Background

Christian virgin martyr of the third century, highly venerated since the seventh century. St. Barbara's father is said to have kept her locked up in a tower so that the world would not contaminate her beauty, but he beheaded her after learning of her Christianity. She is invoked as patron saint in fire and lightning because the legend states that after she was martyred her father was consumed by a fire that descended from heaven. Because the narratives of her life and martyrdom are considered legendary, St. Barbara was dropped from the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints in 1970. Her feast day was December 4.