Saint Barbara, virgin and martyr, is most likely a fictitious person with little or no basis in reality. However, her story became extremely popular and, by the Middle Ages, she was widely revered. The Church, in 1969, removed her feast day from the official Roman calendar. She is still considered a saint, but is acknowledged as being mostly legend.
The Legendary Life of Barbara
As is appropriate for a legend, the time and place of her birth are unknown. Supposedly she was the daughter of a rich pagan by the name of Dioscorus, who locked her away in tower to keep her from the outside world. Barbara refused offers of marriage, preferring to spend her time in prayer and study. Her father was having a bathhouse constructed. While visiting it, she ordered that three windows, not two, be put in, for the effect of honoring the Trinity. According to lore, she became a Christian at this point in time, with some sources claiming she was secretly baptized by a priest, upon which she received the gifts of the Holy Spirit and other graces.
Upon his return, her father was enraged to discover his daughter was a Christian. Legends vary sharply at this point to what exactly happened. All legends say that she was tortured and killed, though how and by whom varies, her father and civil authorities taking blame in different versions of the story. Almost all accounts have her father being killed immediately after her death by the hand of God.
Her death, as her birth, is at an unknown date and time. Different places claimed credit- or blame- for her martyrdom, among them Tuscany, Rome, Antioch, Heliopolis in Egypt, and Nicomedia. Her feast day was December 4th until the feast day was removed from the Roman calendar. She is the patron saint of the following vocations: ammunition workers, architects, builders, founders, gunners, miners, and stonemasons. She is also the patron saint of dying, fire prevention, and prisoners.
Sources of the Legend
There is absolutely no record of Saint Barbara in early Church records or in the martyrology done by Saint Jerome, the most accurate and one of the earliest list of martyrs known to the Church. Beginning in the seventh century, veneration of her began to be common. Specific acts from her life were recorded in a collection by Symeon Metaphrastes, a compiler in the second half of the tenth century, which was then used as a source by later writers. The Golden Legend, in approximately 1260, included Barbara's story. With the advent of printing in the late 1400's, the printer William Caxton translated The Golden Legend, and the version of her story carried within reached mass audiences.
Good Lessons to be Learned
Like many legends and stories, there seems to be a moral to be learned. The legend of Saint Barbara is no different. Her strong faith and determination to remain pious through harsh torture and even death are an example. By the Middle Ages, an almost cult-following of Saint Barbara existed. While her legend is probably just that- legend- it still leaves good lessons to be learned. Fact or fiction, Saint Barbara's unyielding faith is an example for others.
Sources:
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. (2001). The Encyclopedia of Saints. Visionary Living, Inc. Checkmark Books, New York, NY
Kirsch, J.P. (2007). Barbara, Saint. The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1914. Catholic Answers (2007), San Diego, CA. Link to article.
Paul, Tessa. (2009). The Illustrated World Encyclopedia of Saints. Lorenz Books, Anness Publishing Ltd. London, UK.
Symeon Metaphrastes (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia in Wikisource (2008, July 7). Link to article.
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