"Our life is fire, our faith is God, for Saint Barbara the Martyr"
Thus ends the prayer of the Fire fighters the 4th December they honor the Saint together with the sailors, the artillerymen, the engineers, the miners and all the professions that are connected to the fire and, possibly, to the sudden death determined by the same. Thus died, in fact, struck by lightning the persecutor of the Saint: her father, Dioscoro.
The life of the saint
Barbara was a girl whose origins are uncertain: she probably lived in the third century under the emperor Maximin (or Maximian). His homeland is not even sure: they say the Middle East (Egypt or Syria) but someone finds traces of him in Tuscany or Rome. She became a Christian finding the opposition in her father who locked her in a tower from which she came out crossing the walls. She was taken back, tortured, passed through the hostile crowd until her father was beheaded.
As soon as Barbara died a thunderbolt struck Dioscoro himself and incinerated him. From here was born the patronage towards those who bring justice with fire. The mystery of her life also continues in the events following the death of the Saint: according to some her relics are in Kiev, while others report their presence in Venice.
The cult
The uncertainties about the life and death of Saint Barbara cause her removal from the "General Roman Calendar" in 1969. However, it remains present in the "Roman Martilogio" and continues to allow its worship. It is a cult of no small importance: cities (even in California) and basilicas are dedicated to the Saint. In Rome the church of Saint Barbara of the Booksellers it is one of the most characteristic in the center of the capital.
The most felt cult, however, concerns the sailors and the gunners. On 4 December on the ships and in the land bodies of the Marina Militare it is a day of celebration: reduced hours and special lunch, often also a show for the crew members. The head of the "weapons" service is honored with a bouquet of flowers and we exchange greetings: "Good Santa Barbara". A wish that accompanies sailors and former sailors throughout their lives, as the writer can testify. The same ceremonies take place at the artillery departments where the ammunition depot it is called 'santabarbara'. The devotion of the artillerymen to the Saint has meant that many barracks are dedicated to her: in Anzio, in Sabaudia the Contraerea Artillery School, in Milan the housing of the Voloire, the ancient regiment on horseback.
On December 4th in the name of Santa Barbara, therefore, sacred and profane, legend and history are intertwined in a devotion that also takes those who, like soldiers and sailors, seem to face tremendously serious and concrete problems every day.
