Patron Saint of EOD
St. Barbara
What is a patron saint?
Patron saints are selected as special protectors and guardians for certain important parts of life. These parts might include professions, diseases, buildings (for example churches), places (for example countries or cities) or events.
Saint Barbara in history
Saint Barbara was a virgin and a martyr. There are no references to Saint Barbara in written history, nor is her name found in St. Jerome’s revised history of martyrs.
But still the veneration of Saint Barbara was common from the 7th century and on. It was about that time the legend about her martyrdom arose and was introduced in Symeon Metaphrastes collections. The legend was frequently used by the authors (Ado, Usuard, et al.) of the enlarged description of the history of martyrs that arose in Western Europe during the 9th century.
Before the 9th century Saint Barbara was venerated in the East as well as in the West and was a very popular saint with the Christians. It might be that the Saint Barbara that is venerated today is a mix of the lives of two separate but closely related martyrs.
According to Symeon Metaphrastes and the Latin legend told by Mobritus, Saint Barbara’s martyrdom took place in Heliopolis, Egypt. Other, more established, sources state that Nicomedia, the capital of the kingdom of Bithynia, was where the drama took place. They place the time for the event to the early 3rd century. At this time the wealthy and powerful professed to the pre-Christian religion of Graeco-Roman. Christianity was new and mostly spread among the poor.
Nicomedia was founded in 264 BC and was the capital of the East until Constantinople took over this role. The town that, today, is resting on the ruins of Nicomedia is called Izmit (a poor town with approximately 25,000 citizens, totally dependent of Constantinople) near Bosporen, Turkey.
Why is Saint Barbara the patron saint of EOD personnel?
The legend about how her slayers were destroyed by lightning resulted in her being the patron saint against lightning, fire and sudden death. When black powder was introduced to the western world she also became the patron saint against accidents due to explosions, which is a highly regarded attribute among EOD personnel.
Saint Barbara is the patron saint of various activities and places. She is probably most commonly associated with the artillery but also military engineers, fortresses, Syria and the Bacchi Order all have Saint Barbara as their patron saint. The reason the Bacchi Order has Saint Barbara as their patron saint is that Bellman’s ancestors’ name was Barbara Klein.
Why the 4th of December?
On 4th of December each year EOD personnel and artillerymen, around the world, gather at their regiments and garrisons to parade and celebrate Saint Barbara. It happens on the 4th of December because, according to the Graeco-Roman calendar, that is the day on which her father executed her by an axe-blow to the neck. (According to all martyr historians in the 9th century, except Rabanus Maurus, Saint Barbara was executed on 16th of December).
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