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From Bill
Burke, HQ Battery CO 1970-71
"You mentioned St. Barbara in your most
recent email and it immediately brought back memories of
St. Barbara celebrations by Field Artillery units I
served with over the years. Many were Artillery Officer
Dining-In(s), usually held in a dining room at the
Officers club and usually closed off so that other club
patrons wouldn’t inadvertently wonder in. They were not
secret, but mostly it was to protect a group gathered to
let their hair down and sometimes got a little rowdy.
It was a dress blues occasion and presided over by “Mr.
Bones,” the most junior lieutenant in the organization.
This organization, for me, was always Division
Artillery. Toasts were made to the President of the
United States, the United States Army, the Field
Artillery, the Division, and Division Artillery.
Afterwards, speeches made and soliloquies given, usually
with much humor and ”a few” drinks. Laughter was always
abundant and more drinks were had as the night “rolled”
on. It built camaraderie between all present,
regardless of unit. The wildest dining-ins were in
Germany.
Also, I was lucky enough to be initiated
into The Honorable Order of Saint Barbara many years
back. It is an honor not easily given out and I remain
as proud of it as most anything else I associate with my
time in the Army. There was a selection process and the
honor was being respected enough by fellow artillerymen
to nominated. I’m attaching a few pictures of the
mementoes that are given upon initiation.
Of course we all know the history behind
St. Barbara, but I was surprised to find in the
narrative below, from Wikipedia, that some of her relics
(bones) are preserved here in the United States at St.
Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Bloomingdale,
Illinois. If I ever pass though, it may be worth a
stop." |
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Wikipedia
Saint Barbara became the patron saint of artillerymen.
She is also traditionally the patron of armourers,
military engineers, gunsmiths, tunnellers, miners and
anyone else who worked with cannon and explosives. She
is invoked against thunder and lightning and all
accidents arising from explosions of gunpowder. She is
venerated by Catholics who face the danger of sudden and
violent death in work.
Saint Barbara is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Her
association with the lightning that killed her father
has caused her to be invoked against lightning and fire;
by association with explosions, she is also the patron
of artillery and mining. Her feast on December 4 was
included in the Tridentine Calendar, having been
introduced in Rome in the 12th century. In 1729, that
date was assigned to the celebration of Saint Peter
Chrysologus, reducing that of Saint Barbara to a
commemoration in his Mass.[13] In 1969, because the
accounts of her life and martyrdom were judged to be
entirely fabulous, lacking clarity even about the place
of her martyrdom, it was removed from that calendar.[14]
But she is still mentioned in the Roman Martyrology,[15]
which, in addition, lists another ten martyr saints
named Barbara.
In
the 12th century, the relics of Saint Barbara were
brought from Constantinople to the St. Michael's
Golden-Domed Monastery in Kiev, where they were kept
until the 1930s, when they were transferred to St.
Vladimir's Cathedral in the same city. A small part of
St. Barbara's relics were brought to the United States
by His Holiness Patriarch Filaret of The Ukrainian
Orthodox Church Kyivan Patriarchate (a body outside the
main communion of Orthodox Churches) in November 2012.
They are permanently on display for veneration at St.
Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Bloomingdale,
Illinois.
Her
feast day for Roman Catholics,[5] Orthodox, and
Anglicans is December 4.
More on St. Barbara can be found at this Wikipedia link. |
