Wednesday, December 4, 2024

It is the 4th of December 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

The weather outside might be, well…. Here at the CHA studios, it is 16 degrees… wait, that is Celsius; we are just fine in the 60’s. And today, I invite you to ride with me up the California coast- the American Riveria and the picturesque town of Santa Barbara, home to Westmont, “the Wheaton of the West Coast,” and were you to look at the city flag, you would notice a curious tower with three windows. Hold that thought.

It was in December of 1602, and Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaino had departed from the recently “discovered” port in Southern California he called “San Diego” and made his way north through the Channel Islands when a terrible storm threatened his ship. In the face of lightning and sudden death Sebastian knew just the saint to pray to: Saint Barbara. The ship was saved, they came aground and he named the settlement after the saint. Now, with founding and names and saints, we need to leave room for a little reverse engineering- as in Sebastian’s recounting when he happened to pray to St Barbara on the day he was reportedly praying to her. But it was early December, and if you were going to be praying to a saint, you might as well be praying to the reportedly versatile Saint Barbara. But she was such a hugely popular saint it would make sense for her day and namesake to be recognized.

There is no historical record of Saint Barbara. Since Vatican II and the Catholic Church cleaning up its calendar of doubtful saints in the late 1960s, Barbara has no longer been recognized, but her story was so popular that she was designated as one of the 14 Holy Helpers- saints prayed to for particularly practical purposes. Like, not getting hit by lightning.

The story of Saint Barbara likely originated somewhere in the Eastern church- she is recorded as being from different places, but her father is always called “Dioscorus,” and he is a wealthy landowner, and Barbara is his beautiful daughter. On one occasion, Dioscorus is going out of town and has his builders build a tower to keep his daughter in while he is away. He tells them to build two windows in the tower, but Barbara has been secretly reading Christian literature brought to her, and she insists that there should be three windows to represent the Holy Trinity.

When her father returns home, he sees that there are 3 windows, and learning why Barbara had an extra one added, he takes her to the magistrate as this was during one of the great persecutions (she is usually placed around the year 300 and Diocletian’s persecution).

But, try as they might, she would neither recant nor respond to torture. You can imagine the medieval tales are gruesome, such that we will leave the details out, BUT, each night, she returns to the tower and is healed overnight by Jesus. Finally, Dioscorus- so afraid of what this might bring upon him, goes to the tower to finish the job himself. Regardless of which version you read, she is somehow taken to a mountain and protected by shepherds until her father finally beheads her. Upon descending the mountain, Dioscorus is struck by lightning and instantly consumed.

Thus, the tale of Saint Barbara was not only one of faithfulness during persecution but also now connected to loud explosions- such that she became the patron saint of gunners (G.K. Chesterton wrote a WWI Poem named after Barbara) for those in lightning storms and those in peril of sudden death.

Bad weather and sudden death were certainly ever-present peril in the Middle Ages and you might see how in the subsequent age of exploration, she would be a favorite of sailors- like Sebastian Vizcaino, who would thus date his miraculous rescue from December 4th and the town, and then later mission and city would take the name of the historically dubious, but popular Saint Barbara- the city with a flag that has a tower with not two windows, but three for the Holy Trinity.

Today, we remember the story of St. Barbara on the day historically associated with her- this, the 4th of December.

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary, and speaking of shipwrecks, Jesus is going to compare himself to one wayward sailor here in Luke 11:

29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 4th of December 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man in the midwest who probably thinks lakes can have beaches… weird… He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man reminded by his now due property tax that this part of the world has its shortcomings… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.