The local presence| Saint Barbara’s day is celebrated on 4 December. The Saint is represented with a tower with three windows in her right hand and a book in her left hand. Sometimes, the Saint also carries the palm of the martyr. Saint Barbara is the patron saint of firework manufacturers, brush makers, miners, fire fighters, sappers and, in Belgium, engineers. Saint Barbara was born in Turkey but her life is made up of legend. The following are two examples of such legends: |
|
- To prevent her from converting to Christianity, her father locked her in a tower; but a priest disguised as a doctor managed to enter the tower and baptise her. The Saint’s father was furious and decapitated his own daughter. He was immediately struck and killed by lightning.
- A young barbarian girl sneaked into the circus of Nicomedia without the spectators recognizing her. She was chosen to offer incense to the emperor but refused and was executed; her executioner was immediately struck and killed by lightning. When the Christians present in the gathering came to ask for her remains, they could only refer to her by the name ‘young barbarian lady’; hence the origin of the name: Barbara.
In every legend, the sudden death of her executioner – struck by lightning – is the reason why the Saint is the patron of those who run the risk of sudden death caused by fire or electricity.
Every year, in Varangéville, the statue of Saint Barbara is removed from the bottom of the mine, paraded through the town and carried to the basilica of St Nicolas where a Mass is celebrated in her honour for the miners.