| December 4th, reminder | |
| Position: | Virgin and martyr |
| Death: | century unknown |
Patron: |
Miners, farmers, architects, construction workers, roofers, bricklayers, bell-casters, blacksmiths, stonemasons, carpenters, grave diggers, bell-ringers, cooks, butchers, girls, prisoners, artillery, firefighters, the dying, invoked for a good death, against fire, danger during a storm, against plague and feverish illnesses, as a helper in need, Miners, grave diggers. |
| Attributes: |
Cannon, chalice (often with host), book, sword, peacock feathers, tower (with three windows); she is usually depicted in the company of 13 other helpers in need. |
CURRICULUM VITAE
She is one of the holy martyrs of considerable importance, about whom no reliable written records have survived. She lived and died in Nicomedia as a virgin and martyr. Jesus’ prediction that “a man’s enemies will be those of his household” was fulfilled in her. (Mt 10:36)
CV FOR MEDITATION
MAN AGAINST MAN FOR JESUS
The martyrology is very brief about the life of Saint Barbara of Nicomedia, referring to tradition. Important saints remembered her, honored her, and included her among the so-called 14 helpers in need, according to tradition. Her oldest depiction was discovered in the church of Santa Maria Antiqua on the Palatine in Rome, and this fresco dates from about the end of the 7th century.
She probably lived between the 2nd and 4th centuries in Nicomedia, which was also the seat of the Roman emperors in the East, in Bithynia (today Turkey), on the southern side of the Black Sea.
Legend presents her as the beautiful daughter of the wealthy Dioscurus, a great enemy of the Christians, whose teachings Barbara learns about. Dioscurus wanted to protect his daughter from their influence and imprisoned her in a tower, where she was supposed to lack nothing but freedom. On one of her father’s trips, she allegedly persuaded the masons to construct a third window for her prison, despite the original plan calling for only two. Barbara wanted them to remind her of the Holy Trinity, in whose company she longed to live. After her father’s return, an interrogation followed. Some say that during her father’s absence, she also received the sacrament of baptism, and when she confessed to him that she wanted to belong only to Christ, she was temporarily hidden in the ground from his wrath. Some versions say that she was hiding in a cave.
According to the legendary story, while her father was preparing cruel tortures for her, she meditated on the Passion of Christ and drew strength to endure everything for him. In anger, her father is said to have summoned the judge Marcian and had Barbara, who had heroically faced the planned tortures, severely flogged. However, Barbara contemplated Christ’s scourging, perceiving it as a gentle caress from peacock feathers. The next day, her enemies were surprised that the wounds from the scourging had disappeared from her body. However, they refused to acknowledge Christ’s healing power, which Barbara testified to, and interpreted it as a sign from the pagan gods, wanting her to show them gratitude for it. Her efforts to convince them of the opposite only aroused greater fury in them. Among the described tortures with which they wanted to turn her away from the faith are mentioned scratching with iron combs, burning her sides, beating her head, from which they tried to beat Christ out of her, and cutting off her breasts. Marcian’s final decision was to cut off Barbara’s head. They dragged her disfigured through the city to the execution ground, perhaps to discourage others from believing in the true God. However, they were spoiled by Barbara’s bravery and an angel who supposedly covered Barbara’s bleeding body with a white garment. Upon their arrival at the execution site, the father’s determination to carry out the task himself eliminated the need for an executioner. The legend ends by saying that when he beheaded his daughter with a sword, he himself was killed by lightning.
Opening Anselm Grün’s book Spiritual Therapy and the Christian Tradition, we read that this legend is perceived as full of symbolism. This begins with the heroine’s name, which is interpreted as meaning ‘foreigner’, showing that she does not belong to this world but to heaven. Even in prison, a person can experience inner freedom. Her father tried in vain to impose his will by force. God entered her heart, even through a locked door. With him came more light, broadening her narrow horizons. After her father tried to kill her for her faith upon his return, she found refuge in a cave. In the book above, the cave symbolizes the maternal sphere and protection from the father. Through the betrayal of the shepherd, the father’s power proves more potent than the mother’s in the book, and Barbora falls into the hands of the governor at her father’s behest. After being healed by angels from subsequent torture, she was allegedly whipped naked through the city with rods that turned into peacock feathers. The more she was beaten, the more she was adorned with them. This was supposedly to demonstrate that human aggression cannot harm the soul. According to this version of the story, she spent one more night in prison, during which an angel brought her the Body and Blood of the Lord to strengthen her for her final journey. This interpretation proves that a person who follows their own path cannot be harmed by external forces. If the head of the family tries to determine their life path and force them away from God, they cannot win. God protects him through angels, and death means a new life.
In this story, Anselm Grün explores the meaning of the individual attributes. Here, the tower is seen as a symbol of human self-realization and the solid foundations on which our life rests. It is also a symbol of contemplation, representing a place where God dwells with us. This circular building with three windows represents the wholeness of the Triune God living with and in us. As we do not know the actual reality, we are not obliged to adhere to all interpretations. The chalice being offered can also remind us that Christ was offered the symbolic chalice of suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. In accordance with the Father’s will, Jesus was strengthened to face his executioners. His acceptance of a shameful death became our redemption.
It is remembered that Barbora wears a green dress as a symbol of God’s power, reconciliation, and firm hope in eternal mercy. It is supposed to symbolize the renewal of life, which is commemorated by the so-called “barborkas”, which are placed in water so that they bloom at Christmas. This Christianized custom is supposed to remind us that a well-lived Advent should lead to the awakening of creative power coming from God and that by immersing ourselves in ourselves like Barbora, we should blossom with the life of Christ.
Emperor Justinian is said to have transferred the relics of St. Barbara in the 6th century to Constantinople, from where they were placed in the Cathedral of St. Mark in Venice around 1000, and in 1009 they were transferred to the nearby island of Torcello, to the church of St. John the Evangelist. Fr. Ekert states that in 1370 some of the relics of St. Barbara were also brought to Prague for the St. Vitus Cathedral by Charles IV. The most important Gothic church, St. Barbara, is located in Kutná Hora, Bohemia. Construction began in 1388. Some of its decorations date from the end of the 15th century, and the construction or reconstruction was completed between 1884 and 1905. The sculptural group of St. Barbara can be found on the Charles Bridge in Prague, between St. Margaret and St. Elizabeth. The original copy came from Ferdinand Maximilian and Jan Brokof in 1707. The inscription is a request: “Pray for us now and at the hour of death.” – We should not take this lightly. Similarly, in our churches, images of Barbara are proof of the respect paid to this saint in our country.
RESOLUTION, PRAYER
