HOLIDAYS WITH A CRIMINAL BACKGROUND
According to Oleg Loginov.
December 4 – ST. BARBARA’S MEMORIAL DAY
Lucas Cranach the Elder. «St. Varvara» Lucas Cranach the Elder. «St. Varvara»
December 4 in the Catholic liturgical calendar is the Day of St. Barbara (St. Varvara), whose name is associated with a beautiful legend.
The Holy Great Martyr Barbara was the daughter of the noble pagan Dioscorus, she lived with her father in the city of Iliopolis of Phoenicia, in the reign of Maximian Galerius (305-311). She lost her mother early and was surrounded by servants, among whom there were many Christians.
When Dioscorus found out that his beloved daughter had secretly become a Christian from her father, there was no limit to her father’s anger. The girl was shut up in a tower attached to his house. All attempts to force Barbara to renounce the Christian faith, again worshipping pagan gods, were rejected.
Once Dioscorus, in a rage, drew his sword and wanted to hit Varvara with it, but she rushed to run. Dioscorus began to catch up with her, but the mountain blocked Varvara’s way. Then the girl turned to God for help. The mountain parted, and she entered the cleft, along which she came to the top of the mountain. There Varvara took refuge in a cave (since then Saint Varvara is considered the patroness of miners).
Dioscorus, on the instructions of one shepherd, nevertheless found Varvara and dragged the martyr into the house with beatings.
However, the rock could not hide the girl for a long time. Dioscorus found his daughter with the help of a shepherd and brutally beat her. After locking Varvara in a small dark room, he began to starve and thirst her to force her to renounce the Christian faith. Failing to achieve this, he betrayed his daughter into the hands of the ruler Martian, the persecutor of Christians.
Martian tried for a long time to persuade Saint Barbara to worship idols. He promised her all sorts of earthly goods, and then, seeing her inflexibility, he gave her to torture. She was scourged with ox veins, and her wounds were rubbed with a hair shirt.
Painting by Lucas Cranach-art. «The Martyrdom of St. Barbara».
But Varvara still remained adamant. Then Dioscorus himself beheaded her.
God has punished the tormentors of Barbara: Dioscorus and Martian were killed by a lightning strike.
In the VI century, the relics of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara were transferred to Constantinople. In the Middle Ages, the Great Martyr Barbara was revered as one of the 14 holy helpers of the Lord and as a heavenly mediator of the «happy» hour of death.
In the Catholic Church, St. Barbara’s Memorial Day is celebrated on December 4, and in the Orthodox Church – on December 17 (December 4, old style).
Photo rating on the topic «Pictures about biblical executions of women».
*Texts from Wikipedia and other Internet resources were used.
*Translated using an electronic dictionary. The original text in Russian and much more on the criminal topic can be selected on the main page of the site — http://crimerecords.info/
