In Modern Popular Culture
Saint Barbara's day or Eid il-Burbara is celebrated in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine among Arab Christians annually on December 4, in a feast day similar to that of North American Halloween. The traditional food for the occasion is Burbara, a bowl of boiled barley, pomegranate seeds, raisins, anise and sugar offered to masquerading children. The general belief among Lebanese Christians is that Saint Barbara disguised herself in numerous characters to elude the Romans who were persecuting her.
Saint Barbara is mentioned in Federico García Lorca's play, La Casa de Bernarda Alba (1936). According to this drama, a popular Spanish phrase regarding this saint in the early 20th century was:
Blessed Santa Barbara, / Your story is written in the sky, / With paper and holy water.
The first Spanish-language Telenovela filmed in color for TV in the US, was the 1973 production of Santa Bárbara, Virgen y Mártir, filmed entirely on location in Hialeah, Florida.
GK Chesterton wrote the Ballad of Saint Barbara, interweaving the Legend of the Saint with the contemporary account of the huge artillery barrages that turned the First Battle of the Marne.
In "Time Bomb," an episode of The Closer, the LAPD deploy a bomb-squad robot named Babs, after St. Barbara in her role as patron saint of artillery and explosives personnel.
The Hold Steady wrote a song on their album Separation Sunday called Don't Let Me Explode which name-checks Saint Barbara.
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