomedia (in one version of her legend) |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy |
| Feast | 4 December |
| Attributes | Three-windowed tower, palm, chalice, lightning, a crown of martyrdom |
| Patronage | Artillery gunners, masons, mathematicians, miners, military engineers, stonecutters, against lightning, anyone who works at risk of sudden and violent death |
Saint Barbara (d. c. 306 C.E.), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was a Christian saint and martyr who died at Nicodia in today's Turkey c. 306 C.E. Barabara won particular fame for the fact that her death sentence was carried out by her own father, who had denounced her to the Roman authorities in the hopes that she would turn back to her family's pagan tradition.
Veneration of Saint Barabara was common from the seventh century until modern times. However, more recently her historicity has faced major challenges. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings, nor in the original editions of Saint Jerome's martyrology (fifth century). Doubts about the historicity of her legend resulted in her removal from the official Catholic calendar of saints in 1969. However, she continues to be a popular figure among the faithful.
She is perhaps best known as the patron saint of artillerymen, miners and others who work with explosives because of her association with lightning, which killed her father after he executed her. Among the many places named for her is Santa Barbara, California.
Life
According to the accounts of her life that circulated from the seventh century, Barbara's father was a wealthy pagan named Dioscorus. Because of her great beauty, he father carefully guarded her virginity and kept her shut up in a tower in order to preserve her from the outside world.
Although her father's love for her was extremely possessive, he lavished symbols of his affection upon her. Before going on a journey, he commanded that a private luxurious private bath-house be erected for her use near her dwelling. Having heard the teachings of the Gospel, she contemplated life's meaning from her tower, meditating on the beauties of the natural world outside her tower window and decided that the teachings of the church about God and Jesus must indeed be true. During his absence Barbara altered her father's design for the bath-house had three windows put in it, as a symbol of the Trinity, instead of the two originally intended.
When her father returned, she acknowledged herself to be a Christian. Her father was outraged by this, treating her badly and ultimately denouncing her her the prefect of the province. This governor, Martinianus by name, had Barbar cruelly tortured and finally condemned to death by beheading. She held to her faith despite cruel tortures. During the night, the dark prison was bathed in light. Every morning the wounds from her tortures were healed. Torches that were to be used to burn her went out as soon as they came near her her skin.
Most shockingly, Barbara's father, preferring her to die rather than remain a Christian, then carried out the death sentence himself. In punishment for this sin he was struck by lightning on the way home and his body was entirely consumed.
In some versions of her acts, other dramatic details are included. In one, having become a Christian and determined to devote her love to Christ alone, she rejected an offer of marriage that she received through father. In another, when her father discovered that she was a Christian, he immediately intended to kill her, but her prayers created an opening in the tower wall, and she escaped. Pursued by her father and guards, she hid in a mountain gorge. There, she stayed hidden here until a shepherd betrayed her. One legend holds that the shepherd was transformed into a marble statue, and his herd into locusts.
According to one tradition, she died on December 4, 306 in her native Nicomedia, Bithynia, Asia Minor.
Historicity
The legendary character of Barabara's story, coupled with the lack of early evidence for her in the historical record has led both Catholic and secular scholars doubt to doubt the veracity of Barbara's life story and even her existence. There is no mention of her in the earlier martyrologies, and her legend appeared in Christian writings no earlier than the seventh century, a full three centuries after her supposed martyrdom. Her cult did not spread until the ninth cenetury, and versions differ on the location of her martyrdom, which is variously given as Tuscany, Rome, Antioch, Heliopolis, and Nicomedia.[1]
The name "Barbara" literally means "a barbarian woman," a name which no respectable Roman citizen would give to his daughter. Scholars speculate that the name must have been already in use as a given name at the time when the story came into circulation.
Legacy
The legend of Saint Barbara is included in the Golden Legend (and in William Caxton's version of it) and although she was one of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages.
Saint Barbara became the patron saint of artillerymen. She is also traditionally the patron of armourers, military engineers, gunsmiths, miners and anyone else who worked with cannon and explosives. She is invoked against thunder and lightning and all accidents arising from explosions of gunpowder. She is venerated by everyone who faces the danger of sudden and violent death in work.
The Spanish word santabárbara and the corresponding Italian word santabarbara mean the powder 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.
Saint Barbara’s Day, December 4, may be celebrated by Irish Defence Forces Artillery Regiments and the Irish Reserve Defence Artillery regiments also the British (Royal Artillery, RAF Armourers), Australian (RAAF Armourers), Canadian (Royal Canadian Artillery) and New Zealand (RNZA) artillery formations, units and sub-units with church parades, sports days, guest nights, cocktail parties, open house, and other activities. The Order of Saint Barbara is a military honor society of the US for both the US Army and the US Marine Corps Artillery, including field artillery and Air Defense Artillery.
The city of Santa Barbara, California, located approximately 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, is so called because of the Franciscan mission there that was dedicated to her. There were many churches dedicated in her name in Russia, including one in Moscow next to Saint Basil's Cathedral and in Yaroslavl.
In modern popular culture
The first Spanish-language TV Novela filmed in the US and in full color, was the 1973 production of Santa Bárbara, Virgen y Mártir, filmed entirely on location in Hialeah, Florida.
Saint Barbara is referenced in the song "Don't Let Me Explode" by the rock band The Hold Steady. Before performing the song at a 2006s Lollapalooza music festival, lead singer Craig Finn told the story of Saint Barbara to the crowd of several thousand fans. He compared being a Christian in her time to having facial tattoos.
Saint Barbara is written into a central role in the Jimmy Buffett bestseller, A Salty Piece of Land.
In the Robert Heinlein book 'Space Cadet', Saint Barbara was referenced as also being the patron saint of Rocketmen due to the high likelihood of their deaths being sudden and caused by explosions. This may be seen as a natural progression from her use by Artillery units. In the aforementioned book, a mass is dedicated to her after the deaths of several trainee patrolmen in a rocket crash.
Saint Barbara day is celebrated in Lebanon as a Christian Feast similar to the North American Halloween. The traditional food for the occasion is a bowl of Boiled Barley, pomegranate seeds and sugar offered to masquerading children (Ref P66 Syria and Lebanon, by Terry Carter). The general belief among Lebanese Christians is that Saint Barbara disguised herself in numerous characters to elude the Romans who were persecuting her. Although the legend may be contested, it serves as an inspiring story of courage and victory in martyrdom.
In art
Saint Barbara is depicted in art as standing by a tower with three windows, carrying a palm branch and a chalice, sometimes with cannons depicted by her side.
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 ikon of Saint Barbara.
Saint Barbara by Corrado Parducci
Sculpture of Saint Barbara (Charles Bridge, Prague) by Jan and Ferdinand Brokoff, 1707
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See also
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Saint Barbara Portal |
Religious
- Fourteen Holy Helpers
- St. Barbara Church (in Bohemia)
Artillery
- Air Defense Artillery
- Artillery
- Oozlefinch
- Field Artillery
- Royal Artillery
Notes
- ↑ Bulfinch, (2001). "One Hundred Saints." Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
External links
- Catholic Forum profile for Saint Barbara
- Catholic Encyclopedia: St. 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
- Where the tradition of the 'Barbarazweig' comes from
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