For those of you who missed it, or were unaware of it, yesterday was Saint Barbara’s day.  We hope you had a good day. St Barbara is our patron saint and is too for a variety of craftsmen, not just miners and geologists, but firefighters and artillerymen as well. A number of legends differ slightly over her story. Wikipedia has a slightly different version of what follows, but this is from America’s Society of Mining Engineers (SME).

According to legend, St. Barbara was the daughter of a wealthy merchant who lived in Asia Minor around 300 AD. Although she was confined to a tower and isolated whenever her father was away on business, Barbara nevertheless was introduced to Christianity by one of her tutors. Enraged that his daughter had rejected his pagan gods and was baptised into the Christian faith, he turned her over to the Roman authorities. They punished her, but her wounds healed immediately. Still overwhelmed by rage, the merchant killed his daughter with his own sword, but was immediately struck and killed by a bolt of lightning.

The legend of the lightning bolt caused her to be regarded as the patron saint in time of danger from thunderstorms, fires and sudden death. Miners prayed to her that she might protect them during their working time underground, and especially against accidents from the use of explosives.

There is another version of the legend, very similar, on http://www.santabarbaraview.com/a-day-to-honor-saint-barbara5635636/comment-page-1/, from where the picture was taken.