Saint Barbara the Great Martyr
Date of celebration: 04/12
Saint Barbara lived during the time of the emperor Maximian (286 – 305 AD) and was the daughter of the pagan Dioskoros who was one of the richest pagans of Heliopolis.
Her father, due to the physical beauty of Agia, kept her locked in a tower. We do not know where she was taught Christian truths, as her father was a fanatical pagan, which is why she tried to keep her belief in the Triune God a secret. A random incident, however, betrayed her. Her father was informed by craftsmen that the Saint asked that three windows be opened in the tower where she was imprisoned, in the name of the Holy Trinity, and was thus assured that his daughter had become a Christian.
He was so enraged that he chased her into the tower with his sword to kill her. The Saint fled to the mountains, but her father arrested her and handed her over to the local ruler, Marciano, accusing her of her faith. When interrogated, she defiantly confessed her faith in Christ and reviled idols. After horrendous torture, she was transported naked to the city and finally slaughtered by her own father. But at the moment when he had finished his crime, he fell dead struck by lightning by divine judgment.
The gathering of the Saint took place at her martyrdom, in the Basilisk near Saint Zenaid.
The Relics of Saint Barbara the Great Martyr were preserved in Constantinople until the 11th century AD, when a part of them was transferred to Venice, when Peter II Orseol (991 – 1009 AD) was Doge. The Relics were transferred by Princess Maria Argyropoula, who married the son of Doge Prince Ioannis. (According to some of the sources – John the Deacon and Andreas Dandolos – Maria was a niece or sister of the Emperors Basil II the Bulgaroktonos and Constantine VIII, but it is more likely that she was one of the sisters of the future Emperor Romanus III ).
The Princely Wedding was blessed in Constantinople by the Ecumenical Patriarch, with the Emperors as bridesmaids. In fact, the couple’s stay in Vasilevoussa was extended until 1004 AD. (their first child was also born there).
In Venice the relics of the Great Martyr were deposited in the Cathedral of Saint Mark. John died of the plague in Venice, AD 1009. After his death, his two brothers, the Bishop of Torcello Orso and Filikiti, Abbess of the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian also in Torcello, succeeded in transferring the Relics to this Monastery, where they remained until the 18th century AD.
The Relics were transferred again to the Church of Saint Mark during the Napoleonic Wars, where they are still kept today. However, part of them remained in the Monastery of Torcello. It is not known when and under what circumstances the Shroud was taken to Montecotini, Italy, where it is today kept, as is the part of the Relics kept in the Roman Catholic Church of Rieti.
Also, during the 12th century AD, some of the remaining relics of the Saint were transferred from Constantinople to the Monastery of St. Michael with the Golden Domes in Kyiv, where they remained until 1930 AD, when they were transferred again to the Cathedral St. Vladimirou in the same city.
On June 1, 2003 AD, after the actions of the Archbishop of Athens Christodoulou towards the Roman Catholic Diocese of Venice and its Bishop Angelos Scolla, part of the Relics of the Saint was given to the Church of Greece. The Relic was received with due honors by the General Director of the Apostolic Ministry, Bishop Fanariou Agathangelos, and was deposited in the Pilgrimage of the same name in the Municipality of Agia Varvara, Attica.
Saint Barbara is considered not only in Greece but also in other countries as the patron saint of artillery. In Greece he was established as the Patron of this weapon in 1828 AD. where the first relevant ceremony with eulogy and quotation followed by a meal is mentioned, where officers and hoplite gunners took part.
In Orthodox iconography, Saint Barbara is often depicted with a glass in her hand, being a protector against sudden death and not wanting the dying to be deprived of holy communion. We often find her near a tower (with three windows) or holding a book (for the dying) or a palm branch.