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59-561: Sainte Barbe is French for Saint Barbara . Sainte-Barbe or variations may refer to: Saint Barbara 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

118-679: A cave shrine to Saint Barbara ( Kuys Varvara ) is located on the slopes of Mount Ara and lit candles and flower garlands are used as tribute. Many churches in Russia are dedicated in her name, including one in Moscow, next to Saint Basil's Cathedral , and in Yaroslavl . The United States Army Field Artillery Association and the United States Army Air Defense Artillery Association maintain

177-635: A century after that, but following the Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Bapheus in 1302, it was threatened by the rising Ottoman beylik . The city was twice besieged and blockaded by the Ottomans (in 1304 and 1330) before finally succumbing in 1337. During the Empire, Nicomedia was a cosmopolitan and commercially prosperous city which received all the amenities appropriate for a major Roman city. Nicomedia

236-503: A commemoration in his Mass . In 1969, it was removed from that calendar, because the accounts of her life and martyrdom were judged to be entirely fabulous, lacking clarity even about the place of her martyrdom. However, she is still mentioned in the Roman Martyrology , which, in addition, lists another ten martyr saints named Barbara. In the 12th century, the relics of Saint Barbara were brought from Constantinople to

295-794: A great fire, during which the place suffered much. Diocletian made it the eastern capital city of the Roman Empire in 286 when he introduced the Tetrarchy system. Nicomedia was at the center of the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians which occurred under Diocletian and his Caesar Galerius . On 23 February 303 AD, the pagan festival of the Terminalia , Diocletian ordered that the newly built church at Nicomedia be razed, its scriptures burnt, and its precious stones seized. The next day he issued his "First Edict Against

354-577: A popular Spanish phrase regarding this saint in the early 20th century was:"Blessed Santa Barbara, your story is written in the sky, with paper and holy water." The first Spanish-language telenovela filmed in colour for TV in the US was the 1973 production of Santa Bárbara, Virgen y Mártir , filmed entirely on location in Hialeah, Florida . G. K. Chesterton wrote the Ballad of Saint Barbara, interweaving

413-569: A sacred precinct of the city dedicated to Augustus , and a temple of Roma dedicated during the late-Republic. The city was sacked in AD 253 by the Goths , but when Diocletian made the city his capital in 283 AD he undertook grand restorations and built an enormous palace, an armory, mint, and new shipyards. The ruins of Nicomedia are buried beneath the densely populated modern city of İzmit , which has largely obstructed comprehensive excavation. Before

472-544: A symbol of the Holy Trinity , instead of the two originally intended. When her father returned, she acknowledged herself to be a Christian. Dragged before the prefect of the province, Martinianus, who had her cruelly tortured, Barbara held true to her Christian faith. During the night, the dark prison was bathed in light and new miracles occurred. Every morning, her wounds were healed. Torches that were to be used to burn her went out as soon as they came near her. Finally, she

531-492: A tower to preserve her from the outside world. After she secretly became a Christian, she rejected an offer of marriage that she received through her father. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the original recension of Saint Jerome's martyrology . Before departing on a journey, Barbara's father commanded that a private bath-house be erected for her use near her dwelling, and during his absence, she had three windows put in it as

590-780: A vase filled with water close to the light. After about 21 days, these branches blossom. In the Westerwald , the Barbara sprigs were regarded as a symbol of Christmas. The feast of Santa Barbara is the main religious feast of Paternò , in the province of Catania, dedicated to Santa Barbara, the patron saint of the city, originally from Nicomedia, in Bithynia (current İzmit in Turkey) and martyred according to tradition in 306 by father Dioscuro. The event takes place annually on 3, 4, 5 and 11 December, 27 May and 27 July. 4 December represents

649-482: Is 4 December. In 2022, Barbara was officially added to the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar with a feast day she shares with Catherine of Alexandria , and Margaret of Antioch on 24 November. Saint Barbara is venerated by Catholics who face the danger of sudden and violent death at work. She is invoked against thunder and lightning and all accidents arising from explosions of gunpowder. She became

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708-430: 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 . 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

767-498: Is celebrated in Lebanon , Syria , Jordan , Palestine , Israel , and Hatay Province among Arab Christians annually on December 4, in a feast day similar to that of North American Halloween. The traditional food for the occasion is Burbara , a bowl of boiled wheat , barley , pomegranate seeds, raisins, anise and sugar. Shredded Coconut , Walnuts or almonds can be added. The general belief among Lebanese Christians

826-587: Is considered doubtful. Her legend is included in Vincent of Beauvais ' Speculum historiale (xii.64) and in later versions of the Golden Legend (and in William Caxton 's version of it). Various versions, which include two surviving mystery plays , differ on the location of her martyrdom, which is variously given as Tuscany , Rome, Antioch , Baalbek , and Nicomedia . Saint Barbara

885-630: Is described by the Persian geographer Ibn Khurdadhbih as lying in ruins, with settlement restricted to the hilltop citadel. In the 1080s, the city served as the main military base for Alexios I Komnenos in his campaigns against the Seljuk Turks , and the First and Second Crusades both encamped there. The city was briefly held by the Latin Empire following the fall of Constantinople to

944-573: Is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers . Her association with the lightning that killed her father has caused her to be invoked against lightning and fire; by association with explosions, she is also the patron of artillery and mining . Her feast, 4 December, was introduced in Rome in the 12th century and included in the Tridentine calendar . In 1729, that date was assigned to the celebration of Saint Peter Chrysologus , reducing that of Saint Barbara to

1003-485: Is prepared and consumed on her feast day. In North Macedonia Saint Barbara's day is celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox , as Варвара (Varvara) on 17 December. Some Macedonians celebrate with their closest family and friends at home, while others refrain, believing that people who step in their house on Saint Barbara's day will give them either good or bad luck for the rest of the year. In Armenia ,

1062-519: Is that Saint Barbara disguised herself in numerous characters to elude the Romans who were persecuting her, and the tradition states that when the saint was escaping from the army of the pagan king in Baalbek , she passed in a field of wheat, and the wheat grew miraculously in order to hide her footprints from the soldiers, and this is the reason of serving the traditional wheat dessert on the feast day. In

1121-411: Is to establish a small shrine to Santa Barbara at the tunnel portal or at the underground junction into long tunnel headings. This is often followed with a dedication and an invocation to Santa Barbara for protection of all who work on the project during the construction period. The church at HMS  Excellent (also known as Whale Island) Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, the former Gunnery School of

1180-613: The 19th Missile Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces received the honorary title "Saint Barbara". In Georgia , Saint Barbara's Day is celebrated as Barbaroba on December 17 (which is December 4 in the old style calendar ). The traditional festive food is lobiani , bread baked with a bean stuffing. In Greece and Cyprus, the day is celebrated by the Artillery Corps of the Greek Army and

1239-769: The California missions . The Presidio of Santa Barbara was built in 1782, with the mission of defending the Second Military District in Spanish California. Santa Barbara County was one of the twenty-seven original counties of California, formed in 1850 at the time of statehood. The county's territory was later divided to create Ventura County in 1873. Other Spanish and Portuguese settlements named Santa Barbara were established in Brazil, Chile , Colombia , Honduras , Mexico, Venezuela , and

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1298-477: The Cypriot National Guard . Artillery camps throughout the two countries host celebrations in honor of the saint, where loukoumades , a traditional sweet, are offered to soldiers and visitors, supposedly because they resemble cannonballs. Saint Barbara is also the patron saint of the northern Greek city of Drama , where a sweet called varvara , which resembles a more liquid form of koliva ,

1357-687: The Fourth Crusade in 1204: in late 1206 the seneschal Thierry de Loos made it his base, converting the church of Saint Sophia into a fortress; however, the Crusader stronghold was subjected to constant raids by the Emperor of Nicaea Theodore I Laskaris , during which de Loos was captured by Nicaean soldiers; by the summer of 1207 Emperor Henry of Flanders agreed to evacuate Nicomedia in exchange for de Loos and other prisoners Emperor Theodore held. The city remained in Byzantine control for over

1416-751: The Order of Saint Barbara as an honorary military society of the United States Army Field Artillery and the United States Army Air Defense Artillery. Members of both the United States Army and United States Marine Corps, along with their military and civilian supporters, are eligible for membership. In many mining communities, families follow the custom of the "Barbara branch". On December 4 cherry tree sprigs are cut and placed in

1475-742: The Philippines . In the Afro-Cuban religion of Santería , Barbara is syncretized with Chango , the deity of fire, lightning, and thunder. In Ukraine , alleged relics of Saint Barbara are kept in St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery . A church of the Great Martyr Barbara ( Храм великомучениці Варвари ) of Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) is located near Kyrylivskyi Hai ( Кирилівський Гай ) park in Kyiv . In 2019

1534-500: The St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv , where they were kept until the 1930s, when they were transferred to St. Volodymyr's Cathedral in the same city. In November 2012, Patriarch Filaret of The Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kiev Patriarchate transferred a small part of St. Barbara's relics to St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Bloomingdale, Illinois . Her feast day for Roman Catholics and most Anglicans

1593-673: The 4th then the closest Friday, or within Baden-Württemberg , see University of Tübingen , University of Freiburg or University of Bonn or applied geosciences of the Technische Universität Darmstadt in Hesse . In the Czech Republic , a statue of Saint Barbara is placed near the future tunnel portal during the groundbreaking ceremony of most major tunneling projects, owing to her being

1652-492: The Asiatic roads leading to the new capital, Nicomedia retained its importance even after the foundation of Constantinople. A major earthquake , however, on 24 August 358, caused extensive devastation to Nicomedia, and was followed by a fire which completed the catastrophe. Nicomedia was rebuilt, but on a smaller scale. In the sixth century under Emperor Justinian I the city was extended with new public buildings. Situated on

1711-625: The Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. The West Australian Mining Club celebrate Saint Barbara's Day and use it to remember those people who have died working in the mining industry during the year. In the mining town Kalgoorlie , Australia, as patron saint of miners she is venerated in the annual St. Barbara's Day parade. In New Zealand the Moawhango Tunnel on the Tongariro Power Scheme

1770-561: The Christian village of Aboud in the West Bank , there is a shrine in a cave that the saint reportedly took refuge in. It may also be celebrated on December 17. The name of the barbiturate family of pharmaceutical drugs is believed to derive from the suggestion by an artilleryman commemorating the feast of Saint Barbara in 1864, whom the chemist Adolf von Baeyer encountered at a local tavern whilst celebrating his recent discovery of

1829-520: The Christians," which ordered similar measures to be taken at churches across the Empire. The destruction of the Nicomedia church incited panic in the city, and at the end of the month a fire destroyed part of Diocletian's palace, followed 16 days later by another fire. Although an investigation was made into the cause of the fires, no party was officially charged, but Galerius placed the blame on

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1888-435: The Christians. He oversaw the execution of two palace eunuchs , who he claimed conspired with the Christians to start the fire, followed by six more executions through the end of April 303. Soon after Galerius declared Nicomedia to be unsafe and ostentatiously departed the city for Rome, followed soon after by Diocletian. Nicomedia remained as the eastern (and most senior) capital of the Roman Empire until co-emperor Licinius

1947-809: The Legend of the Saint with the contemporary account of the huge artillery barrages that turned the First Battle of the Marne . Major Barbara is a play by George Bernard Shaw in which the title character, an officer in the Salvation Army , grapples with the moral dilemma of whether this Christian denomination should accept donations from her father, who is an armaments manufacturer. Nicomedia Nicomedia ( / ˌ n ɪ k ə ˈ m iː d i ə / ; Greek : Νικομήδεια , Nikomedeia ; modern İzmit )

2006-570: The Ottomans in 1419. It was founded in 712–711 BC as a Megarian colony and was originally known as Astacus ( / ˈ æ s t ə k ə s / ; Ancient Greek : Ἀστακός , 'lobster'). After being destroyed by Lysimachus , it was rebuilt by Nicomedes I of Bithynia in 264 BC under the name of Nicomedia, and has ever since been one of the most important cities in northwestern Asia Minor . The great military commander Hannibal Barca came to Nicomedia in his final years and committed suicide in nearby Libyssa ( Diliskelesi , Gebze ). The historian Arrian

2065-1338: The Royal Navy, is called St. Barbara's. Saint Barbara was also the Patron saint of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps of the British Army, a church being dedicated to her, initially at Hilsea Barracks Portsmouth, and later being moved to Backdown in Surrey, when the Corps moved its training establishment there. Saint Barbara's Day, 4 December, is celebrated by the British ( Royal Artillery , RAF Armourers, Royal Engineers), Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Armourers, Australian ( Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery , RAAF Armourers), Canadian (Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technicians (EOD), Canadian Ammunition Technicians, Canadian Air Force Armourers, Royal Canadian Artillery , Canadian Military Field Engineers, Royal Canadian Navy Weapons Engineering Technicians), and New Zealand (RNZN Gunners Branch, RNZA , Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps , RNZAF Armourers) armed forces. The Irish Army venerates her as

2124-828: The Virgin Mary I would have thought that it was she. Now I understand that each virgin has a special beauty all her own; a distinct beauty radiates from each of them." Saint Barbara is mentioned in Thomas Pynchon's novel Against the Day . The December fourth holiday is compared to the Fourth of July, as being more celebrated by the Dynamiters. She is also mentioned in Federico García Lorca 's play La Casa de Bernarda Alba (1936). According to this drama,

2183-525: The city, also led to major discoveries of ancient Nicomedia during the subsequent debris clearing. A wealth of ancient statuary was uncovered, including statues of Hercules , Athena , Diocletian and Constantine. In the years after the earthquake, the Izmit Provincial Cultural Directorate appropriated small areas for excavation, including the site identified as Diocletian's Palace and a nearby Roman theatre. In April 2016

2242-502: The corresponding Italian word santabarbara , and the obsolete French Sainte-Barbe , signify the powder magazine of a ship or fortress. It was customary to have a statue of Saint Barbara at the magazine to protect the ship or fortress from suddenly exploding. Saint Barbara is the patron of the Italian Navy . Within the tunneling industry, as a long-standing tradition, one of the first tasks for each new tunnelling project

2301-513: The country on December 4 since the Third Republic . The Spanish military artillerymen, mining engineers and miners also venerate her as patron saint. Parades, masses, dinners and other activities are held in her honour. A portion of the coast of California , now occupied by the city of Santa Barbara, California and located approximately 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, is named after her. The City of Santa Barbara got its name from

2360-521: The date of the martyrdom of the saint, 27 May is the feast of the patronage of Santa Barbara during which the miracle of the stopping of the eruption of Etna in 1780 is remembered, while 27 July is the feast of the arrival of the relics that were brought to Paternò in 1576. The Feast of Saint Barbara, is celebrated amongst Middle Eastern Christians in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, and Turkey (Hatay Province). Eid il-Burbara or Saint Barbara's day

2419-630: The early Spanish navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo . On December 4, the explorer stopped at a particular place on the California coast. He chose to name the spot after the patron of that day, Saint Barbara. A Roman Catholic missionary church, the Mission Santa Barbara , was founded there on her feast day in 1786, and is one of the twenty-one such churches that were operated by the Franciscan Order and collectively known as

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2478-476: The large waste of money. Under Trajan, there was also a large Roman garrison. Other public amenities included a theatre, a colonnaded street typical of Hellenistic cities and a forum. The major religious shrine was a temple of Demeter , which stood in a sacred precinct on a hill above the harbor. The city adopted official cults of Rome avidly, there were temples dedicated to the Emperor Commodus ,

2537-432: The parent compound. St. Faustina wrote that St. Barbara appeared to her on 22 August 1937. "This morning, Saint Barbara, Virgin, visited me and recommended that I offer Holy Communion for 9 days on behalf of my country and thus appease God's anger. This virgin was wearing a crown made of stars and was holding a sword in her hand...With her white dress and her flowing hair, she was so beautiful that if I had not already known

2596-444: The patron saint of artillerymen , armourers, military engineers, gunsmiths, and anyone else who worked with cannon and explosives. Following the widespread adoption of gunpowder in mining in the 1600s, she was adopted as the patron of miners, tunnellers, and other underground workers. As the geology and mine engineering developed in association with mining, she became patron of these professions. The Spanish word santabárbara ,

2655-536: The patron saint of miners. In the town of Kutná Hora , a former silver mining center, the Cathedral is dedicated to Saint Barbara. In Poland, the salt mine at Wieliczka honours Saint Barbara in Saint Kinga's chapel. In France, due to the historic link between the firefighters and the military sappers, Saint Barbara is also the patron of firefighters and has thus been celebrated by fire services throughout

2714-680: The patron saint of the Artillery Corps where she appears on the corps insignia, half dressed, holding a harp, sitting on a field cannon. Saint Barbara is recognized as the patron saint of the field artillerymen of the Marine Corps 1st Marine Division, who commemorate Saint Barbara's Day with a dinner and the traditional preparation artillery punch. Saint Barbara is the patron saint of the United States Field Artillery Association. To recognize

2773-428: The reign of emperor Maximianus and Prefect Marcien" ( r. 286–305); the year was given as 267 in the French version edited by Father Harry F. Williams of the Anglican Community of the Resurrection (1975). The name of Saint Barbara was known in Rome in the 7th century; her cult can be traced to the 9th century, at first in the East. Since there is no mention of her in the earlier martyrologies , her historicity

2832-444: The roads leading to the capital, the city remained a major military center, playing an important role in the Byzantine campaigns against the Caliphate . From inscriptions we learn that in the later period of the empire Nicomedia enjoyed the honour of a Roman colony . In 451, the local bishopric was promoted to a Metropolitan see under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople . The metropolis of Nicomedia

2891-407: The sole emperor. In 330 Constantine chose for himself the nearby Byzantium (which was renamed Constantinople , modern Istanbul ) as the new capital of the Roman Empire. The city was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the victory of Sultan Orhan Gazi against the Byzantine Empire . The Byzantines managed to retake it in the aftermath of the Battle of Ankara , but it fell definitively to

2950-479: The urbanization of the 20th century occurred, select ruins of the Roman-era city could be seen, most prominently sections of the Roman defensive walls which surrounded the city and multiple aqueducts which once supplied Nicomedia's water. Other monuments include the foundations of a 2nd-century AD marble nymphaeum on İstanbul street, a large cistern in the city's Jewish cemetery, and parts of the harbor wall. The 1999 İzmit earthquake , which seriously damaged most of

3009-522: The vital roles spouses and families play in the lives of field artillery soldiers and marines, the units celebrate Saint Barbara's Day with military balls or dinners and other activities. Although they do not celebrate her saint's day, she is also the patron saint of US Navy and Marine Corps Aviation Ordnancemen. It is celebrated by the Norwich University Artillery Battery with a nighttime fire mission featuring multiple M116 howitzers . Several mining institutions also celebrate it, such as some branches of

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3068-410: Was an ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey . In 286, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire (chosen by the emperor Diocletian who ruled in the east), a status which the city maintained during the Tetrarchy system (293–324). The Tetrarchy ended with the Battle of Chrysopolis ( Üsküdar ) in 324, when Constantine defeated Licinius and became

3127-403: Was born there. Nicomedia was the metropolis and capital of the Roman province of Bithynia under the Roman Empire . It is referenced repeatedly in Pliny the Younger 's Epistles to Trajan during his tenure as governor of Bithynia. Pliny, in his letters, mentions several public buildings of the city such as a senate-house, an aqueduct, a forum, a temple of Cybele , and others, and speaks of

3186-499: Was built by Italian tunnellers and commissioned on 4 December 1979. In Germany, Barbarazweig is the custom of bringing branches into the house on December 4 to bloom on Christmas. Saint Barbara is revered as a patron saint of miners and in extension, the geosciences in general, including the tunneling industry. This connection is particularly strong in the Catholic areas of Germany, as for example Bavaria . Some university geology departments hold annual 'Barabarafests' if not on

3245-441: Was common, especially in the East, from the 9th century. Because of doubts about the historicity of her legend, she was removed from the General Roman Calendar in the 1969 revision , though not from the Catholic Church's list of saints. According to the hagiographies , Barbara was born either in Heliopolis or in Nicomedia , the daughter of a rich pagan named Dioscorus who carefully guarded her, keeping her locked up in

3304-444: Was condemned to death by beheading . Her father himself carried out the death sentence; however, as punishment , he was struck by lightning on the way home and his body was consumed by flame. Barbara was buried by a Christian, Valentinus, and her tomb became the site of miracles. This summary omits picturesque details, supplemented from Old French accounts. According to the Golden Legend , her martyrdom took place on 4 December "in

3363-399: Was defeated by Constantine the Great at the Battle of Chrysopolis ( Üsküdar ) in 324. Constantine mainly resided in Nicomedia as his interim capital city for the next six years, until in 330 he declared the nearby Byzantium (which was renamed Constantinople ) the new capital. Constantine died in a royal villa in the vicinity of Nicomedia in 337. Owing to its position at the convergence of

3422-416: Was ranked 7th in the Notitiae Episcopatuum among the metropolises of the patriarchate. In the eighth century the Emperor Constantine V established his court there for a time, when plague broke out in Constantinople and drove him from his capital in 746–47. From the 840s on, Nicomedia was the capital of the thema of the Optimatoi . By that time, most of the old, seawards city had been abandoned and

3481-443: Was well known for having a bountiful water supply from two to three aqueducts, one of which was built in Hellenistic times. Pliny the Younger complains in his Epistulae to Trajan , written in 110 AD, that the Nicomedians wasted 3,318,000 sesterces on an unfinished aqueduct which twice ran into engineering troubles. Trajan instructs him to take steps to complete the aqueduct, and to investigate possible official corruption behind

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