Saint Barbara

Barbara is known to be among the earliest saints (3rd Century) who were killed because of their faith to the heavenly master. The ancient Christian writings did not give any make any reference to her. Saint Jerome does not refer to her in the first recession of his mythology.

Background: To the Orthodox Church in the “Great Martyr Barbara.” Saint Barbara’s name is traced to the 7th century in which there is sufficient evidence there was some veneration of hers. In the East, there is evidence of her veneration up after the 9th century. Due to this uncertainty of her history, Pope Paul VI removed her form the Roman rite liturgical calendar in 1969.

Barbara is recognized for being among the 14 holy assistants and this has made rank best among these days’ Saints. She is celebrated as the patron saint for the miners, engineers in the military and the artillery is short she is a patron for people who work with mines due to the historical, relation to lighting. She is also the patron saint of the mathematicians. She is associated with a series of miracles in a 15th-century tale.

Veneration of Saint Barbara

The saint Barbara Cult can be traced back to the 9th century and this was in the east, however, the Romans knew of her existence in the 7th century. There is a reason for doubting this is lack of her mention in any of the martyrologies before.

Barbara’s legend has been included in the Golden legend written by Vincent of Beauvais, the later series of the Golden legend have also included it. There has been controversy surrounding her death as the various versions of mystery plays known have indicated that her martyrdom took place in different parts. For instance, Nicomedia, Antioch, Tuscany, Baalbek and Rome have been listed as some of the places her martyrdom took place in. During the 12th century, Saint Barbara’s relics were brought to Kelvin, into the Golden-doomed monastery of Saint Michael and were kept there until the 1930s after which they were moved to St Vladimirs catherdral which is in the same city. The Orthodox Christians too did venerate her and this has really popularized her. Together with the Anglicans, their feast is held on 4th December.

Patronage of Saint Barbara

In Britain, the Saint Barbara’s Day takes place on 4th December and as part of the celebration, the various military and police units of the British, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, Irish, Norwegian and United States make a celebration by making church parades, holding sport tournaments, participating in guest nights, carrying out cocktail parties, holding special dinners and doing various activities that are directly relate to this. Santa Barbara is celebrated by various institutions such as universities.

In Greek, the day is marked by special activities carried out by the Artillery and the Cypriot National Guard. The saint is also a patron of Drama, a city in the northern part. In Spain, the saint is honored by the Spanish artillerymen through various masses, parades and dinners.

Requesting petitions for the following:            

• Removes evil, Love problems. Builders.
• Feast: 4-Dec
• Day: Saturday
• Candle/Emblem: Red.
• Matters Concerning: A protector of women drives away evil, protection during storms, and for love problems. Patroness of builders, artillery, architects, and storms.