The German Nazi Soldier Who Shot Saint Barbara in the Neck

During the German occupation, in the city of Sparta, there was a German Nazi soldier, known in the local community for his crude and malicious character. One day as he was passing by the Church of Saint Barbara, he repeatedly fired the icon of the Saint that was in the shrine at the intersection towards Kalogonia, opposite the church. One of the bullets struck the Saint in the neck. The incident, as was natural, made the Spartans agitated and sad.

The German Soldier Who Shot a Bullet at an Icon of Saint Barbara

During the German occupation of Greece, in the city of Sparta, there was a German soldier, known in the local community for his awkward and bad character.

One day as he was passing by the Church of Saint Barbara, he repeatedly shot at the icon of the Saint which was on the iconostasis of the crossroads towards Kalogonia, opposite the church. One of the bullets struck the Saint directly on the neck. This naturally made the Spartans react and it made them upset.
 

The Prison Cell of Saint Barbara in Nicomedia

In Nicomedia (Izmit) today one can visit the Church of Saint Barbara, built over the location where tradition says Saint Barbara was locked in a prison cell by her father because she was a Christian and he was a pagan.

 

It should be noted that various traditions and accounts place Saint Barbara in various locations, which include Syria, Egypt and Tuscany, though some say Nicomedia is the most likely origins of the Saint. 

Saint Barbara and the Miraculous Deliverance from a Smallpox Epidemic on the Island of Lefkada in 1922

Every year on the Third Sunday of May in the parish of Panagia of the Stranger (Παναγίας των Ξένων) and specifically in the Chapel of Saint Paraskevi, commemoration is made of the miraculous deliverance of the residents of the island of Lefkada from an epidemic of smallpox in 1922, through the intervention of the Holy and Glorious Great Martyr Barbara, which was established by a royal decree on July 8, 1940. It was during this epidemic that the Monastery of Saint George in Marantochori was turned into a place of quarantine for the sick. In fact, this resulted in the destruction of the precious frescoes of the temple, as they were whitewashed in an attempt to disinfect them. A procession takes place in honor of Saint Barbara on this day throughout the streets of Lefkada beginning from the Chapel of Saint Paraskevi.

Nikolobarbara: The Winter Celebration of St. Barbara, St. Savvas and St. Nicholas

In Greece, from December 4-6, 'Nikolobarbara' includes the feast days of St. Barbara, St. Savvas, and St. Nicholas. These days are considered to herald the onset of truly wintry cold weather, therefore homes are prepared for winter beforehand, such as preparing wood for the fire place. It is said also that the weather of these days will be the same weather as Christmas. Sayings that can be heard in various parts of Greece at this time are:

The Birthplace of Saint Barbara

Icon of St. Barbara (ca. 1350 AD–ca. 1400 AD) from the Baalbek
Temple of Venus, now in Thessaloniki, at the Museum of Byzantine Culture.

Saint Barbara is said to have been born and raised in the village of Gelassos (Glasius) near Heliopolis, where her father Dioscorus was the governor. Heliopolis was a well known Syrian city located between Lebanon and the mountain ranges of anti-Lebanon. It received its name, which translates from the Greek as "Sun City", because they worshiped the sun there in ancient times. In 1924, it became part of Lebanon and was named Baalbek, because of the ancient worship of Baal in the region. Gelassos was approximately 1.38 miles or 2.2 kilometers from Heliopolis.

Translation of the Relics of Saint Barbara from Constantinople to Kiev

Translation of the Relics of St. Barbara to Kiev (Feast day - July 11)

In the sixth century the relics of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara were transferred to Constantinople. Six hundred years later, they were transferred to Kiev by Barbara, the daughter of the Roman Emperor Alexios Komnenos (1081-1118), who married the Russian prince Michael Izyaslavich. They rest even now at Saint Vladimir Cathedral in Kiev, where an Akathist to the Saint is served each Tuesday.

Saint Barbara and the Custom of Eating Varvara in Thrace

According to local tradition, in 1380, when the Ottomans took the city Drama, which lies in the region of Thrace, they destroyed a church dedicated to Saint Barbara next to a lake (named after St. Barbara) and desired in its stead to build there a mosque. On the feast of Saint Barbara, December 4, the region where the building of the mosque was taking place flooded. It flooded to the point where construction became impossible and the building of the mosque was abandoned through the miraculous intervention of Saint Barbara on her feast day. The ruins of the mosque can still be seen under the water. The chapel that exists today to St. Barbara is built on the lake and the bell tower is built where the old church is said to have existed.

Why Do Greeks and Cypriots Eat Loukoumades on the Feast of Saint Barbara?

Saint Barbara is celebrated as the patron saint of the Artillery Corps of the Greek Army and the Cypriot National Guard. Artillery camps throughout the two countries host celebrations in honor of the Saint on December 4th, where the traditional sweet of loukoumades is offered to soldiers and visitors. This tradition began in 1829, allegedly because the loukoumades resemble cannonballs.

Holy Martyr Juliana, Who Was Martyred With Saint Barbara

St. Juliana the Martyr of Heliopolis (Feast Day - December 4)

Verses

Receive Juliana as a dove,
Who was speedily beheaded while chirping O Word.

While Saint Barbara was being tortured for her Christian faith at the orders of Governor Martianus, to whom she was betrayed by her pagan father Dioscorus, there was a Christian woman who lived nearby named Juliana, who feared God and had seen the torturers lay hold of Saint Barbara. She watched from afar as Barbara was tormented, and after the Saint was taken to the prison, looked in at her through the dungeon window. She marveled at how a young maiden, in the very bloom of youth and beauty, could forsake her father, kindred, wealth, and the good and beautiful things of this world, and be so eager to lay down her life for Christ. When she saw that the Lord had healed Saint Barbara’s wounds in prison, she was herself filled with longing to suffer for Him. She began to prepare herself for the struggle, praying to Christ, the Judge of the contest, to grant her the strength to endure torture.

St. Barbara, Patron of the City of Drama, and the Custom of the Boats

Every year on December 4th, the feast day of Saint Barbara, who is the patron of Drama and the protector of artillery, a religious and cultural event is performed in the city of Drama. In the small chapel of the district named after her, next to the lake where at the bottom are still preserved ruins from her first church, thousands flock to venerate her icon.

According to tradition, when in 1830 Drama was conquered by the Turks, the Chapel of Saint Barbara was demolished in order for a mosque to be built in its place. But the plans of the conquerors changed on the feast of Saint Barbara.

The Palestinian Village of Aboud and the Church of Saint Barbara

Aboud is a picturesque and ancient Palestinian village situated in the central West Bank, Occupied Palestinian territories, about 22 kilometers northwest of Ramallah and 30 kilometers north of Jerusalem. In the past, Aboud's population was mostly Christian. Today, half of the population of 2500 are Christians and half Muslims. There are almost equal numbers of Catholic and Greek Orthodox Arab Christians in Aboud, and a much smaller Protestant congregation. Christians and Muslims in the village live together in harmony.

Synaxarion of Saint Barbara the Great Martyr

On the fourth of this month [December], we commemorate the Holy Great Martyr Barbara.

Verses

You were sacrificed by the sword of your father, Martyr Barbara,

Who was another Abraham, but of the devil.

On the fourth Barbara was beheaded by the hands of her father.

She lived during the reign of Emperor Maximian (286-305), and was the daughter of a Greek pagan. Hailing from the East, she was kept in a high tower, due to the beauty of her physical blossoming. Therefore this revered virgin was taught piety by God. Wherefore she revered Christ secretly, but she was unable to hide it from her impious father. He discovered this about her when he requested for two windows for the bath he had built, and the Saint instead requested for three windows, which happened. He then asked her, "For what reason did you have three windows constructed?" He learned from her, that she had them made in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. When this barbarian heard this, he set in motion to have her killed with his own sword.

Saint Barbara Resource Page

St. Barbara the Great Martyr (Feast Day - December 4)

Verses

You were sacrificed by the sword of your father, Martyr Barbara,

Who was another Abraham, but of the devil.

On the fourth Barbara was beheaded by the hands of her father.

 

Synaxarion of Saint Barbara the Great Martyr

 

Life of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara

 

Saint Barbara as a Model for our Lives

 

December: Day 4: Teaching 3: Holy Great Martyr Barbara

 

December: Day 4: Teaching 4: Holy Great Martyr Barbara

Homily on the Commemoration of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 

Homily on the Holy Great Martyr Barbara - On the Knowledge of God Through the Contemplation of Nature (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

 

Homily for the Commemoration of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara (Fr. Daniel Sysoev) 

The Birthplace of Saint Barbara

 

The Prison Cell of Saint Barbara in Nicomedia

 

Holy Martyr Juliana, Who Was Martyred With Saint Barbara

  

Translation of the Relics of Saint Barbara from Constantinople to Kiev

  

After 1,000 Years Saint Barbara Returns to Orthodox Hands

  

Various Miracles of Saint Barbara and Her Relics

 

Saint Barbara and the Miraculous Deliverance from a Smallpox Epidemic on the Island of Lefkada in 1922 

 

The German Nazi Soldier Who Shot Saint Barbara in the Neck

  

The German Soldier Who Shot a Bullet at an Icon of Saint Barbara 

 

The Holy Shrine of Saint Barbara in Athens 

 

St. Barbara, Patron of the City of Drama, and the Custom of the Boats 

 

The Cave Chapel of Saint Barbara in Kefallonia 

 

The Underground Salt Church of St. Barbara In Targu Ocna 

 

The Palestinian Village of Aboud and the Church of Saint Barbara 

 

Why Does Saint Barbara Hold a Chalice in Her Icons? 

 

Elder Paisios' Reverence for Saint Barbara 

 

The Chapel of Saint Barbara in Konitsa and Elder Paisios 

 

Nikolobarbara: The Winter Celebration of St. Barbara, St. Savvas and St. Nicholas 

 

Why Do Greeks and Cypriots Eat Loukoumades on the Feast of Saint Barbara? 

 

Saint Barbara and the Custom of Eating Varvara in Thrace

Oikos of Saint Barbara

Together let us venerate the memory of

Barbara, whose martyrdom was united to that

of Christ her Bridegroom; so that delivered by

her prayers from sin, famine, earthquake, and

destruction, we may live out our lives in

peace, and attain to the abode of light in the

company of all the saints who were well

pleasing to the Lord throughout the ages; then

we shall be able to sing with her, “O Savior,

You have brought about marvels of love for all

Your faithful who confess: I worship God in

Three Persons!"

Catholic Deacon Impressed With the Faith of the Greeks

May 21, 2015

iEfimerida

Gianfranco Fiorin, a permanent deacon of the Roman Catholic Church, says he is impressed by the "experience of faith" that he is experiencing in Greece.

Gianfranco Fiorin has been accompanying the sacred relics of Saint Barbara from the moment they departed from Venice, where he has undertaken the restoration of the Church of San Martino in Burano island.

After 1,000 Years Saint Barbara Returns to Orthodox Hands

Relics of St. Barbara at the World Trade Center in New York City

Andrew Loudaros

April 28, 2015

Orthodoxia

For the first time in a thousand years, the largest portion of the sacred relic of Saint Barbara is returning to Orthodox hands, even if it is only for a few days. In a highly symbolic move, the Roman Catholic Church decided to respond positively to the request of Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece, by giving the entire relic of this great Saint, which resides in Venice, for two weeks.

The sacred relic which will be received by Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece on May 10th, will be transferred to its place of veneration with the highest honors. It is telling that the coffin in which the sacred relic is kept, will be transferred to the church on the console of a firearm, since Saint Barbara has been the patron saint of artillerymen in Greece since 1828, while thousands of faithful from throughout Greece are expected in Athens to venerate the Saint.

The Chapel of Saint Barbara in Konitsa and Elder Paisios

In the village of Konitsa stands the Chapel of Saint Barbara, which is connected with Elder Paisios in that it was the church he attended while growing up and it was here that he had his first divine vision and cultivated a life-long reverence and relationship with Saint Barbara.

Why Does Saint Barbara Hold a Chalice in Her Icons?

In Orthodox iconography (originating in the 14th century in the West), Saint Barbara is sometimes depicted with a chalice in her hands because she is viewed as an intercessor against sudden death. While in prison for her faith in Christ and prior to her martyrdom, she prayed to the Lord that no faithful Christian should face sudden death if they honored her memory. This is why she holds the chalice, to remind the faithful to honor her memory so that they would not face sudden death, but instead to be given the chance to receive Holy Communion before death. In a prayer to Saint Barbara, we ask her not to die without Holy Communion to receive spiritual help at the hour of death.

 

The Cave Chapel of Saint Barbara in Kefallonia

The small chapel of Saint Barbara is located outside Argostoli in Prokopata, in a cave beneath the main road.

The area was originally called Agios Varvaros, after Saint Barbaros the Myrrhgusher (May 15). According to tradition, in 1912 a young refugee was playing and fell from the road down the ravine, but landed on the ground without suffering any injury in the slightest! The child himself is said to have told that he was helped to descend by a woman arrayed in white garments. From that point the villagers began to see burning an unquenchable flame from winter through the summer. When, a few years later, they found the courage to explore the mystery of the flame, they went into the cave and found an icon of Saint Barbara. They attributed to it that miracle and brought it to Argostoli, where, according to tradition, it stopped a major epidemic that had broken out and decimated the people. The mother of the child dedicated her fortune to building the chapel and took care to open a well at the top of the ravine where there is a highway today for the refreshment of pilgrims.

Saint Barbara as a Model for our Lives

St. Barbara the Great Martyr (Feast Day - December 4)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint Barbara is a jewel of the third century. She came from the East and was raised in a pagan family. Her father, named Dioscorus, was rich, and he was a fanatical pagan. His daughter was a virtuous and benevolent person and she was catechized in the faith of Christ by a pious woman. After her baptism she lived in an enclosed tower because she was very beautiful, and she lived in asceticism and prayer. Her difficulties were numerous, but Saint Barbara had learned to entrust to God all her problems and the difficulties she faced. It was not long before Dioscorus learned that his daughter had become a Christian. He had a bath house built and ordered for it to have two windows. The Saint told the craftsmen to open three windows. When her father asked about this she replied that she had three windows opened in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Then, full of anger, he came against her with a sword and she fled into the forest. He chased her, arrested her and led her to the pagan ruler who tried, first with flattery and later with inhuman torture, to persuade her to deny Christ. Because she remained firm and steadfast in her faith, he wanted to humiliate and disgrace her. For this reason he ordered the removal of her clothing and to parade her this way through the city. His miserable purpose failed to be realized, however, because God protected her in a wondrous way. At the moment when they tried to unclothe her, she would be dressed immediately with new clothes, better and more brilliant than the previous. Then the ruler ordered her decapitation, and her father full of hatred and blind fanaticism decapitated her with his own hands, and in this way she received the blessed crown of martyrdom.

The life and times of Saint Barbara gives us the opportunity to emphasize the following:

First, the offering of one's self to God and to entrust to Him, with unwavering confidence, our various problems that concern us, is a way of life that helps us balance our lives and not despair, not to "feel down" as we often say. For it is not a small thing to be hated by your own father, for him to give you over to tortures and finally for him to bring on your death with his own hands. That is, from the place where you expect to experience love, the essence of life, you encounter hatred and death. The place where you seek to lean on for support and comfort in the difficulties of your life, you face hostility even for having not committed any offense. The only offense was because you have chosen a different faith from what he had, even though he should love you sacrificially.

Do you think such similar events do not happen nowadays? For someone to want to impose one's views on another, when they feel like they have the ability to do so, with flattering and promises of a better life, or even with various extortions when the other is in a disadvantaged position? Many times poverty and misery lead people to the decision to leave their homeland and submit to the trial of searching for better and more humane living conditions. And then, unfortunately, several tragic events occur, many of which the protagonists are certain parents.

Second, the fall of man into sin and apostasy from God, led them to create substitutes of the true God. This led to the establishment of various religions, in which they essentially worship created things and non-existent gods. Christ became man to free humanity from the tyranny of the devil and created things. Orthodoxy is not a human construct, it is not a discovery of man and in this sense it is not a religion, but a Church. In other words, it is a revelation of God Himself and, as it is stressed by the ever-memorable Fr. John Romanides, it is "the treatment of religion, or superstition". Unfortunately, today we are becoming witnesses of sick events, such as the hatred of blind fanaticism, which is derived from various human constructs.

There are nowadays many who argue, apparently out of ignorance, that God is one and that we all worship the same God. There is certainly no greater error than this. For what relation is there between the Holy Triune God of the Orthodox Church, who is a Person and developes a personal communion of love with humanity and even teaches love towards our enemies, and the gods of the idols or with the dynastic gods of other religions, that are without mercy for "unbelievers" and inspire revenge, intolerance and fanaticism? A person is free to believe whatever they want, but we can't bulldoze over everything. The experience of Orthodox ecclesiastical life humanizes people and elevates them to such a point so as to love, not only our children in the flesh which is self-evident, or friends and those who are like-minded, bet even enemies, and they respect their differences and their faiths.

A personal communion with the personal God of the Church generates an unwavering trust in His love, which frees man from all complexities and deadlocks and elevates their humanity.

Source: Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi, "ΑΓΙΑ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΜΑΡΤΥΣ ΒΑΡΒΑΡΑ", December 2004. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.