December 4 — Saint Barbara, Virgin and Martyr

Although, in the Roman Liturgy, St. Barbara is merely commemorated in the Office of St. Peter Chrysologus ; yet the Church has approved an entire Office for the use of those Churches which honour the memory of this illustrious Virgin in a special manner. The Legend which follows, although of considerable weight, has not, consequently, the authority of those which are promulgated for the use of the whole Church, in the Roman Breviary. Let us not, on this account, be the less fervent in honouring this glorious Martyr, so celebrated in the East, and whose feast has been for so many ages admitted, with more or less solemnity, into the Roman Church. The Acts of her martyrdom, though not of the highest antiquity, contain nothing in them but what redounds to the glory of God and the honour of the Saint. We have already shown the liturgical importance which attaches to St. Barbara in the season of Advent. Let us admire the constancy wherewith this Virgin waited for her Lord, who came at the appointed hour, and was for her, as the Scripture speaks, a Spouse of blood, because he put the strength of her love of him to the severest of all tests.

Virgo Nicomemedia, diensis, Dioscori nobilis, sed hominis filia, per ea quae visibilia facta

Barbara, a Virgin of Nico- Barbara, the daughter of Dioscorns, a nobleman, but a superstitiosi superstitious pagan, came sunt, ad invisibilia, divina opitulante gratia, facile pervenit. Quapropter soli Deo rebusque divinis vacare coapit. Earn pater, utpote forma venustiori nitentem, a quocumque virorum occursu tutari cupiens, turri inclusit : ubi pia virgo meditationibus et precibus addicta, soli Deo, quern sibi in sponsum elegerat, placere studebat. Oblata a patre pluries nobiliura connubia fortiter sprevit. Pater vero per sui absentiam h'liae animum posse facilius emolliri confidens, jussit prinio balneum extrui, ne quid ei deesset ad commoditatem ; deinde peregre in exteras regiones profectus est.

Absente patre, jussit Barbara duabus fenestris quae in turri erant, tertiam addi in honorem divinae Trinitatis, labiumque balnei sacrosanctse Crucis signo muniri : auod ubi rediens Dioscorus inspexit, audita novitatis causa, adeo in filiam excanduit ut stricto ense earn appetens, parum abfuerit ut earn dire confoderet ; sed presto adfuit Deus ; nam readily, by the assistance of divine grace, from the contemplation of the visible things of creation to the knowledge of the invisible. Wherefore, she devoted herself to God alone and to the things of God. Her father, desirous to preserve her from all danger of insult, to which he feared her great beauty might expose her, shut her up in a tower. There the pious virgin passed her days in meditation and prayer, studying to please God alone, whom she had chosen as her Spouse. She courageously rejected several offers of marriage, which were made to her, through her father, by rich nobles. But her father hoped, that by separating himself by a long absence from his child, her intentions would easily change. He first ordered that a bath should be built for her in the tower, so that she might want for nothing ; and then he set out on a journey into distant countries.

During her father's absence, Barbara ordered that to the two windows already in the tower a third should be added, in honour of the blessed Trinity : and that on the edge of tne bath the sign of the most holy Cross should be drawn. When Dioscorus returned home, and saw these changes, and was told their meaning, he became so incensed against fugienti Barbara saxum ingens se patefaciens viam aperuit, per quam montis fastigium petere, et sic in latere, potuit ; sed paulo post quum a nequissimo genitore reperta fuisset, ejus latera pedibus dorpugnis immaniter percussit, et crinibus per loca aspera drflicilesque vias raptatam Marciano Prsesidi puniendam tradidit. Itaque ab ipso omnibus modis, sed incassum tentata nudam nervis caedi et inflicta vultestulis confricarij deinde in carcerem trahi praecepit : ubi immensa luce circumdatus ei Christus apparens, mirifice confortatam passionum tolerantia concon- firmavit : quod animadverad tidem con versa ejusdem palma particeps effecta est con- his daughter, that he went in search of her with a naked sword in his hand, and, but for the protection of God, he would cruelly have mur- specu dered her. Barbara had taken to flight : an immense rock opened before her, and she found a path by which sumque she reached the top of a mountain, and there she hid herself in a cave. Not long after, however, she was discovered by her unnatural father, who savagely kicked and struck her, and dragging her by the hair over the nera sharp rocks, and rugged ways, he handed her over to the governor Marcian, that he might punish her. He, therefore, having used every in means to shake her stancy, and finding that all tens Juliana matrona, was in vain, gave orders, that she should he stripped and scourged with thongs, the wounds to be then scraped with potsherd, and so dragged to prison. There Christ, surrounded by an immense light, appearing to her, strengthened her in a divine manner for the sufferings she was yet to endure. A matron, named Juliana, who witnessed this, was verted to the faith, and became her companion in the palm of martyrdom.

At length Barbara had her body torn with iron hooks, her sides burnt with torches, and her head bruised with mallets. During these tortures she consoled her com-

Barbarae demum ferreis unguibus membra laniantur, f acibus latera incenduntur, et malleolis caput contunditur : quibus in cruciatibus consortem solabatur, et hortaba-

344 Air tur ut ad finem usque constanter certaret. Prsecisis tandem utrique uberibus, nudae per loca publiea tractse, filiaeque cervicem ipse scelestissimus pater humanitatis expers, propriis manibus amputavit : cujus f era crudelitas non diu inulta remansit; nam statim eo ipso in loco f ulmine percus- 8us interiit. Corpus hujus beatissimae virginis Justinus Imperator Nicomedia auferens, Constantinopolim primum transportavit. Iflud idem, cum in progressu temporis ab Imperatoribus Constantino et Basilio impetrassent Veneti, Constantinopoli deductum in sancti Marci Basilica fuit deinde solemniter collocatum. Postremo et ultimo, supplicantibus Torcellano Episcopo ei usque sorore Abbatissa, ad Ecclesiam monialium Sancti Johannis Evangelistae Torcellanae dicecesis, anno salutis millesimo nono defertur : ubi et honorifice conditum, perpetuo cultu ad prsesens usque tempus summopere veneratur. anion, and exhorted her to ght manfully to the last. Both of them had their breasts cut off, were dragged naked through the streets, and beheaded. The head of Barbara was cut off by her own father, who in his excessive wickedness had hardened his heart thus far. But his ferocious cruelty was not long left ' unpunished, for instantly, and on the very spot, he was struck dead by lightning. The Emperor Justinus had the body of this most holy virgin translated from Nicomedia to Constantinople. It was afterwards obtained by the Venetians from the Emperors Constantine and Basil ; and having been translated from Constantinople to Venice, was deposited with great solemnity in the Basilica of St. Mark. Lastly, at the earnest request of the Bishop of Torcello and his sister, who was abbess, it was translated in the year of grace 1009, to the Nuns' Church of St. John the Evangelist, in the diocese of Torcello ; where it was placed in a worthy sepulchre, and from that time has never ceased to be the object of most fervent veneration.

Such is the account of the life and martyrdom of the courageous Virgin of Nicomedia. She is invoked in the Church against lightning, on account of the punishment inflicted by divine justice on her execrable father. This same incident of the Saint's history has suggested several Catholic customs : thus, her name is sometimes given to the hold of men-of war where the ammunition is stowed ; she is the Patroness of Artillery-men, Miners, &c; and she is invoked by the faithful against the danger of a sudden death.

Of the Liturgical pieces, used in our Western Churches, in honour of St. Barbara, we will content ourselves with the following beautiful Antiphon, composed in the days of chivalry.

ANTIPHON.

O immeasurable mercy of divine goodness, which did enlighten Barbara with the brightness of the true light, making her worthy, by her contempt for what was dazzling in earthly grandeur, to be admitted to a union with God ! As the lily among thorns, as light in darkness, so shone Barbara. Alleluia.

O divinse bonitatis immensa dementia, quae Barbaram illustravit vero claritatis lumine, ut terrenae dignitatis contempto splendore, divinitatis conscia effici mereretur : hsec velut lilium inter spinas enituit, et lux in tenebris eluxit. Alleluia.

The Greek Church is profuse in its praises of St. Barbara. We will take from the Menaea a few out of the many Strophes which are sung in honour of the holy Martyr.

HYMN OF THE

When welcome death came before thee, O venerable Martyr Barbara! joyously and nimbly didst thou run thy course, and being immolated by the wicked hands of an impious parent, thou wast offered a victim to God. Now, therefore, art thou in the choir of the truly wise Virgins, and contemplatest the beauty of thy Spouse. rREEK CHURCH.

Quando coram te, veneranda martyr Barbara, dulcis mors apparuit, gaudens et festinans cursum complevisti, impiique genitoris injustis manibus sacrificata est, et Deo oblata es victima: unde vere prudentium Virginum conjuncta choris, tui Sponsi contemplaris splendorem.

Agna tua, Jesu, magna This lamb of thine, 0 voce clamat : Te, Sponse mi, Jesus, cries to thee with a desidero, et quaecens te pug- loud voice : Thee, O my no, et confixa sum et con- Spouse, do I desire, thee do sepulta tuo baptismati, et I seek by my combat ; I am patior propter te, ut reg- immolated and buried in thy nem tecum ; et morior pro baptism ; I suffer for thee, te, ut et vivam in te : igitur ut that I may reign with thee ; sacrificium irreprehensibile I die for thee, that I may live suscipe amanter sacrificatam in thee ; receive me, there- tibi. Illius precibus ut mi- fore, as an unreserved sacri- sericors, salva animas nos- fice lovingly sacrificed to tras. thee. Save our souls, O merciful Jesus, by her prayers.

E spinosa exorta radice, Glorious Barbara ! most rosa sacratissima, Ecclesiam sacred rose grown out of a praelii per sanguinem pur- ing the Church, and ruddy puratam, gloriosa Barbara, by the blood of thy battle !

nunc dignissime beatam cele- we this day most fervently bramus. proclaim thee blessed.

Non deliciarum jucundi- Neither the sweetness of tas, non pulchritudinis flos, luxury, nor the flower of neque divitiae, neque ju- beauty, nor riches, nor the ventutis voluptates te mul- pleasures of youth, could rob serunt, Barbara gloriosa, thee of thy energy , O glorious

Christo desponsata, pulcher- Barbara, most fair Virgin, rima virgo. espoused to Christ.

In certamine tuo omnes All stood in amazement at obstupefecisti ; nam tole- witnessing thy combat; for rasti tyrannorum cruciatus, thou didst endure the tor- vincula, tormenta, Barbara tures, and chains, and cruel- celeberrima: quapropter et ties, of thy persecutors, O corona Deus te donavit Barbara, of wide-world fame!

quam desiderasti : cum ani- Therefore, did God give thee mo cucurristi, et ille sanam the crown thou didst covet ;

Sponsum tuum Christum Full of love for Jesus thy adamata lampadis tuae ful- Spouse, thy bright lamp was gore praeparato virtutibus well trimmed, and thy vir- refulsisti, laude digna : un- tues shed forth their splen- de ingressa es cum eo ad dour, O Virgin, worthy of nuptias, ab eo recipiens praise ! Therefore didst thou certaminis coronam : sed a enter in with Christ to periculis libera nos cele- the marriage -feast, and he suaviter inodorans^ te rubore thorny stem, sweetly perfum- te fecit. thou didst run thy course with courage, and he healed thee.

•347 wreathed thee with the crown brantes, Barbara, tui memo- of thy combat. We celebrate riam. thy memory, O Barbara ! Deliver us from danger.

By those three apertures, Tribus ostiolis lavacrum which thou wouldst have to illustrari juben?, mystice thy bath, thou didst sym- indicasti Baptisma, O Bar- bolise, O Barbara, the mys- bara, Trinitatis lumine ani- tery of Baptism, which, by mabus splendidam suppetens the light of the Trinity, im- purgationem. parts to our souls a cleansing that illuminates.

Fleeing the terrible vio- Furore terribili patris de- lence of her father, a rock im- clinato, Barbaram statira mediately opened a reception se scindens mons recepit, of safety to Barbara, as hap- ut olim illustrem Protomar- pened heretofore to the illus- tyrem Theclam, miraculum trious Protomartyr of her operante Christo. sex, Thecla, for whom Christ worked a like miracle.

O Martyr Barbara ! thou Gladio te, martyr Barbara, wast sacrificed with a sword, immolans pater, Abraham by thy father, like in this to alter, sed diabolo favit. Abraham; but his devotedness was to the devil.

J esus appeared to thee, O Apparuit Christus in lu-

Barbara, in thy prison : he mine inaccessibili tibi in- was surrounded by light in- clusae, O Barbara, in carcere, accessible, but he came to ut confidentem te incitans, et animate thy confidence, heal vibices sanans et laetitiam thy wounds and make thee praebens : unde alas accepisti glad : this gave wings to thy Sponsi tui amore. love of thy Lord.

Angelus f ulgidus te, propter Christum denudatam veneranda Barbara, vestivit, ut sponsam, veste splendida quae vulnera texit ; stolam enim induisti divinam afferentem mutationem. crea-

When for Christ's sake thou wast stripped of thy garments, O venerable Barbara ! a bright Angel clothed thee, as a bride, with a splendid robe, which covered thy wounds ; for thou hast put on the stole which gives tures a divine transformation.

Thy prophecy, O Christ, Demonstrata est evidenter, has been evidently fulfilled : Christe, prophetia tua adim- for the father delivers his pleta : pater namque filiam daughter up to death, nay ad caadem tradit, ipse artifex jugulationis ; qui improbus himself becomes her mur- genitor tuae martyris stu- derer ; but this cruel parent pendo modo e coelo igne con- of thy Martyr is, in a wonder- suniitur. f ul manner, consumed by fire from heaven.

Athleticam ingressa viam, Virpaternam renuisti voluntatern, tota honorabilis, et virgo quidem sapiens lampadem ferens, egressa es ad siones Domini tui ; et ut gratiam accepisti sanandi carnis putidam pestilentiam : et nos tyr, hymnificantes te, spiritualibus doloribus libera tuis ad Deum precibus.

Thou, most honoured gin, having entered the path of combatants, didst resist thy father's demands, and. as man- a wise virgin bearing ner lamp, thou didst go into the Martyr generosa, mansions of thy Lord ; he gave thee, O generous Marthe power to drive away pestilence ; pray to God for us who hymn thy praises, and deliver us from our spiritual

To this the voice of so many Churches we join ours, O faithful Virgin ! and though we are unworthy, yet do we offer thee our praise and our prayers. Behold ! our Lord cometh, and the darkness of the night is upon us ; give to our lamp both the light which will guide us, and the oil which will keep in the light. Thou knowest that he who came for love of thee, and with whom thou art now united for all eternity, is coming to visit us too ; pray for us that nothing may keep us from receiving him. May we go towards him courageously and swiftly as thou didst, and being once with him, may we never be separated from him again, for he is the centre where we creatures find our only rest. Pray also, O glorious Martyr, that the faith in the Blessed Trinity may be ever increasing in this world. May our enemy, Satan, be confounded by every tongue's confessing the Threefold light, and the triumphant Cross which sanctifies the waters of Baptism. Remember, O blessed Barbara, thou Spouse of Jesus, that he has put in thy gentle hands the power not of hurling but of staying and averting the thunderbolt. Protect our ships against the fires of heaven and of war. Shield by thy protection the arsenals where are placed the defence of our country. Hear the prayers of them that invoke thee, whether in the fierceness of the storm, or in the dark depths of the earth ; and save us all from the awful chastisement of a sudden death.

Let us consider how the various nations on the face of the earth, though differing in customs, and speech, and interests, are all united in the expectation of a Deliverer soon to come. Neither the frightful corruption of morals, nor the long ages which have passed since the promises were given, have been able to efface the tradition, or the hope it inspired. At the very time when the world seems crumbling into dissolution, there is evinced a strong symptom of vigour, and from one end of the earth to the other there is heard this cry: The King of the universe is soon to appear ; a new Empire, holy and everlasting, is to bring all peoples into one. It is thus, 0 Jesus ! that Jacob prophesied on his dying bed, when he said, speaking of thee : He shall be the Expectation of nations. Men have, indeed, searched after, and found, the way to the lowest degradation ; but they could not prevent the fulfilment of this prophecy : and by their expectation of a happier state of things, they themselves fulfil it ; and by fulfilling it, are confessing that their misery has no remedy save thyself. Come, then, O Son of God ! and cherish this ray of hope, of the ancient world, which renders thee this its only homage, even whilst falling under the weight of its own wretchedness. The expectation of a Deliverer is the bond of union between the two great divisions of the human race, those who preceded and those who have lived since thy Nativity. But, if the pagan world, from the depth of its vices and errors, could sigh after thee, O Jesus ! what shall we not do,

1 Gen. xlix. 10. who have inherited what was promised, now that thou art preparing to come and take possession of our souls? We already know thee, for thou hast initiated us into thy Mysteries; we cannot do less, dear Jesus! we are longing for thee during these days of Advent. When the beautiful day of thy visit comes, mayst thou find that thy love is already in our hearts. Make our expectation more fervid, increase our faith, and Gome !

RESPONSORY OF ADVENT.

(Roman Breviary, Matins of the First Sunday.)

Salvatorem exspecta- ft. We look for the Saviour, mus Dominum Jesum Chris- our Lord J esus Christ ; * Who turn • * Qui reformabit cor- will reform the body of our pus humiiitatis nostras con- lowliness made like to the figuratum corpori claritatis Body of his glory. ft. Let us suae. ft. Sobne, juste, et pie, live soberly, and justly, and vivamus in hoc saeculo, ex- piously in this world, looking spectantes beatam spem, et tor the blessed hope and

Adventum glorias magni Dei, Coming of the glory of the

• Qui reformabit corpus hu- great God, * Who will reform mihtatis nostras configura- the body of our lowliness turn corpori claritatis suae. made like to the Body of his glory.