Barbara was brought up a
pagan. She was a very beautiful young woman, and many princes came to ask her
father for her hand in marriage. But she refused to marry. Her father built a
tower in which he guarded his daughter. She gave herself to prayer and study,
and later was baptized secretly.
When her father heard of
this, he drew his sword to kill his daughter, but God saved her.
Later her father brought
her before a judge, who said to her: “Choose either to offer to the gods or to
be put to death by cruel torments.” Barbara answered: “I offer myself to my God,
Jesus Christ, who created heaven and earth and all things.”
After Barbara was beaten,
our Lord came to comfort her in a vision. Her father came for her and took her
to a mountain, where he himself beheaded her while she was praying to God to
have mercy on his soul.
Barbara was martyred in the
year 235. She is invoked against lightning and fire.
From the Book of Saints by father Lovasik. S.V.D.
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