Saint Barbara (Ancient Greek: Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; Coptic: Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; Church Slavonic: Великомученица Варва́ра Илиопольская; Arabic: القديسة الشهيدة بربارة), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian Greek saint and martyr.

A 15th-century French version of her story credits her with thirteen miracles, many of which reflect the security she offered that her devotees would not die before getting to make confession and receiving extreme unction.

[5] According to the hagiographies,[2][6] Barbara was born either in Heliopolis or in Nicomedia,[7] the daughter of a rich pagan named Dioscorus who carefully guarded her, keeping her locked up in a tower to preserve her from the outside world.

[1] Before departing on a journey, Barbara's father commanded that a private bath-house be erected for her use near her dwelling, and during his absence, she had three windows put in it as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, instead of the two originally intended.

[2] According to the Golden Legend, her martyrdom took place on 4 December "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).

In the 12th century, the relics of Saint Barbara were brought from Constantinople to the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv, where they were kept until the 1930s, when they were transferred to St. Volodymyr's Cathedral in the same city.

In 2022, Barbara was officially added to the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar with a feast day she shares with Catherine of Alexandria, and Margaret of Antioch on 24 November.

[25][26] The church at HMS Excellent (also known as Whale Island) Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, the former Gunnery School of the Royal Navy, is called St. Barbara's.

To recognize the vital roles spouses and families play in the lives of field artillery soldiers and marines, the units celebrate Saint Barbara's Day with military balls or dinners and other activities.

[citation needed] It is celebrated by the Norwich University Artillery Battery with a nighttime fire mission featuring multiple M116 howitzers.

[citation needed] In the mining town Kalgoorlie, Australia, as patron saint of miners she is venerated in the annual St. Barbara's Day parade.

[48] Other Spanish and Portuguese settlements named Santa Barbara were established in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Venezuela, and the Philippines.

Artillery camps throughout the two countries host celebrations in honor of the saint, where loukoumades, a traditional sweet, are offered to soldiers and visitors, supposedly because they resemble cannonballs.

[citation needed] In North Macedonia Saint Barbara's day is celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox, as Варвара (Varvara) on 17 December.

Some Macedonians celebrate with their closest family and friends at home, while others refrain, believing that people who step in their house on Saint Barbara's day will give them either good or bad luck for the rest of the year.

[citation needed] In Armenia, a cave shrine to Saint Barbara (Kuys Varvara) is located on the slopes of Mount Ara and lit candles and flower garlands are used as tribute.

[60][61] The Feast of Saint Barbara, is celebrated amongst Middle Eastern Christians in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, and Turkey (Hatay Province).

[63][64] The traditional food for the occasion is Burbara, a bowl of boiled wheat, barley, pomegranate seeds, raisins, anise and sugar.

The name of the barbiturate family of pharmaceutical drugs is believed to derive from the suggestion by an artilleryman commemorating the feast of Saint Barbara in 1864, whom the chemist Adolf von Baeyer encountered at a local tavern whilst celebrating his recent discovery of the parent compound.

"This morning, Saint Barbara, Virgin, visited me and recommended that I offer Holy Communion for 9 days on behalf of my country and thus appease God's anger.

According to this drama, a popular Spanish phrase regarding this saint in the early 20th century was:"Blessed Santa Barbara, your story is written in the sky, with paper and holy water."

Major Barbara is a play by George Bernard Shaw in which the title character, an officer in the Salvation Army, grapples with the moral dilemma of whether this Christian denomination should accept donations from her father, who is an armaments manufacturer.

[71] In "Time Bomb", an episode of The Closer, the LAPD deploy a bomb-squad robot named Babs, after St. Barbara in her role as patron saint of artillery and explosives personnel.

[citation needed] Saint Barbara's story is mentioned in a live version of The Hold Steady's song "Don't Let Me Explode" from Lollapalooza.