Today is the feast of St. Barbara, (date unknown), virgin and martyr. Little is known for sure about this saint, but we have her legend. She was the daughter of a rich man named Dioscorus and though he was a pagan, she was a Christian. He shut her up in a tower, not because of her religion but to protect her virginity (at least until a suitable suitor could be found). Ironically, she was fine with that -- having decided that she wasn't going to marry just anybody (good girl). But she did manage to rile her father by directing the workmen to put in three windows (for the Trinity) and by scratching the eyes out of the idols in the house.
Her father, returning from a journey, was furious when he discovered what she had done. He turned her over to the judge, who said, "Now choose whether ye will spare yourself and offer to the gods, or else die by cruel torments." She gently replied, "I offer myself to my God, Jesu Christ, the which hath created Heaven and earth and all other things . . . "
She was scourged, thrown into prison and sentenced to "death by the sword." She was led up the mountain and her father, whose anger had not abated, grabbed the sword from the executioner and killed her himself. It is said that coming back down, he was struck by lightning and perished. It is from this last episode that Barbara derives her patronage of artillerymen and miners, who both use explosives. Good St. Barbara, pray for us and all the Barbaras in our lives.
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