St. Barbara

History lesson:

Barbara lived in the 4th century and was brought up as a heathen.  A tyrannical father, Dioscorus, had kept her jealously secluded in a lonely tower which he had built for that purpose.  Here, in her forced solitude, she gave herself to prayer and study, and contrived to receive instruction and Baptism in secret by a Christian priest.

Barbara resisted her father's wish that she marry.  Then on one occasion, during her father's absence, Barbara had three windows inserted into a bathhouse her father was constructing.  Her purpose was thereby to honor the Trinity.

Then it gets really bad and he tortures her and kills her, but we won't talk about all of those details.  BUT, as he does he himself is struck by lightening. St. Barbara is now the patron saint of lightening.

While she was locked in her tower, she put small dried branch of a cherry tree in water.  It bloomed the day of her death, December 4th.

Traditionally in the German-speaking countries, particularly in Austria and the Catholic regions of Germany, a small cherry branch is cut off and placed in water on December 4th, Barbaratag (St. Barbara’s Day). Sometimes a shoot from some other flowering plant or tree may be used: apple, forsythia, plum, lilac, or similar blossoms. But it is the cherry tree that is most customary and authentic. This custom is known as Barbarazweig.

The cherry branch (Kirschzweig) or other cutting is then placed in water and kept in a warm room. If all goes well, on Christmas day the twig will display blossoms. If it blooms precisely on December 25th, this is regarded as a particularly good sign for the future.


Fast forward to today:

I try every year.  Last year I got leaves and roots. Last year, I remembered what day it was after it was dark and cold.  I grabbed my pruners and ran outside and cut a piece of forsythia. In the dark I didn't realize I got an old branch instead of new growth.  No flowers.

This year, I cut my branch a day late, but I picked a better branch this year in the daylight.  I got new growth.  There are buds.

Now I just need a little faith.