Getting ready for Dec. 4th Saint Barbara's Day Patron Saint of Cannoneers

[Millsman]

Dec 4th is the Feast Day of Saint Barbara the Patron Saint of Cannoneers. I am not religious but any excuse to make a loud bang is OK with me.  Many Army and Navy artillery folks blast away in celebration.For instance The Artillery Company of Newport RI http://www.newportartillery.org/museum.html celebrates by firing 15 blanks in honor of St Barbara as her Litergy is read.But from a pistol (as they are in downtown Newport) not one of their 4 bronze 3 pound guns cast for them by Paul Revere. Anyway it gives me an excuse to haul out my small Battery and place it on the ramparts.Bore as follows cannons 1 9/16",1 1/8", 7/8", 5/8", mortar 1 1/4".    

[jamesfrom180]

I have been invited to a celebration called "cookies and guns", it is my friends family tradition and I think I get invited for reasons you can imagine.  This year it appears it will coincide with Dec. 4th and I may have to come up with a few pictures.  Thanks Millsman!!!

[Cat Whisperer]

Thanks for starting this thread!  Millsman - great pictures!

I am well aware, as many are, of St Barbara.  But knowing that there is a DATE for the FESTIVAL is WONDERFUL!

I live in town, so 15 salutes is a bit much to try to explain - but ONE is goes without definative location ....

Jamesfrom180  -  cookies and guns sounds like a great tradition that can be started by lots of folks!

[subdjoe]

Um...are you using the Julian or Gregorian calender? 

[Double D]

Um...are you using the Julian or Gregorian calender?

I hope they are using the WWW.GBOCannons.com calendar.... (Insert smiley icon for smart Alec!)

[BoomLover]

Marking the calender for this Sunday, Dec. 4th St. Barbara's Day! Knew about her, just didn't remember the date! BoomLover

[zacharoo]

Here in south Louisiana which is largely  Roman Catholic we have St. Barbara as a patron saint of Miners. I worked for 32 years under ground in the Salt mine on Weeks Island . Retired in 2003 and still wear my ST Barbara"s medal.
 
Zacharoo

[flagman1776]

I'm not big on Saints but I think Saint Barbra is a lot like Santa Clause.   All year long you can believe what you want...  on Christmas eve (or when the fuse is lit) everyone believes. 

[Cat Whisperer]

I'm not big on Saints but I think Saint Barbra is a lot like Santa Clause.   All year long you can believe what you want...  on Christmas eve (or when the fuse is lit) everyone believes.

An astute observation!

 

[subdjoe]

A little about St. Barbara:

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Barbara_of_Heliopolis

The Holy Great Martyr Barbara lived and suffered during the reign of the emperor Maximian (305-311). Her father, the pagan Dioscorus, was a rich and illustrious man in the Syrian city of Heliopolis. After the death of his wife, he devoted himself to his only daughter.

Seeing Barbara's extraordinary beauty, Dioscorus decided to hide her from the eyes of strangers. Therefore, he built a tower for Barbara, where only her pagan teachers were allowed to see her. From the tower there was a view of hills stretching into the distance. By day she was able to gaze upon the wooded hills, the swiftly flowing rivers, and the meadows covered with a mottled blanket of flowers; by night the harmonious and majestic vault of the heavens twinkled and provided a spectacle of inexpressible beauty. Soon the virgin began to ask herself questions about the First Cause and Creator of so harmonious and splendid a world.

Gradually, she became convinced that the souless idols were merely the work of human hands. Although her father and teachers offered them worship, she realized that the idols could not have made the surrounding world. The desire to know the true God so consumed her soul that Barbara decided to devote all her life to this goal, and to spend her life in virginity.

The fame of her beauty spread throughout the city, and many sought her hand in marriage. But despite the entreaties of her father, she refused all of them. Barbara warned her father that his persistence might end tragically and separate them forever. Dioscorus decided that the temperament of his daughter had been affected by her life of seclusion. He therefore permitted her to leave the tower and gave her full freedom in her choice of friends and acquaintances. Thus Barbara met young Christian maidens in the city, and they taught her about the Creator of the world, about the Trinity, and about the Divine Logos. Through the Providence of God, a priest arrived in Heliopolis from Alexandria disguised as a merchant. After instructing her in the mysteries of the Christian Faith, he baptized Barbara, then returned to his own country.

During this time a luxurious bathhouse was being built at the house of Dioscorus. By his orders the workers prepared to put two windows on the south side. But Barbara, taking advantage of her father's absence, asked them to make a third window, thereby forming a Trinity of light. On one of the walls of the bath-house Barbara traced a cross with her finger. The cross was deeply etched into the marble, as if by an iron instrument. Later, her footprints were imprinted on the stone steps of the bathhouse. The water of the bathhouse had great healing power. St. Simeon Metaphrastes (November 9) compared the bathhouse to the stream of Jordan and the Pool of Siloam, because by God's power, many miracles took place there.

When Dioscorus returned and expressed dissatisfaction about the change in his building plans, his daughter told him about how she had come to know the Triune God, about the saving power of the Son of God, and about the futility of worshipping idols. Dioscorus went into a rage, grabbed a sword and was on the point of striking her with it. The holy virgin fled from her father, and he rushed after her in pursuit. His way became blocked by a hill, which opened up and concealed the saint in a crevice. On the other side of the crevice was an entrance leading upwards. St Barbara managed then to conceal herself in a cave on the opposite slope of the hill.

After a long and fruitless search for his daughter, Dioscorus saw two shepherds on the hill. One of them showed him the cave where the saint had hidden. Dioscorus beat his daughter terribly, and then placed her under guard and tried to wear her down with hunger. Finally he handed her over to the prefect of the city, named Martianus. They beat St. Barbara fiercely: they struck her with rawhide, and rubbed her wounds with a hair cloth to increase her pain. By night St Barbara prayed fervently to her Heavenly Bridegroom, and the Savior Himself appeared and healed her wounds. Then they subjected the saint to new, and even more frightful torments.

In the crowd where the martyr was tortured was the virtuous Christian woman Juliana, an inhabitant of Heliopolis. Her heart was filled with sympathy for the voluntary martyrdom of the beautiful and illustrious maiden. Juliana also wanted to suffer for Christ. She began to denounce the torturers in a loud voice, and they seized her.

Both martyrs were tortured for a long time. Their bodies were raked and wounded with hooks, and then they were led naked through the city amidst derision and jeers. Through the prayers of St. Barbara the Lord sent an angel who covered the nakedness of the holy martyrs with a splendid robe. Then the steadfast confessors of Christ, Ss. Barbara and Juliana, were beheaded. Dioscorus himself executed St Barbara. The wrath of God was not slow to punish both torturers, Martianus and Dioscorus. They were killed after being struck by lightning.

In the sixth century the relics of the holy Great Martyr Barbara were transferred to Constantinople. Six hundred years later, they were transferred to Kiev (July 11) by Barbara, the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenos, who married the Russian prince Michael Izyaslavich. They rest even now at Kiev's St Vladimir cathedral, where an Akathist to the saint is served each Tuesday.

Many pious Orthodox Christians are in the habit of chanting the troparion of St. Barbara each day, recalling the Savior's promise to her that those who remembered her and her sufferings would be preserved from a sudden, unexpected death, and would not depart this life without benefit of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

[Cannoneer]

I admire your collection, Millsman.


"In the present calendars, the feast of Saint Barbara falls on December 4th and is traditionally recognized by a formal Dining-In or military dinner, often involving presentation of the Order of Saint Barbara.
And here is an explanation of the medallion presentation for The Order of Saint Barbara:
The Order of Saint Barbara is an honorary military society of the United States Field Artillery. Both U.S. Marine and Army field artillery along with their military and civilian supporters are eligible for membership. The order is managed by the U.S. Field Artillery Association and two levels of recognition exist.
The most distinguished level is the Ancient Order of Saint Barbara and those who are selected for this honor have achieved long-term, exceptional service to the field artillery surpassing even their brethren in the Honorable Order of Saint Barbara.
The order links field artillerymen of the past and present in a brotherhood of professionalism, selfless service and sacrifice symbolized by Saint Barbara."

Wikimedia Commons

[DaveSB]

Very nice pics. I, too, admire your collection.