The Life of Saint Barbara
Saint Barbara, a Great Martyr of the Eastern Orthodox Church, lived in Heliopolis at the beginning of the third century.
As Saint Barbara was a very beautiful and delightful young girl, her father, a wealthy noble
man and fanatic pagan, ordered the construction of a tower to lock her in, in order to protect her. The tower was to have two windows, but Saint Barbara wanted to honor the Holy Trinity. She changed the construction plans and added a third window so that the room would be lit by a triple light symbolizing the light of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Soon after, her father found out that she was a Christian and became furious. He delivered his daughter to Marcian, the Roman prefect, to torture her until she would deny Christ. She was imprisoned, beaten and tortured but never denied her heavenly Father. When her father heard her sentence, he offered to execute his daughter himself, using his own sword. Immediately after he did so, a lightning from heaven struck the father and killed him.
man and fanatic pagan, ordered the construction of a tower to lock her in, in order to protect her. The tower was to have two windows, but Saint Barbara wanted to honor the Holy Trinity. She changed the construction plans and added a third window so that the room would be lit by a triple light symbolizing the light of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Soon after, her father found out that she was a Christian and became furious. He delivered his daughter to Marcian, the Roman prefect, to torture her until she would deny Christ. She was imprisoned, beaten and tortured but never denied her heavenly Father. When her father heard her sentence, he offered to execute his daughter himself, using his own sword. Immediately after he did so, a lightning from heaven struck the father and killed him.Saint Barbara joined her Father in Heaven on December 4, 306. She is remembered every year on December 4.