Saint Barbara is one of the most popular saints in Christianity. Invoked against lightning, she is the protector of artillerymen, bomb squad, miners and firefighters. His cult was brought to Italy around the 6th century, during Byzantine rule.

There are various hagiographies of the saint's life, which, however, have some common traits. Daughter of a man of the pagan religion, Dioscorus, he decided to lock her up in a tower because of her attractiveness, in order to protect her from the numerous suitors, who, however, Barbara rejected of her will. The young woman demanded that the tower have three windows (a symbol of the Trinity). Before entering the building where he was imprisoned, he plunged into a swimming pool and baptized himself.

Dioscorus, having learned of Barbara's conversion to Christianity, outraged, decided to kill her. The young woman was tortured several times, in the face of an iron refusal to renounce the new creed. The executioners tried to burn her, but the flames miraculously went out before they touched her flesh.

Finally, Barbara was beheaded on top of a mountain. But Dioscorus, as soon as he went down to the valley, met the divine nemesis, dying struck by lightning.

Starting from these elements of her hagiography, Santa Barbara boasts a large amount of patronage. With reference to the tower built by her father and where she was imprisoned, she is the protector of architects, stonemasons, etc. Following the torture inflicted on her with fire and because of the lightning that punished, killing him, her father, she is also invoked against lightning and storms, against fire and extensively against fires, including those that may spring from weapons and ammunition deposits (it is no coincidence that the powder keg is called “Santa Barbara” by translation). For the above reasons, she is the patron saint of firefighters and mine workers.

Santa Barbara is also invoked in Sardinia, especially to protect against storms, lightning and fire.

Throughout the Campidano there is a warning against the threat of lightning, in which Saint Barbara is called to the rescue together with Saint James:

Santa Bràbara e Santu Jacu/bosu portais is crais de su lampu/bosu portais is crais crais de su celu/no tocheis a fillu allenu/né in domu né in sartu/Santa Brabara and Santu Jacu.

(Saint Barbara and Saint James/you carry the keys of lightning/you carry the keys to heaven/do no harm to your neighbor/neither at home nor in the countryside/Santa Barbara and Saint James).

Why Saint Barbara is associated with Saint James in this aversion is easy to say. The explanation is found in the New Testament. In the Gospel of Mark (3:17) we learn that Jesus chose James son of Zebedee and his brother John from among the 12 apostles, to whom he gave the nickname Boanerghes ('sons of thunder' in Aramaic), perhaps because they were impetuous in character. Furthermore, in the Gospel of Luke (9, 51-56) Jesus, on his way to Jerusalem, was preceded by messengers who entered a village of Samaritans, who, however, refused to receive it; to which James and John, indignant, exclaimed: “Lord, do you want us to say that a fire comes down from heaven and consumes them? ”. From these two evangelical passages derives the power over lightning held by Saint James, shared with Saint Barbara (bosu portais is crais de su lampu) and the invocation addressed to them: non tocheis a fillu allenu (do not harm your neighbor).

Santa Barbara in Sardinia is celebrated especially on December 4, the day of martyrdom, considered not already as death, but as a triumphant birth to Heaven.

Villasalto is dedicated to both the chapel, built by the Mining Society in the village of Su Suergiu, and the church of medieval origin, in the inhabited center, in which since the 18th century three festivities were celebrated in honor of the Saint: December 4, the day of martyrdom; July 10, in memory of the discovery of the ancient simulacrum of the Saint and the first Sunday of June, when pilgrims implored healing from their illnesses in the effigy of the Saint.

In Guspini, the feast of Saint Barbara is organized on December 4 by the communities of Montevecchio and the Sa Mena Miners Association, of which she is the patron saint.

In Cagliari every year, on December 4, Santa Barbara is honored by the Navy and the National Fire Brigade, orders of which the Martyr is the patron saint.

The choice to celebrate together has now become a consolidated custom in recent years. The saint, in fact, is the symbol of courage, faith and protection of all those who face danger.