Patron Saint of Fireworks.
I'm not Catholic and actually tend to waver more towards agnostic/atheist than anything, but that doesn't matter much. I just like the stories, even if I don't pray to them. So, I will discuss mythology and patron saints and various gods from various places, because they're fun and interesting.
St. Barbara is the patron saint of things that go boom because the pair of people who tortured and killed her were struck by lightning. Or sky-fire, whichever.
Barbara was born in the third century to a pagan father. She was really pretty, so her father locked her in a tower to keep her safe. She looked out the window at the world and decided that there must be a single god that created it all, not the pagan ones her father and teachers worshipped. She became Christian and swore that she'd die a virgin, pure for her god.
When she was old enough, her father started trying to find her a husband, but she rejected them all. He decided to give her a bit more freedom in hopes she'd understand and accept a husband, including creating a bathhouse for her. He planned for it to have two windows, but she added in a third for the Trinity, and some claim that miracles happened there.
After a while, she did tell him that she was a Christian and he tried to get her to let go of those silly ideas. She didn't. When he couldn't get her to let go of it all, he turned her in to the government, who tortured her to try to get her to reject Christianity. Supposedly, all her wounds healed up when she prayed though, which was one of her miracles. She also got dragged through town while naked, and had an angel show up to give her a robe and heal her again. When she got threatened with fire, it went out before it got close to her. That might be part of it.
They eventually gave up and she was beheaded by her father, who was then struck by lightning/sky fire. That is most of the reason that she was given the title of patron saint of fireworks, along with artillery and most things that go boom. The other reason is that some say that she got struck by lightning also, but wasn't hurt. Since that supposedly happened at the moment of death and only in half the sources I found, I'm not sure about that one.
It just seemed to fit to post about her right before one of the days with the most fireworks. Her story isn't nearly as interesting as some others, but still worth a few minutes to consider. I hope you'll remember to stay safe when you use fireworks, lest you accidentally become a martyr alongside her, or get burned up like her father.
Have fun. I'll be back soon with something else fun.
Sources:
Catholic News Archive-- St. Barbara
National Catholics Register-- St. Barbara
Christian Apostles-- St. Barbara
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