On December 4, St. Barbara's Day ( St. is celebrated in the Catholic liturgical calendar. Barbara's Day ), with the name of which a beautiful legend is associated.
The Holy Great Martyr Varvara was the daughter of the noble pagan Dioskor, she lived with her father in the city of Iliopol Phoenician, in the reign of Maximian Galeria ( 305 — 311 ). She lost her mother early and was surrounded by a servant, among whom there were many Christians.
When Diosoros learned that his beloved daughter secretly from his father became a Christian, his father’s anger was beyond. The girl was shut up in a tower attached to his house. All attempts to force Varvara to abandon the Christian faith, again worshiping the pagan gods, were rejected.
Once Diosorz in a rage grabbed a sword and wanted to hit Varvara, but she rushed to run. Diosoros began to catch up with her, but the mountain blocked the road of Varvara. Then the girl turned to God for help. The mountain parted, and she entered the cleft, along which she went to the top of the mountain. There Varvara took refuge in the cave ( since then, St. Barbara is considered the patroness of the miners ).
However, the rock could not hide the girl for a long time. Diosoron found a daughter with the help of a shepherd and brutally beat her. Closing Varvara in a small dark room, he began to starve her and thirst to make her renounce the Christian faith. Without achieving this, he betrayed his daughter into the hands of the ruler of Martian, the persecutor of Christians.
Martian tried for a long time to persuade St. Barbara to bow to idols. He promised her all sorts of earthly blessings, and then, seeing her adherence, he gave her to torture. God punished the tormentors of Varvara: Diosoros and Martian died from a lightning strike.
In the 6th century, the relics of the holy great martyr Varvara were transferred to Constantinople. In the Middle Ages, the great martyr Varvara was revered as one of the 14 holy assistants of the Lord and as a heavenly mediator « happy » mortal hour.
A considerable number of magnificent images of this great martyr can be seen among the collection of the National Gallery of Medieval Art in the Anezhsky Monastery. A distinctive sign of the image of St. Barbara — the indispensable presence of a tower and a mountain on the images.
If we recall the ancient Russian history, the daughter of the Byzantine emperor Alexy I Komnin ( 1081-1118 ), Princess Varvara, marrying the Russian prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavovich ( in the holy Baptism of Michael ), brought with her to Kiev in 1108 the relics of the holy great martyr Varvara, where they are still resting in Vladimir Cathedral.