Barbara | |
|---|---|
 St. Barbara with her attribute – three-windowed tower, central panel of St. Barbara Altarpiece (1447), National Museum in Warsaw | |
| Virgin and martyr | |
| Born | Mid-third century Heliopolis (Roman Phoenicia) or Nicomedia, Bithynia |
| Died | Late-third century to early-fourth century (executed by her father) |
| Venerated in | |
| Feast |
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| Attributes | Three-windowed tower, palm, chalice, lightning, a crown of martyrdom |
| Patronage | Paternò, Rieti (Italy); armourers; architects; artillerymen; firemen; firework makers; mathematicians; miners; tunnelers; lightning; chemical engineers; prisoners; Lebanon; Royal Air Force Armourers |
Saint Barbara (Ancient Greek: Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; Coptic: Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; Church Slavonic: Великомученица Варва́ра Илиопольская; Arabic: القديسة الشهيدة بربارة), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian Greek saint and martyr. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the original recension of Saint Jerome's martyrology.[1]
Saint Barbara is often portrayed with miniature chains and a tower to symbolize her father imprisoning her. As one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, Barbara is a popular saint, perhaps best known as the patron saint of armourers, artillerymen, military engineers, miners and others who work with explosives because of her legend's association with lightning.
She is also the patron saint of mathematicians. A 15th-century French version of her story credits her with thirteen miracles, many of which reflect the security she offered that her devotees would not die before getting to make confession and receiving extreme unction.[2]
Despite the legends detailing her story, the earliest references to her supposed 3rd-century life do not appear until the 7th century, and veneration of her was common, especially in the East, from the 9th century.[2] Because of doubts about the historicity of her legend,[3][4] she was removed from the General Roman Calendar in the 1969 revision, though not from the Catholic Church's list of saints.[5]
- ^ Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Barbara." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907
- ^ a b Harry F. Williams, "Old French Lives of Saint Barbara" Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 119.2 (16 April 1975:156–185), with extensive bibliography.
- ^ Medieval historian Norman F. Cantor referred to Barbara in passing as "entirely mythical', in In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made 2002:84
- ^ Kirsch, Johann Peter "St. Barbara." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907
- ^ Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2001 ISBN 978-88-209-7210-3), p. 621