Today, December 4, the day dedicated to Saint Barbara, patron saint of the Navy, celebrations in her honor were held throughout Italy.
According to legend, Barbara of Nicodemia, in Bithynia, was locked in a tower and then led to martyrdom for her indomitable Christian faith opposed by her pagan father Dioscurus (c. 228 AD), who was subsequently incinerated by lightning or fire from heaven as divine punishment for the murder.
Legend explains the reasons why, immediately after the invention of gunpowder, in each ammunition warehouse, especially on warships, out of devotion to the Virgin of Nicodemia, there was an image of the Saint on the walls, so that the gunpowder warehouses, named in her honor "Santa Barbara", would be preserved from fire and celestial lightning. In fact, the Saint has become the patron saint of numerous military professions (artillery workers, bomb disposal experts, military engineers) and of everything related to mining and firefighting.
For the Navy (of which she was confirmed as patron saint by Pius XII with the “pontifical brief” of 4 December 1951), the Saint was chosen, in particular, because she symbolizes the serenity of sacrifice in the face of an inevitable danger. On 4 December of each year, the women and men of the Navy and all those who work for it, in finding themselves with common origins and values, solemnly celebrate their Patron Saint. It is in fact a tradition, on board ships and at all the institutions and commands of the Armed Forces to commemorate the anniversary of Saint Barbara.
In La Spezia, the Northern Interregional Maritime Commander, Division Admiral Flavio Biaggi, and the Commander of the Fire Brigade, Dr. Arch. Maria Francesca Conti, took part in the mass celebrated in the church of Nostra Signora della Salute and officiated by the Rev. Monsignor Luigi Ernesto Palletti, Bishop of La Spezia, Sarzana and Brugnato.
The Eucharistic celebration was followed, in Piazza Brin, by the display of the tricolor by the Fire Brigade. The moment was accompanied by the performance of the national anthem by the fanfare of the Northern Interregional Maritime Command in the presence of civil and military authorities.
