St Barbara
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Description
St Barbara was the daughter of a rich heathen named Dioscorus. She was carefully guarded by her father who kept her shut up in a tower in order to preserve her from the outside world. An offer of marriage which was received through him she rejected. Before going on a journey her father commanded that a 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 she was ill-treated by him and dragged before the prefect of the province, Martinianus, who had her cruelly tortured and finally condemned her to death by beheading. The father himself carried out the death-sentence, but in punishment for this he was struck by lightning on the way home and his body consumed. The legend that her father was struck by lightning caused her, probably, to be regarded by the common people as the patron saint in time of danger from thunder-storms and fire, and later by analogy, as the protector of artillerymen and miners. She was also called upon as intercessor to assure the receiving of the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist at the hour of death. St Barbara's feast day was on 4 December, and this stained glass window is in St John the Baptist's church in Newcastle. -
Owner
Lawrence OP -
Source
Flickr (Flickr) -
License
What does this mean? Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
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Further information
Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/35409814@N00/5231095242/
Resource type: Image
Added by: Simon Cotterill
Last modified: 7 years, 10 months ago
Viewed: 831 times
Picture Taken: Unknown -
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