Saint
Barbara
Born: 3rd Century, Heliopolis
Died: 3rd Century
Feast Day: 4th December
Shrine: St Vladimir Cathedral, Kiev
Patron Saint: Ferrara Mantua, Architects, Builders, Gunners, Miners,
against lightning strikes, Fires, Firemen
Saint Barbara was said
to have been born in the city of Heliopolis to a pagan father called Dioscorus,
he was a wealthy man who devoted himself to his only daughter after the death
of his wife. Barbara was beautiful and
because of this Dioscorus built a tower to hide her away allowing only pagan
teachers in to see her.
Barbara would spend
hours gazing over the views from her tower and started to question where it
came from. She was at this point
worshipping pagan idols, which she came to realise were soulless and could not
have made the beautiful world around her.
She desired to know the real God so strongly that she vowed to spend the
rest of her life doing so, remaining a virgin.
Barbara’s beauty was
known far and wide and many came to her father to ask for her hand in
marriage. Despite her father’s wishes she
said no to all and told her father that his persistence might end tragically. He decided that she needed company outside
the tower and granted her freedom. This
gave Barbara the opportunity to go and meet with Christians where she learnt about
God and believed. A priest who had
arrived in Heliopolis dressed as a trader, taught Barbara further and then
baptised her.
Her father was having a
luxurious bathhouse built for Barbara and had organised for two windows, during
his absence she persuaded the builders to put in three windows to form a
trinity of light. She drew a cross with
her finger on one of the walls which looked like it had been etched into the
marble with a tool, later her footprints became etched into the stone steps of
the bathhouse.
There are legends of
many healings by the water of the bathhouse.
When her father returned, he was not impressed by the redesign. Barbara then told him that she had requested the
third window as she wanted the triune representing God as she had become a
Christian.
Dioscorous was so angry
he almost struck Barbara with his sword, but she escaped and fled and hid in a
cave which opened to her. Finally, given
away by some shepherds who had seen Barbara hiding, her father beat her severely
and tried to starve her until she would renounce God. When this failed, he handed her over to the
prefect of the city. There she was beaten and tortured but refused to worship
pagan idols. Barbara prayed fervently
over night and Jesus appeared to her and healed her wounds. When she was dragged through the city naked
an angel covered her with a splendid robe.
She was finally
beheaded, by her father who was then struck by lightening and killed, the same
fate befell the prefect of the city. She
was buried nearby, and it is alleged that many were healed at her burial
place. In the 6th century her
relics were taken to Constantinople and moved to Kiev 600 years later and are
now at Kiev’s St Vladimir Cathedral.
References: Saints, Robbie Blake, HarperCollins
The
Bible and the Saints, G. Duchet-Suchaux, M.Pastoureau Flammarion
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