Sainte Barbe

Among the traditions of the calendar season, which begins on Advent Sunday, Saint Barbara is honored on December 4. But who was she?

On December 4, the "Barbara" girls are celebrated, but this was not always the case.

Indeed, until 1969 and the modification made by the Church, it was the "Barbe" who was honored... This is why this date remains attached to "Sainte Barbe", one of the highlights of our Christmas traditions in Provence, and one of those that remains among the most deeply rooted in the ceremonial that begins on the Sunday of Advent; this year on Sunday, November 27, and ends on Chandeleur, Thursday, February 2, 2023...

A tradition rooted in antiquity

In those days, it was customary to plant wheat, a symbol of fertility, to ensure a bountiful harvest, since wheat, by germinating and growing properly as winter approached, meant that the harvest, and therefore the year, could be looked forward to under the best of auspices... Our Provençal traditions have built on this practice to integrate it into calendar time, for it was de facto the prosperity of the family that was assured if wheat sprouted robustly and abundantly at Christmas...

One Provencal adage illustrates this point:
"Quand lou blad vèn bèn, Tout vèn bèn".

This is generally translated as:
"Well sprouted wheat means prosperity for the whole year."

On Saint Barbara's Day, 20 days before Christmas, many of us are making a point of respecting the tradition known as the three "Siétouns" (or three saucers in French), which consists of planting grains of wheat on a bed of cotton in three bowls, then watering them regularly until they sprout and the wheat stalks rise firmly ...

Childhood memories

The older generation, like me, certainly remembers the saucers that first adorned our fireplaces, then were placed on the "Big Supper" table with yellow and red ribbons during Christmas Eve, before being placed in the crib to "brighten up" the landscape until Candlemas... To attest to this, I enclose two photos taken at my parents' home on Christmas Eve, where after Christmas Eve, one of the "Seitouns" had been placed in the tiny, very modest crib, a souvenir of a trip to Palestine many years ago...

A patron saint with a difference

And let's not forget that "Saint Barbara" is the patron saint of "everything that burns, explodes, fulminates and detonates", in connection with the legend that her father, a pagan king in the 3rd century, was struck by lightning after publicly beheading his daughter for refusing to renounce her faith, This is why firemen, miners, artillerymen, polytechnicians and pyrotechnicians have chosen her as their patron saint, and organize numerous events around this date... For the record, when the Channel Tunnel was dug, the only date that was not worked every year was December 4, in reference to the patron saint of miners...

A few details

"Get out the "Sietouns" for Saint Barbara's Day, but don't plant the wheat until a week later, because the temperatures in our rooms today, have nothing to do with those of our ancestors!"

The Sainte Barbe wheat is sold for the benefit of charities.

Text and photos by Jean-Pierre Serra

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