Thursday, December 4, 2025

It is the 4th of December 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

So last week I told the story of St. Catherine. She didn’t exist, but was massively popular because of the legends that grew up around her. We told the story of the explorer Sebastian Vizcaino, who “discovered” that island off the coast of Southern California on her feast day- and named the island after her- in Spanish: Catalina Island.

Well, Vizcaino kept going, and he had a nose for future vacation destinations because it was on this day he landed north of modern-day Los Angeles, on the feast of St. Barbara- it was today, the 4th of December, and the place is Santa Barbara- “the American Riviera” or for us, the last stop before Orcutt.

The Story, or stories, of Saint Barbara are legion. A quick behind the scenes: I was going through notes and stories, and I found a document on my computer… written in 2024… by me? Wait… I told the story of St. Barbara last year on the 4th of December. Yes! But did I tell the story about the explosives magazine on an Italian ship? The parallels to Rapunzel? The cherry blossom tradition or the parallels to Halloween in the Middle East?

Nope- so there’s more to tell. The basic beats of the story go like this: Barbara is the beautiful daughter of a wealthy pagan. He puts her in a tower to hide her from suitors and Christians. She was said to have a long head of hair- a sign of her virginity and a trope picked up by the Brothers Grimm.

She ends up converting to Christianity, and her father, horrified, grabs her by the hair; however, the story is told, she is beheaded by him, and he is instantly consumed by a lightning strike.

Ok- I told that part last year- she will become the patron saint of those fearing sudden death- a real fear in the Middle Ages- and she is elevated to one of the 14 Holy Helpers (along with Catherine). She is incredibly popular, but as the Roman Catholic church tries to clean up its roster of saints, her dubious historicity sees her losing her big day today, the 4th of December. But this hasn’t stopped the people in some of the places where she was most popular.  

Her popularity developed in the Middle Ages amongst those who worked with the growing field of explosives (you know, it’s like lightning). Today, the US Army and Marines recognize the Honorable (and Ancient) Order of St. Barbara for those who serve in the artillery. And, as mentioned, Italian military ships have a name for the room where the explosives are kept: La Santabarbara.  G.K. Chesterton wrote a poem, “The Ballad of St. Barbara,” which is a World War I poem in the context of modern artillery and sudden death.

In parts of Germany and Poland where mines were prolific, she became a favorite as the patron saint of miners. There will be parties in her honor today- one maxim for the day- translated is: “Whoever does not drink on Barbórka (St. Barbara’s day), he will meet his end in the mine.” Others say that whatever the weather is on this day will be the same weather as Christmas Day. Some single women will put a cherry blossom in water; if it sprouts by Christmas, the next year will see you marry.  

In the Levant- the Middle East- St. Barbara’s day on December 4th blends elements of Halloween, the soon-to-come St. Nicholas Day (the 6th), and Christmas. Children will dress up and go door to door asking for candies, and there will be parties and gifts- no connection to the dead, but dressing up and asking for stuff has a long and diverse cultural history.

The diverse celebrations surrounding a dubious saint aren’t surprising. A virgin who forgoes her earthly inheritance for an eternal one and her quick and visual vindication would serve as a worthy model. Today we remember the once, and in some places still, popular saint- Saint Barbara- Santa Barbara on this, the 4th of December.

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary- a good Advent reading from Isaiah 4:

2 In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel. 3 Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 4 The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. 5 Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy. 6 It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 4th of December 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who couldn’t get enough of the Capwells vs the Lockridges on NBC’s Santa Barbara…. He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who was more All My Children than the upstart soaps… 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.