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Saint Barbara ((ギリシア語:Αγία Βαρβάρα)), Feast Day ''December 4'', known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian saint and martyr. Accounts place her in the 3rd century in Nicomedia, present-site Turkey or in Heliopolis of Phoenicia, Baalbek (or Baalbeck / Baalback), present-day Lebanon.〔Signs and Symbols in Christian Art, Oxford University Press, G. Ferguson, 1959, p. 107.〕〔Ulysses Annotated: Notes for James Joyce's Ulysses, D. Gifford, Robert J. Seidman, University of California Press, 2008, ISBN 0520253973, p. 527.〕 There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the original recension of Saint Jerome's martyrology. Her name can be traced to the 7th century, and veneration of her was common, especially in the East, from the 9th century.〔Harry F. Williams, "Old French Lives of Saint Barbara" ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' 119.2 (16 April 1975:156–185), with extensive bibliography.〕 Because of doubts about the historicity of her legend,〔Medieval historian Norman F. Cantor referred to Barbara in passing as "entirely mythical', in ''In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made'' 2002:84.〕 she was removed from the General Roman Calendar in the 1969 revision, though not from the Catholic Church's list of saints.〔''Martyrologium Romanum'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2001 ISBN 978-88-209-7210-3), p. 621〕 Saint Barbara is often portrayed with miniature chains and a tower. As one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, Barbara continues to be a popular saint in modern times, perhaps best known as the patron saint of armourers, artillerymen, military engineers, miners and others who work with explosives because of her old legend's association with lightning, and also of mathematicians. Many of the thirteen miracles in a 15th-century French version of her story turn on the security she offered that her devotees would not die without making confession and receiving extreme unction.〔Williams 1975.〕 ==Life== According to the hagiographies,〔Williams bibliography gives a survey.〕 Barbara, the daughter of a rich pagan named Dioscorus, was carefully guarded by her father who kept her locked up in a tower in order to preserve her from the outside world. Having secretly become a Christian, she rejected an offer of marriage that she received through him. Before going on a journey, he commanded that a private bath-house be erected for her use near her dwelling, and during his absence, Barbara had three windows put in it, as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, instead of the two originally intended. When her father returned, she acknowledged herself to be a Christian; upon this he drew his sword to kill her, but her prayers created an opening in the tower wall and she was miraculously transported to a mountain gorge, where two shepherds watched their flocks. Dioscorus, in pursuit of his daughter, was rebuffed by the first shepherd, but the second betrayed her and was turned to stone and his flock changed to locusts. Dragged before the prefect of the province, Martinianus, who had her cruelly tortured, Barbara held true to her faith. During the night, the dark prison was bathed in light and new miracles occurred. Every morning her wounds were healed. Torches that were to be used to burn her went out as soon as they came near her. Finally she was condemned to death by beheading. Her father himself carried out the death-sentence. However, as punishment for this, he was struck by lightning on the way home and his body was consumed by flame. Barbara was buried by a Christian, Valentinus, and her tomb became the site of miracles.〔This summary omits picturesque details, supplemented from Old French accounts, in Williams 1975:156f.〕 According to ''Legenda Aurea'', her martyrdom was December 4 "in the reign of emperor Maximianus and Prefect Marcien" (r. 286–305); the year was given as 267 in the French version edited by Father Harry F. Williams of the Anglican Community of the Resurrection (1975). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Saint Barbara」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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