De sancta Barbara
The Seeking Heart
Barbara, a noble maiden, begins to discern the vanity of idols and seeks the truth of the one Creator.
In the time of the Emperor Maximian, there was a certain pagan man in Nicomedia who was distinguished by the nobility of his birth and possessed an abundance of worldly goods; his name was Dioscorus, and he had a most beautiful daughter named Barbara. Now, the blessed Barbara was gifted, and from her tender years she began to turn away from empty thoughts and to think about divine things; for when she once entered a temple and saw the idols, she said to her parents, "What is the meaning of these likenesses of men?" Her parents replied, "Be silent; they are not of men, but of the gods, and they wish to be worshipped through that which is unknown and unseen." Barbara said, "Were they once men, whom we now worship?" But because neither the earth is of itself, nor the heaven, nor the air, nor the water—from which four elements man is composed—but they are creatures, it is necessary that there be a creator for them. Consider the wisdom in such a young girl. Eventually, she surpassed everyone in her liberal arts studies, though she still lacked knowledge of the true God. She secretly despised these empty gods, and it troubled her heart deeply to see people bowing down to wood and stone. For this reason, a report spread through Nicomedia, proclaiming that the wisest of men was in Alexandria—namely, Origen—whose eloquence flooded the whole earth, and who could provide true evidence for knowing the true God and the idols. Hearing this, the blessed Barbara rejoiced greatly in the house of her heart and began to consider carefully how she might approach him. For her father was a noble and very powerful man, and so she did not reveal her secret to him. Since she had no one to guide her, she resorted to this plan: to send a letter to that same wise Origen and reveal her secret to him in these words.
Correspondence with Origen
Barbara writes to the wise Origen to seek instruction, and he responds with the doctrine of the Trinity.
To Origen, a man of Alexandria whose nobility of spirit is known far and wide: Barbara of Nicomedia, your servant. I have received the honor and grace of your desire to show me the true God; from the first spark of my own understanding, I have longed with my whole heart to reach the knowledge of the true God. In my mind, I realized that there is no divinity in wood and stone, which are made by human craft, which cannot feel, and which can neither speak nor hear. Therefore, I have always held that these gods are false, and that humans cannot be gods, because a human begins and ends, but God was before time. I could never believe in gods whom I knew to be mortal men. Yet, placed in the midst of many nights, I have always believed that there is, without a doubt, a God unknown to us, who alone made all things, whom I have always loved, and to whom I have always devoted myself—the one from whom I am, and whose I am, unless my judgment fails me, and by whose Spirit I feel I am animated; and I will not stop until I reach him. Therefore, struck by the report of your fame, venerable father, I have decided to turn my thoughts to these things, to seek only that God whose knowledge I know you possess. So, if it is as the report says, I offer my humble prayers that you might deign to clear away the night of ignorance and the chaos of confusion from your servant, and to bring in the sun of justice and the light of discernment. I long to know the true God who made visible and invisible things, and whether he is truly one, as I have already been reasoning with myself. She sent this letter to Alexandria to Origen the priest, who is in the parts of Africa, the head of that region far distant from Nicomedia. But so that she would not be deprived of the mission she had entrusted to the God she knew, she poured out tears in the chamber of her heart, saying: 'Lord, steady the foot of the one I have sent to your servant, so that neither death nor exile may overtake me or him before he arrives.' With these and other petitions, which she was able to make with devotion, the messenger enters Alexandria to find Origen. He finds him in the palace of Mammaea, the mother of the Caesar in Alexandria, where he is occupied in teaching the Christian faith. He received Barbara’s letter with great joy, praising God, who was raising up such seed and working such things. And immediately Origen, that most excellent teacher, hastened and addressed Barbara’s desire in this way. Origen, a distinguished priest of the true God and, as far as possible, a revealer of Him, who still resides in Alexandria, sends to Barbara, of the barbarian race, the adoption of the children of God and the true salvation of Jesus Christ: Since you wrote that you wish to know who the true God is, you ought to know that there is one true God in substance and three in persons—namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Whoever believes all these things possesses everything necessary to reach God; but you, understand these things, and having understood them, believe them. If anything is lacking for the fullness of your desire, ask the messenger, who will instruct you in the holy law and read to you the books he brings with him; do not doubt, for the name of Christ. For He Himself says with the evangelical voice: 'Whoever loses his soul in this world for my sake, keeps it for eternal life,' Origen. He sent one of many with Barbara's messenger to Barbara—who... greatly. to grant her desire. The messenger went ahead. to Barbara, and announced the message.
Baptism and the Tower
Barbara is instructed by the priest Valentine, receives baptism, and grows in divine knowledge.
The man. God made it possible for him to be there and allowed him to stand outside, as was appropriate for him. Then she had the man called in; once he had entered and offered a greeting in Christ, she bowed down and honored both the name of God and the man. Her father came to her for a visit, and seeing the unknown man, he asked trembling, 'Who is this and why is he here?' He replied, 'An Alexandrian skilled in the art of healing, who promises to have something in Alexandria that cures even souls, contrary to the practice of physicians.' Her father, upon hearing this, left and allowed her to have conversations with him. Then the priest Valentine and Barbara discussed their mysteries between themselves. There, having read the letter and been well instructed, she asked the messenger about what was missing from the letter to satisfy her longing, and she found it to her heart's content. Having learned, however, how... ...the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is the one God, and how the Son... ...was sent. ...is by... ...the Father, and through the humanity he assumed, had called back the lost man, redeemed the captive, and washed away his sins through the sacred bath, she hastened to the grace of baptism and was baptized by that same priest, Valentine, whom Origen had sent to her, in the tower where her father had placed her. Furthermore, she sought what was of God and what is above, diligently desiring the books that Origen had sent to her. She reads. And. Greatly. She grew. In the knowledge of divine things, even without a teacher, and... In... Divine wisdom; it's also said of her that because she was beautiful, certain men... Spoke to her father about the nobles of that land, so that...
The Three Windows
Barbara insists on three windows for her tower to symbolize the Trinity, leading to her father's wrath and her miraculous escape.
He wanted her to take a husband, but he approached her in the tower. He tried to persuade her, saying, "My daughter, some of the..." "...powerful men." '...have spoken of you, wanting to take you in marriage; what do you think about this?' But she, seeing her father in a rage, said, "Father, don't force me to do this." He withdrew from her and, going down, hired a crowd of workmen to build the tower, giving instructions on how it should be done and paying each of them in full, and then he set off for a distant land; but when the handmaid of God went down to see the work that had been done, she saw only two windows facing north and said to the workmen, 'Why did you build only two windows?' They told her, "Your father ordered it that way," to which she replied, "Build me another window." They said, "We're afraid, my lady, that your father will be angry with us." The handmaid of God said to them, "Make a window for me; I will satisfy my father about this," but they made another window. As Barbara walked through the bathhouse, she traced a precious cross with her finger into the marble facing east; then, climbing up into the tower, she saw the idols her father worshipped and received the Spirit. She spat in their faces and said, "May those who made you, and all who trust in you, become like you." When the work was finished, her father returned from his travels, and seeing the three windows, he asked the workmen, "Why did you install three windows?" They told him, "Your daughter instructed us to do so." He asked his daughter, "Did you order three windows to be made?" She replied, "Yes, I did, because three windows illuminate the whole person." He took her down into the bathhouse and said, "How do three windows illuminate more than two?" She answered, "There are three that illuminate the world and regulate the course of the stars: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one in essence." Then, filled with rage, her father drew his sword to kill her, but she prayed to the Lord, and the rock split open, took her inside, and cast her out onto a mountain where two shepherds were tending their sheep, and they saw blessed Barbara fleeing from her father's face through the rock. But her father went searching. He ran about.
Martyrdom and Divine Justice
Betrayed by a shepherd, Barbara endures torture and is finally beheaded by her father, who is then consumed by divine fire.
He went to the shepherds mentioned earlier and asked if they had seen his daughter, Barbara. One of them, considering the father's rage, swore that he knew nothing of her, but the other pointed her out with his finger. Blessed Barbara cursed her betrayer, and he was immediately turned into a marble statue, while his sheep were changed into locusts; this is apocryphal. But her father, finding her, whipped her and dragged her by her hair. To make sure no one could reach her, he set guards for the governor, Marcian. When the governor heard this, he ordered her to be brought before him; but when he saw her remarkable beauty, he asked, "What will you do—sacrifice to the gods, or be handed over to the most bitter tortures?" She replied, "I belong to Jesus Christ, who made heaven and earth and everything in them." As for your gods, the prophet says in Psalm 113: 'They have mouths and do not speak.' 'They have eyes and do not see; may those who make them and trust in them become like them.' Then the governor, filled with rage, ordered her to be torn without mercy with bull-hide whips. He had her bloodied and ordered her to be locked in prison so that she might waste away. So that the impious governor would not see her, he ordered her to be put to death by the sword. Then her father, filled with rage, took her from the governor and led her up a mountain. But she, rejoicing in this, hurried to receive the perfect prize of eternal life. Led up the mountain, she prayed to the Lord, saying, "Lord Jesus Christ, to whom all things obey, grant me this petition: that if anyone remembers your name and your handmaid, and makes a memorial of my passion, Lord, do not remember their sins on the day of judgment, but be merciful to them, for you know that I am flesh." And a voice came from heaven to her, saying, "Come, my most beautiful one, rest in the chambers of my Father who is in heaven; what you have asked is granted to you." With this done, the martyr of Christ came to the aforementioned place and there finished her martyrdom. She was beheaded by her own father. As her father was descending from the mountain, fire descended from heaven and consumed him, so that not even his dust could be found. The martyrdom of Christ’s holy martyr Barbara, along with Saint Juliana, was completed on December 5th, during the reign of Maximian and the presidency of Marcian.
Miracles of Protection
Two accounts demonstrate how Saint Barbara miraculously preserves those who honor her with faith and prayer.
There was a nobleman, a count of Saxony, who captured his enemy and immediately had him locked in a tower; he ordered his household, under threat of severe punishment, that no one should provide him with food or drink, so that he would die of hunger all the sooner. When the prisoner had gone for some time without food or drink, he called out to the tower guard in a mournful and lamentable voice, begging him to give him a little bread out of reverence for the glorious virgin Barbara, so that he might not die of hunger. The guard paid no attention to his cries or his prayers, and so for some time the prisoner lay there, answering no one. The guard, however, assuming he was already dead, asked his master for permission to remove the body before it began to smell. They threw a rope around the prisoner's neck, dragged him to the top, and threw him down from the height. But when he reached the ground, he immediately stood up, and all who were there, seeing this, turned and fled. He called out to them gently. He begged them for God's sake not to run away, but to come closer. When they approached him, they asked how this had happened and how he could still be alive. He answered them, "The blessed virgin Barbara has been my guardian in all my distress, and when I was thrown from the tower, she sustained me with her own holy hands; I cannot die unless I have first confessed and been strengthened by the Holy Communion." When asked where he had received this grace, he said, "I have honored her with fasting and prayers every day of every year, and she obtained this grace for me from God: that I cannot die without the Sacraments." Once he had received them, he immediately gave up his spirit. We read of another example from the time of the most serene King Adolf of the Romans. It happened that a certain count was presiding in the eastern regions by the king's command. As time passed, a servant from a military family was accused of having violated a virgin. He was seized, put in chains, and imprisoned while they considered the counsel of the nobles and the city regarding what sentence should be passed against him. At the appointed time, everyone gathered and the young man was brought forward, and he urgently asked to make his confession. . The confessor was called, and finding him innocent, he urged the young man to vow perpetual service to blessed Barbara and not to return home until he had first visited the place called 'Ancient Peak' in Prussia, which the young man did. Meanwhile, the woman cried out and demanded justice, and the young man was led to trial. The judge asked about the sentence, and the young man, despairing of his life, was approached by a stranger whom no one knew, who urged him to ask the judge to speak his own word. This was done. Then the whole assembly rushed forward, wondering how and why he wanted to speak, and he reasonably showed that the sentence passed against the young man was null, and he constantly proved it, so that everyone—nobles and citizens alike, and all who were present—said that it was true. And so they revoked the sentence, because he had spoken beyond human understanding, which no one could contradict; and while the aforementioned young man stood before the tribunal, wishing to prostrate himself out of overwhelming joy, it happened by chance that he embraced the judge's neck. When the judge's servants saw this, they attacked him with hostility; seeing this, his father and friends, in despair, left him for dead, weeping and lamenting. The confessor, understanding this, said confidently to his friends, "Do not lose heart like this regarding the benefits of Saint Barbara, for I know truly that he is healthy and suffers no bodily harm." His father and friends then approached. When they found no trace of a wound on him, they rejoiced with him and praised Saint Barbara greatly for the merits and benefits she had granted him, and so the young man finally finished his life in the service of Saint Barbara.
Read the original Latin
Erat tempore Maximiani imperatoris vir quidam gentilis in Nicomedia ‘nobilitate generis praeclarus ac temporalium rerum abundantia summus, nomine Dio corus, cni erat filia speciosissima nomine Barbara, Ipsa antem quia erat corpore pulcherrima, eam pater plurimum diligebat; quapropter reclusit eam in turri altissima, quam eidem aedificare fecerat, ne ab aliquo homine videretur. Erat antem- beata Barbara ingeniosa et a tenera netate vanas cogitationes relinmens coepit divina cogitare, Cum enim semel templum intraret, videns simulacra parentibus suis ait: quid sibi volunt hae similitudines hominum: Respondent parentes: taceas, non hominum, sed Deorum sunt et volunt adorari per illud, quod nescitur et quod mon videtur, Barbara dixit: fuerunt quondam homines, quos nunc colimus? Respondent: ita, Ex hoc beata Barbara die noctuque replicabat tacita dicens: si homines fuerunt Dii nostri, ergo nali sunt it homines, mortui sunt ut homines, si Dii essent, neo nati fuissent nec mortui, quia deitas, ut mihi videtur, nec coepit nec desinit esse, Homo etiam habet originem terrae, quia terra est materia ejus, si ergo homo de terra est et homo Deus est, ergo aliquid praecessit eum, quod ejus origo dicitur; sic aptius dicevem terran Deum. Sed quia nec terra a se est nec coelum a se nec aër a se nec aqua a e, ex quibus quatuor elementis constat homo, sed creaturae sunt, necesse est his esse creatorem. Ecce quanta sapientia in tam juvenili-puella. Tandem tradita tudiis liberalibus alta transscendebat, sed defuit ei notitia weri Dei, vanos antem Deos occulte sprevit, et cum vidit Diis, scilicet lignis et lapidibus, flectere genua sensibilia insensibilibus mutis, animo valde correxit. Idcirco venit rmmor landis clamans Nicomediam, sapientissimum virorum Alexandriae fore, scilicet Originem, cujus facundia totam terram perfunderet, qui veris daret indiciis cognoscere veram deitatem et ydolorum . confunderet Nanilatem, Haec audiens beata Barbara multum gavisa est in domo pectoris sui et coepit sedule tractare, quo genere posset emm adire, Erat enim pater ei nobilis et valde potens, ergo mysterium suum ei non revelavit, Cum neminem turatórem haberet, recurrit ad hoe consilium, ut litteras eidem sapientissimo Origeni dirigeret et secretum ei patefaceret in haec verba.
Viro Alexandriae nobilitate animi longe lateque consperso Origeni Barbara Nicomediae tua ancilla. Decus et honorem desiderii mei accepi te verae divinitatis ostensorem ; a prima enhn scintilla ingenii mei cwm toto corde concupivi, nt ad veri Dei notitiam pervenirem, mente cóncepi, nullam deitatem inesse lignis et lapidibus, quae hmnaná arte composita sunt, quae non recipiunt sensibilitatem et nec loqui nec andire possunt, Unde semper tractavi, esse falsos Deos nec homines posse esse Deos, quia homo incipit et desinit esse, Deus autem ante tempora fuit, Non r ó unquam Deos credere potui, quos homines mortales cognovi, In snultis tamen nótibus posita semper Deum nobis ignotum procul dubio esse putavi, qui solus cuncta fecit, quem semper amavi, huic me semper devovi, a- quo swin, id, quod sum, nisi me sententia fallit, cujus spiritu anünatam me sentio, nec desistan, donec ad eum pertingam. Quapropter famae tnae tumultu percussa, pater venerabilis, meam his aptius volvere censui, illun Deum solummodo vestigare, cujus cognitionem apud te esse cognovi. Unde, si ita est, ut fama refert , supplices offero preces, quatenus discutere digneris noctem ignorantiae, chaos confusionis ab ancilla tua et inducere solem justitiae lumenque discretionis, Appeto enim verum Deum scire, qui fecit visibilia et invisibilia, et utrum vere unus sit, ut ipsa jam nunc dudum mecum argumentata sum eic, Hanc epistolam direxit Alexandriam ad Origenem presbiterum, quae est in partibus Alricae caput regionis illius longe distans a Nicomedia, Ne autem privaretur legatione, quam legaverat, ad Deum, quem noverat, in cubiculo cordis sui lacrymas fudit dicens: domine, firma pedem ejus, quem ad famulum tuum imisi, ne aut me aut illum mors praeveniat, usque relegatio veniat. His et aliis postu-, lationibus, quibus devote poterat, nuntius Alexandriam ingreditur, Origenem. reperit in palatio Mammaeae matris Caesaris Alexandriae, ubi occupatur in docendo christianam. religionem, Qui laetitia magna litteras Darbarae accepit laudans Deum, qui hujusmodi semen suscitabat et talia operatur. Et statim Origenes doctor praestantissimus accelerat et edidit desiderium Barbarae in hunc modum.
Origenes veri Dei insignis sacerdos, el ut possibile est, ostensor ejus adhuc etiam Alexandriae nunc degens Barbarae barbaricae gentis adoplionem filiorum Dei et Jesu Christi veram salutem, Sicut scripseras scire te velle verum Deum, quis sit, scire debes, quod unus est verus Deus in substantia et trinus in personis, scilicet paler et filius et spiritus sanclus, Quicunque haec omnia credit, omnino habet, quo ad Deum pertingere possit, Tu antem haec, intellige et intellecta crede, et si quid defuerit ad plenitudinem desiderii, in legato require, qmi te legem: sanctam erudiet et libros, quos secum defert, tibi leget, Nometiam dubites, to-pro nomine Christi. multis tormentis tradi, Jpse enim dicit voce evangelica: qni perdiderit animam, uam in hoc mundo propter me, in-yitam aeternam custodit eam, Origenes. misit unum ex pluribus cum nuntio Barbarae ad Barbaramy- qui modun. magno. ejus desiderio daret. Praecessit nuntius. Barbarae. et- nuntiavit, nuntium.
virum. Dei adesse fecit et permisit enm foris stare, mtrum conveniens esset eum. intrare, Tunc illa hominem advocari fecit, qui ingressus offerens salutationem in Christo, illa assumens inelinatur et tam Dei nomen quam hominem veneratur. Pater ejus gratia visitationis- ad eam venit, videns virum ignohun, tremens inquit: quis hic et cur hict ‘Respondit: Alexandrinus medendi arto peritus, qui spondet mhgislnun se habere Alexandriae, qui contra usus mediconun etiam animas curat, Fater audiens recessit et concessit Reri cum eo colloquia, Tunc Yalentinus sacerdos et Barbara conferunt inter se sua mysteria, Ibi tunc perlecta epistola et bene docta, quod defuit epistolae, ad plenitudinem desiderii a legato quaesivit et ad libitum invenit, Cognito autem, qnomodo . pater et filius et spiritus sanctus sit solus Deus et quomodo filins. missus. sit a. palre et per susceptam humanitatem hominem perditum revocasset, captivum redemisset et per sacrum lavacrum ejus peccata lavisset , acceleravit ad baptismi gratiam et ab eodem presbitero Valentino, quem Origenes ad ipsam miserat, baptizata est in turri, in qua eam pater posuerat, Amplius, qnae Dei erant, quaesivit et quae sursum sunl, cupiens libros, quos-ej Origenes miserat, diligenter.
legit. et. valde. crevit. in scientia divinorum etiam sine magistro et. jn. sapientia divina, Legitur etiam de ea, quod, quia pulchra fuit, quidam. de optünatibus terrae illius patri ejus locuti sunt, ut.
virum sibi acciperet, ipse vero ad eam accedens in turrim. persuadebat eam dicens: filia mea, quidam de. potentibus. commemorali sunt de te, wt acciperent te in conjugio; quid ergo vis de hoc? Ipsa vero intuita palrem cum ira dixit: ne cógas me hoc agere, pater. AL ipse secessit ab ea descenensque instituit multitudinem artificum, qui facerent Javacrum, conslilut, quomodo fieri debuit , tribuens- singulis mercedem in integrum profectusque est in regionem longinquam , descendensque famula Dei videre opus, quod factum est, vidit contra septentrionem duas solummodo fenestras, dixit artificibus: quare duas fenestras instituistis? Dicunt ei: pater tuus disposuit, Quibus illa: facite et inihi aliam fenestram. Qui dixerunt: timemus, domina, ne indignetur pater tuns contra nos.
Dicit iis famula Dei: facite mihi fenestram, ego-de hoc acquiescere faciam patrem meum, lpsi vero fecerunt alium fenestram. Perambulans vero Barbara in natatorio contra orientem instituit in marmoribus ejus digito pretiosam crucem, depost adscendens in turrim vidit simulacra, quae colebat pater ejus, suscipiens spiritum. sanctum inspuit in faciem eorum et dixit: similes vestri fiant, qui faciunt vos, et omnes, qui confidunt in vobis; Finitoque opere reversus est pater ejus de peregrinatione et contemplatus tres fenestras dixit artificibus: quare tres fenestras instituistis? Dicunt ei: filia tua sic nobis praecepit. Ipse vero ait filiae: tu imperasti tres fenestras fierit At illa: etiam; benefeci, nam tres fenestrae illuminant totum hominem, et assumens eam pater ejus descendens in natatorio et dixit ei: quomodo abundantius illuminant tres fenestrae duabus? Ila respondit: tres sunt mundum jlluninantes et stellarum cursum regulantes, pater scilicet, filius et sanctus, et hi tres sunt in essentia, Tunc repletus furore pater tulit spatham snam, nt eam occideret, ipsa antem orabat ad dominum et abscissa est petra et suscepit eam intus et ejecit eam super montem, in quo duo pastores erant pascentes Oves suas, et illi consideraverunt, quod beata Barbara a facie patris-extra petram fugeret. Paler autem ejus quaeritando. discurrens.
venit ad praedictos pastores inquirendo, utrum. vidissent Barbaram filiam suam, Unus autem eornm considerans iram patris juravit, se nescire emm, alter vero digito eam prodidit. Beata autem Barbara proditori suo maledixit et subito ipse versus est in statuam marmoream et oves cjus in locustos mutatae sunt, Hoc apocryplum est, "At pater eam reperiens flagellavit et coma traxit eam,
NE non aperiret ei quisquam, constituilque custodes, praesidi Marciano, Audiens ergo praeses jussit eam praesentari, praeses autem videns miram pulchritudinem ejus dixit ei: quid EE Diis, auf acerrimis tormentis traderis. Cui illa: ego habeo I Jesu Christo, qui fecit coelum et terram et omnia, quae in iis-sunt. De daemonibus tuis dicit propheta, Psalm, CXII: 0s habent et non. habent et non videbunt, Similes illis fiant, qui faciunt ea, fidunt in iis, Tunc praeses furore repletus jussit a nd nervis taurini sine misericórdia discerpere, ita nt. emen co oo tractaret, sanguine, et jussit eam carcere recludi, quatenus consumeret,. marte ep cri aaa ne cot Mem racial pe ei videret impius praeses, praecepit eam gladio trucidari, Tunc furore repletus pater ejus suscepit eam a praeside et perduxit eam in montem. At vero ipsa gandens super hoc festinabat, ut perfectum vitae aeternae bravium acciperet, et adducta in montem orabat ad dominum dicens: domine Jesu Christe, cui omnia obediunt, praesta mihi hanc petitionem, ut, si quis memor fuerit nominis tui et famulae tuae faciens memoriam passionis meae, domine, ne memimeris peccatorum ejus in die judicii, sed propitius esto ei, tu enim scis, quia caro summs, Et facta est vox de coelo ad emn dicens: veni, pulcherrima mea, requiesce in cubilibus patris mei, qui est in coelis, quod postulasti, donatum est tibi, Qwo facto martir Christi ad locum supradictum venit et ibi martirum sutun finivit. A proprio enim patre decollata est, Patre ejus de monte descendente ignis de coelo descendit et combussit eum , ita ut neo pulvis ejus inveniretur.
Finita est autem sancta martir Christi Barbara cum sancta Juliana quinta die mensis Decembris imperante Maximiano et praesidente Marciano,
Fuit vir nobilis comes Saxoniae, qui inimicum suum captivavit, quem slatim jn turrim recladi fecit et familiae suae sub poena magna mandavit, ne sibi aliquis cibum vel potum ininistraret, ut sic eo citius moreretur fame, Cumque per aliquod tempus sine cibo et potu mansisset, custodem turris voce lugubri et Jamentabiliter rogavit, ut ei modicum daret de pane ob reverentiam gloriosae virginis Barbarae, ne sic fame moreretur, Custos nec clamorem nec preces advertebat, et sic per aliquod tempus jacebat et nemini responsum dabat. Custos vero aestimabat illun jam inortuun , rogavit ergo dominum, ut illum. extrahi permitteret, priusquam corpus mortuum exhalaret foetorem, Iajecerunt igitur funem in collum detenti et ad summitatem deducenles sic eum de allo projecerunt, Qui cum ad terram pervenisset, statim se erexit et omnes, qui aderant, hoc videntes in fugam conversi sunt. Quos ille dulciter monuit. ac propter Deum rogavit, ne fugerent, sed nt propius accederent, Et cuin accessissent ad eum, interrogaverunt ewm, quomodo hoc fieret aüt quomodo vivere posset, Quibus ille respondit: beata virgo Barbara me in omnibus angustiis neis custos divit et in ejectione turris suis sanctissUnis manibus me sustentavit et mori non possum nisi confessus et sacra cominunione munilus et inunclus. JInlerrogatus, unde banc gratiam haberet, dixit: jejuniis et orationibus omni die omni anno honoravi eam et hanc gratiam mihi apud Deum obtinuit, ut mori non possüin absque sacramentis, Quibus perceptis statim spiritum exhalabat,
Alind exemplum legimus tempore serenissimi Adolfi regis Romanorum. Accidit, nt quidam comes ex mandato regis in partibus orientalibus praesideret, Labente vero tempore famulus quidam ex prosapia militari, quod virginem violaverat, incusatur, Qui captus vinculis inclusus, quousque cogitaret de consilio nobilium ac civitatis, quae contra eum esset senlentia facienda, et tempore statuto omnes convenerunt et juvenis deductus est, qui intine rogavit, ut cons fiteretur. . Vocatur confessor, nudiens eum innocentem eum invenit, Unde confessor eum induxit; ut beatne Barbarae perpetuum servitium voveret nec ad domum veniret nec rediret, nisi prius locum Antiquum Culmen in Frussia visitaret, quod et juvenis fecit, Interea mulier clamans judicium implorat: juvenis ad judicium ducitur. Judex quaerit de sententia: juvenis jun de vita sua desperans, Quidam ignotus accessit, quem nemo novit, exhortans juvenem, ut judicem rogaret ipsunr suum verbum loqni. Quod factum est. Tunc tota universitas cucurrit, quae et qualiter ille despectus vellet fari, et rationabiliter ostendens sententiam prolatam contra juvenem esse nullam, et constanter probans, quod omnes, tam nobiles quam cives et omnes, qui aderant, illud yerum esse dicebant. Et sic sententiam revocarunt, quia ultra humanum sensum protulit, cui nullus contradicere poluit, et dum praedictus juvenis ante tribunal existebat, prae nimio gaudio proslernere se volens, casu accidit, nt collum judicis amplecteretur.
Quod videntes servi judicis hostiliter irruerunt in euin, Hoc pater et amici videntes desperati flentes et Jamentlantes quasi mortuum eum reliquerunt. Quod intelligens confessor confidenter amicis suis ait: nequaquam sic de beneficiis beatae Barbarae diffidatis, quia veraciter scio, quod sanus est et nullam patitur corporis miolestiam, Accedentes paler et amiei-ejus. cum festinatione nullum vestigium vulneris invenerunt in eo, gratulabantur illi et meritis et beneficiis beatae Barbarae ei praestitis et magnilice laudaverunt eam et sic juvenis tandem in servitio beatae Barbarae vitam suam finivit,
The Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea) companion
Continue through all 240 chapters, one saint a day
Chosen Portion serves the Golden Legend as a daily portion on iOS, free, alongside the full Sub Rosa archive
The Legenda Aurea was organized for day-by-day use across the liturgical year, and Chosen Portion restores that original one-feast-per-day reading rhythm
- A complete saint's life or feast reading most days in 5-10 minutes
- 240 chapters - enough daily readings to cover a full liturgical year and beyond
- Daily reminders so the plan survives busy weeks