The strong, brave and miraculous saint, one of the most revered deities in Cuba, always in syncretism with the Yoruba God of Thunder, Shango.
To her, to Santa Barbara, he is always asked for protection in difficult and desperate situations and he is asked for help to fight against enemies, to overcome obstacles and to get ahead, no matter how complicated the scenario in which we find ourselves may be.
She is the patron of the professions that handle explosives due to the legend of the lightning associated with her death, and also protects very especially from miners. She is also the patron of the military who belong to the Artillery Weapon.
Santa Barbara was one of the "14 Holy Helpers" of the Catholic Church and it is said that her mission was to protect those who were in danger of death and did not have a sacrament.
But at the second Vatican Council in 1969 his name was removed from the list of saints of the Catholic Church, due to the non-existence of the historical character.
However, many know the legend of Santa Barbara, a martyr for Christianity who died professing her eternal faith in Christ.
The legend of Santa Barbara
According to one of the legends, Santa Barbara was born in Nicomedia, near the Sea of Marmara, the daughter of a governor named Dioscorus, who locked her in a tower, to prevent men from admiring her beauty and seducing her.
Other writings say that Barbara was converted to Christianity because during her imprisonment she had teachers who taught her poetry and philosophy, among other subjects that educated her in this faith.
And so her father locked her in a tower.
But she had three windows built in her tower symbolizing the Trinity and Diascorus, upon learning of its meaning, subjected her to a painful martyrdom.
Her father wanted to kill her in honor of her pagan gods, but Barbara fled and took refuge in a rock miraculously opened for her. Despite the miracle, she was captured.
Finally, Diascorus beheaded her on a mountaintop, after which a lightning bolt struck him, killing him as well.
Due to these legends, the image of Santa Barbara always appears with the sword with which she was beheaded and for this reason it is associated with war and with unshakable faith.
The death of the Saint and her relationship with lightning
Many are those who mention Santa Barbara when it thunders, because the legend joins the tragic physical disappearance of this martyr of the Catholic Church with the storm and the lightning, since it is said that once the murder was committed, the father who had given death to Barbara, received the impact of lightning that killed him.