Saint Barbara
Martyr of the 3rd Century
Though many scholars have concluded that Saint Barbara was not an historical figure, as the first accounts of her being referenced are the seventh century, the early church viewed her as historical and drew encouragement from her testimony. Furthermore, she is still venerated as a saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, and her legacy continues today.
Hagiography – Barbara lived during the Imperial Period of the Roman Empire during the third and fourth centuries (about 290 – 320 C.E.), either in Nicomedia (modern-day Turkey) or Heliopolis (modern-day Lebanon). Therefore, she was alive throughout the Diocletian Persecution, which continued with Diocletian’s co-Augustus, Maximian.
While Barbara’s mother is absent from most accounts of Barbara’s life, her father, Dioscorus, was a pagan, Roman government official. Her father locked her away in a tower to protect her from harm and male suitors, as she was intelligent and attractive. In this tower, Barbara often took wonder in the beautiful nature around her, aching to know the creator of it all. Once, while staring at the sky, she had a vision of the one God, creator of the universe. Barbara surreptitiously took communion, which led to her conversion to Christianity.
After her conversion, in an effort to visibly symbolize the Triune God, Barbara instructed some workmen to place a third window in her tower from which she could gaze. When her father learned of this, he attempted to kill her with his sword. By a miracle, Barbara fled outside to the top of a mountain. As she fled, a couple of shepherds witnessed this phenomenon, and one reported her location to her father. Subsequently, the informer’s sheep transformed into locusts, and he was turned to stone.
When Dioscorus seized Barbara, he handed her over to the Roman authorities who tortured her. Astonishingly, her wounds were healed and she refused to recant her faith. She was condemned to execution, and her own father beheaded her. Fitting with the rest of this account, her father was killed by either a lightning bolt or fire from heaven (versions vary).
Though she was removed from the Catholic liturgical calendar in 1969, St. Barbara’s feast day is celebrated on December 4th by many traditions. She is also invoked to protect against storms and is the patron saint of mariners, artillerymen, and miners.
Resources:
- Galli, Mark. “Persecution in the Early Church: A Gallery of the Persecuting Emperors,” in Christianity Today, 27, no. 3 (1990). https://www.christianitytoday.com/1990/07/persecution-in-early-church-gallery-of-persecuting-emperors/.
- Morse, Barbara Anne. The Mystical Vision of Saint Barbara: Seeing Through the Myth of Separation (PhD diss. Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2020).
- “Saint Barbara: Legend,” Scalar in USC, last updated April 21, 2016.
https://scalar.usc.edu/works/exhibiting-historical-art/saint-barbara-legend. - “St. Barbara: Christian martyr,” Brittanica, last modified October 7, 2024.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Barbara.