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Barbara -- one of the Fourteen Holy
Helpers -- was the beautiful daughter of a rich and powerful pagan
named Dioscuros. She grew up in Nikomedia (in modernTurkey). To keep
her a virgin, her father locked her in a tower when he was away, a
tower with only two windows. Upon his return from one journey, he found
three windows in the tower instead of two. When he asked Barbara about
this, she confessed that she'd become a Christian after being baptized
by a priest disguised as a physician, and that she'd asked that a third
window be made as a symbol of the Holy Trinity.
She was then denounced by her father, who was ordered by the local
authorities to put her to death. She escaped from her tower, but her
father caught and killed her. When he dealt the death blow, he was
immediately struck by lightning.
Before St Barbara was killed, she prayed,
Lord Jesus
Christ, Whom all things obey, Whose will nothing resisteth: grant me
this petition, that if anyone shall remember my name and honor the day
of my passion, Thou remember not his sins on the day of judgment, and
be merciful to those who love the memory of me, and do Thou set in
peace the end of the life of those that love me.
A voice from heaven replied,
Come, my
dearest, rest in the chambers of My Father; and concerning that which
thou hast asked, it is given to thee.
St. Barbara is depicted in art holding a small
tower or standing near a tower or near a canon, and holding a chalice
and/or the palm of martyrdom.
Customs
During her time in the tower, she kept a branch from a
cherry tree
which she watered with water from her cup. On the day of she was
killed, the cherry branch she'd kept blossomed. From this comes
"Barbarazweig," the custom of bringing branches into the house on
December 4 to hopefully bloom on Christmas (some reserve the custom for
the unmarried).
Of course, the branches might not bloom at all, but if the temperature
outside has been around 32 to 40 degrees for six weeks, they most
likely will. Apple, chestnut, pear, peach, forsythia, plum, lilac and
jasmine branches will work, also, but cherry is the tradition.
Cut stems today (the milder the weather, the better), looking for
thinner branches with swollen buds. Mash the ends and put the branches
in a vase of cool, not icy, water with a little sugar in it for several
hours. Leave branches for a few days in a cool place. As soon as the
buds appear to swell bring them into a warm room (not too close to the
source of heat). Spritz them from time to time with lukewarm
water, and when the blooms appear, place the branches on a window sill
to give them lots of light and keep them in cooler air so that the
blooms will stay fresh longer. Change water every day. Once they are in
full bloom, re-cut the stems and put them in water with a little sugar,
a tiny bit of bleach, a penny and a dissolved aspirin.
If the branches bloom exactly on 25 December, it is a sign of "good
luck," and the person whose branches produces the most blossoms is said
to be "Mary's favorite." Maria von Trapp of the Trapp Family Singers
(think "Sound of Music") wrote in "Around the Year with the Trapp
Family" (Pantheon Books, 1955) that the Austrian legend is that if a
person's branch blossoms on Christmas Day, he or she will be married in
the following year :
There is a group
of fourteen saints known as the "Fourteen Auxiliary Saints." [Ed.
also called the "Holy
Helpers"] In Austria they
are sometimes pictured together in an old chapel, or over a side altar
of a church; each one has an attribute by which he may be
recognized--St. George will be shown with a dragon, or St. Blaise with
two candles crossed. One of these Auxiliary Saints is St. Barbara,
whose feast is celebrated on December 4th. She can be recognized by her
tower (in which she was kept prisoner) and the ciborium surmounted by
the Sacred Host. St. Barbara is invoked against lightning and sudden
death. She is the patron saint of miners and artillery men and she is
also invoked by young unmarried girls to pick the right husband for
them.
On the fourth of December, unmarried members of the household are
supposed to go out into the orchard and cut twigs from the cherry trees
and put them into water. There is an old belief that whoever's cherry
twig blossoms on Christmas Day can expect to get married in the
following year. As most of us are always on tour at this time of the
year, someone at home will be commissioned to "cut the cherry twigs."
These will be put in a vase in a dark corner, each one with a name tag,
and on Christmas Day they will be eagerly examined; and even if they
are good for nothing else, they provide a nice table decoration for the
Christmas dinner.
They are also
used to decorate the creche. The French
(Provencale) variation of this custom requires the family to germinate
wheat on beds of wet cotton in three separate saucers, keeping them
moist throughout Advent. When the contents of the three saucers --
which symbolize the three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity -- are nice
and green, they are used to adorn the creche at Christmas. The French
saying is "Quand le blé va bien, tout va bien" (“Quand lou blad ven
ben, tout va ben” in the dialect of Provence), or "When the wheat goes
well, everything goes well."
As to foods, Barbarakuchen -- a lemon quick-bread -- is eaten in
Germany on St. Barbara's Day:
Barbarakuchen
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
3/4 cup (1 ˝ sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1 1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup powdered sugar
Cream the butter with the sugar. Beat in the eggs. Stir in
the zest. In another bowl, mix the flour, cornstarch and baking powder.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture to make a
stiff batter. Spread into a greased loaf pan. Bake in a preheated oven
at 350o F for 45-55 minutes, testing for doneness with a
toothpick. Remove from the oven and let cool. Mix together the powdered
sugar and lemon juice to make a glaze, adding a tablespoon or two of
water if you need to get a good consistency. Pour over the top of the
cake and let it dry.
St. Barbara is the patroness of artillerymen, fireworks
manufacturers,
firemen, stone masons, against sudden death, against fires, and against
storms (especially lightning storms). She is usually depicted in
art
standing next to or holding the tower in which she was imprisoned, with
a chalice, the palm of martyrdom, a feather, and/or a cannon
Note: the Feast of St. Barbara is not celebrated liturgically
in the 1962 Calendar, but you will see it celebrated liturgically if
your priest uses an older Missal. Nonetheless, 4 December is still her
"Feast Day" which may be celebrated informally.
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