St. Barbara was a young woman who converted to Christianity and then was tortured for her beliefs; she was turned in to the authorities by her own father, who originally had her locked in a tower. Despite this rather morbid history, Barbara is the source of a beautiful European tradition that involves cutting small branches of flowering trees such as cherry or plum trees and taking them inside; with applications of warm water, care, and warmth, the idea is to have them bloom for the Christmas holidays.
St. Barbara is the patron saint of a number of occupations, including mariners (George Von Trapp of the famous Trapp Family Singers was particularly fond of St. Barbara), unexpected death (her father died suddenly after betraying her) and, oddly, gunners.
More about St. Barbara at Catholic Culture—Liturgical Year : December 04.
And here is G.K. Chesterton's poem "The Ballad of Saint Barbara."
2 comments:
Thank you for such a wonderful blog. I love to come here and read all the interesting things you write about. I agree with you about that "great" movie -The Gathering, one of my all time favorite holiday movies. I also like The Gathering, part 2. Have you seen that? Happy Holidays to you and yours. Peace
I too, would be happy if it were always autumn and winter/ little spring is good for a tan, but the colors of fall are warm and inviting and even winter colors are fun and happy.Enjoyed the story St. Babara. I had no idea who she was, but we have a very beautiful seaside town named Santa Barbara, so she did inspire at least a name for a pretty burg. Happy Solstice to all.
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