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| St Barbara's Martyrium Lucas Cranach the Elder 1510-15 Metropolitan Museum of Art |
So many of the legends about the Catholic Saints are bloodthirsty affairs and the life St Barbara is no exception. She is said to have lived at the end of the 3rd Century in Nikomedia, now Izmit in Turkey. Her father imprisoned her in a high tower, to discourage her many suitors. He liked it even less when she became a Christian and he had her tortured and, finally, beheaded her himself, whereupon he was instantly struck by lightning and killed. Historically, she appears a rather unlikely figure, but she is, nevertheless, one of the best known Catholic Saints.
In Germany she is mainly the patron saint of miners. Woodcarvers in the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) in Saxony always carve her as a companion piece to the figure of the miner. In mining villages even now miners dress in traditional uniforms on St Barbara's Day and go in procession to receive "St Barbara's Light", to protect them from danger underground.
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| Ore mine Konrad (left) and Salt Mine Asse (right) |
A very pleasant one is that of the "Barbara Branch". Cut a twig of apple or cherry tree and place it in water. Leave it in a cool room and by Christmas the twigs should blossom, an omen for good luck in the new year. Even if the blossoms drop quickly, the flowering branch in the middle of a North European winter is a little miracle in itself. If you want to make absolutely sure of success, use a few forsythia twigs; a small cheat perhaps, but guaranteed to work.
Traditionally, women would cut the name of the man they hoped to marry into the wood. If the branch blossomed that meant that the chosen one loved you back. We have more direct ways today, of course, but simply asking the chap takes away the frisson of uncertainty.
This custom of bringing bare branches of apple and cherry wood into the house might even be one of the precursors to the Christmas tree. In Franconia, in the 18th Century, the flowering branches were decorated with sweet stuffs, nuts and fruit for children, a kind of poor man's Christmas tree perhaps.
You KNOW I'll be outside, snipping off apple, cherry and forsythia branches today...
ReplyDeleteI'm loving this lore.
what an intriguing tradition...heres to hoping it grows back...smiles.
ReplyDeleteFirst find your apple or cherry tree... :)
ReplyDeletesehr interessant, diese Dinge zu erfahren und die Kirschblüten sind wirklich wunderschön. Ich freue mich immer, wenn der Kirschbaum Blüten trägt und nun werde ich an sie erinnert!
ReplyDeleteBis bald!
friko - i love that . . . "takes away the frisson of uncertainty". i love that!! i don't know very much about the saints and so this was a revelation. imagine a father in that position choosing to kill his own daughter. wow. steven
ReplyDeleteI'm heading out for my Barbara Branch but hope no man follows me home.
ReplyDeleteAnother very informative and interesting posting, Friko. I love these little stories, though the story of St. Barbara's treatment at the hands of her father is rather gruesome. It's nice to know that warm, life-affirming traditions can spring from such tragedies.
ReplyDeleteThat custom of the Barbara Branch is charming. A lovely post, Friko.
ReplyDeleteI am certainly learning a lot reading your posts Friko. I had never heard of Saint Barbara. I’ll add the Barbara Branch to my document listing celebrations that date before Christmas – and there are many. Very interesting post.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Friko - just wondering if my sister in law knows about her name's Saint.
ReplyDeleteFriko, as a practicing but non-professional genealogist and as one with little knowledge of Catholic saints, I have often wondered why my given name, Barbara, constantly shows up in German families, especially on old US censuses in families who have German heritage. You've not only inadvertantly provided me with an answer to a longstanding question but also given me inspiration to set up a little "Barbara Branch" in my tiny apartment, renewable yearly at this festive time of the year. Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteKeep 'em coming! They're wonderful!
St Barbara is also the patron saint of the artillery.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had some cherry branches to force!
What a cool bit of history/myth! Thanks for sharing that, as I knew nothing about St. Barbara.
ReplyDeleteFriko,
ReplyDeleteI love the stories of the saints, although too many come to a bloody end to suit me. I always thought the name Barbara had to do with the name given the Germans by the Romans, and is the root of the word barbarian. I like your story better.
Too bad the lightening bolt couldn't have struck him BEFORE he beheaded her.
ReplyDeleteNone of those branches available, don't think that bodes well for me.
Fun facts though.
Friko - that was such an interesting post - poor Barbara.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Legenda Aurea her martyrdom was December 5 "in the reign of emperor Maximianus and Prefect Marcien" (r. 286–305)
ReplyDeleteSaint Barbara is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Her association with the lightning that killed her father has caused her to be invoked against lightning and fire; by association with explosions, she is also the patron of artillery and mining.
Another version of her tale goes like:
According to the hagiographies Barbara, the daughter of a rich pagan named Dioscorus, was carefully guarded by her father who kept her shut 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.
She is the patron saint of military engineers as well. For her bravery, for her piety, in fine ecclesiastical form, she was removed from the liturgical calendar of the Roman rite in 1969 by Pope Paul VI.
I love forcing flowering branches -- now I'll think of them as Barbara branches. Thanks for another good one, Friko!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post. I do have a cherry tree...
ReplyDeleteYour post puts me in mind of an exhibit of an illuminated manuscript at the Morgan Library earlier this year. The manuscript had been disbound for restoration, so almost every illustrated page was on display. Several were of the saints depicted with symbols of their martyrdom, one more gruesome than the next. The online exhibit is fantastic, by the way. Here is where St. Barbara can be found: http://www.themorgan.org/collections/works/cleves/manuscript.asp?page=118,and here is my post about the exhibit, if of interest: http://rainingacorns.blogspot.com/2010/02/wondrous-strange-hours-of-catherine-of.html
ReplyDeleteI'm struck, in your fascinating post, by the juxtaposition of her terrible end and the lovely image of a budding branch. Do you know how it was that she was chosen as the patron saint of miners?
Terrific post, Friko. This series you've embarked upon is simply marvelous.
A window to another fascinating story and charming custom. Thanks, Friko.
ReplyDeleteI like the Adventskalender on top of your post! Is that a custom in England, too? Tomorrow it will be Nikolaustag, is that celebrated where you live? Yes, i think we Germans have a lot of nice customs, in each region often different ones, so you`ll never run out of stories to tell!
ReplyDeleteI don't think that a Barbara branch would be a poor Christmas tree , at all . It's a lovely idea !
ReplyDeleteIn Holland , twiggy branches are decorated with tiny wooden eggs , rabbits and chickens at Easter .
In some areas St. Barbara's Day is also the day to bake Kletzenbrot, a loaf cake made with prunes, dried pears, raisins and currants. Kletzenbrot is most commonly made in Austria and Bavaria.
ReplyDelete