Novena to Santa Barbara, Virgin and Martyr

The novena a Santa Barbara is nine days of prayer to St Barbara, virgin and martyr, asked above all for one grace: to die well — fortified by confession, holy Communion, and the anointing of the sick, in the peace of God. Because the lightning that struck her executioner has followed her memory ever since, she is also the patroness of miners, artillerymen and powder-workers, quarrymen and firemen, and is invoked against storm, fire, and sudden death. Her feast falls on 4 December, and the nine days are commonly begun on 25 November and ended on 3 December, the eve of the feast — though they may be prayed at any time a need presses. If the practice is new to you, begin with our guide to what a novena is.

A note on St Barbara and the 1962 calendar

One thing has to be said plainly, and the older hagiographers said it first: the Acts of her martyrdom are late and of little historical worth, and it was for that uncertainty that her feast was withdrawn from the universal Roman calendar in 1969. Historically, we do not know what she was. Yet her cult is very ancient and venerable, she keeps her place on 4 December in the liturgical books of 1962, and the Church has never denied her sanctity nor forbidden her invocation. The devotion is fully lawful, and we offer it here with confidence — without mistaking legend for history.

The full novena to Santa Barbara

Each day of the novena is opened with the sign of the cross and an act of contrition; then the preparatory prayer is said, and the meditation proper to the day is read. These prayers and meditations are a devotional composition of Hispanic and Brazilian prayer-books, with no liturgical text and no approval of their own; the Church's official prayer is the collect of her commemoration in the Missal of 1962, given below.

In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen.

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, because Thou art infinitely good, infinitely lovable, and sin displeaseth Thee. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy holy grace, never more to offend Thee, and to do penance.

Preparatory prayer

Open Thou my lips, O Lord, and I will bless Thee with wise praises. Cleanse my heart of the attachments by which the world draws it after its own designs; drive out the darkness from my mind, and I shall be constant in praising Thee. Amen.

Prayer to St Barbara, for every day

O God, who didst adorn Thy holy virgin and martyr Barbara with an extraordinary fortitude in the confession of the faith, and didst console her in the most cruel torments: grant us, by her intercession, perseverance in the keeping of Thy law, and the grace to be strengthened before our end with the holy sacraments and to die a happy death. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Here name, simply and plainly, the intention thou entrustest to St Barbara — the same throughout the nine days.

Day 1 — A firm faith

Dioscorus, a pagan nobleman of Nicomedia, jealous of the beauty and the wit of his daughter, shut her up in a tower to keep her from the world. He thought to keep her for himself: he gave her to God. In that solitude Barbara considered the creatures and rose thereby to the Creator; she came to know the one true God, came into touch with the Christian faith, and secretly received holy baptism. Her father's prison was her novitiate.

St Barbara, who didst find God in the solitude whereinto thou wast cast, obtain for us a firm faith without compromise, which yieldeth neither to the threat nor to the mockery of the world; and teach us to seek the Creator in all that He hath made.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive
those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace;
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

Day 2 — The brave confession of the Name of Christ

When her father required her to deny, Barbara openly confessed that she was a Christian, fearing not the consequences. She knew what it would cost her: she did not shrink. It had been so easy to hold her peace, to gain time, to let him believe what he would. She chose rather to speak the truth before the man who had over her the power of life and death.

St Barbara, give us the valour to confess our faith before men, never blushing for Our Lord; let neither the fear of contempt, nor the love of our ease, nor human respect make us silent about what we believe.

Then the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory be, as on the first day.

Day 3 — The purity of virginity

Advantageous marriages were proposed to her, and her father desired them for her. Barbara refused them all, keeping herself whole for her only Spouse, Jesus Christ. Her virginity was no disdain of life, but a choice: she had seen something fairer, and all the rest had lost its worth.

St Barbara, obtain for us purity of body and of soul, and contempt for all that turneth the heart from God; grant that we may know, as thou didst, to prefer the one thing needful to all the world can offer.

Then the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory be, as on the first day.

Day 4 — Faith in the Most Holy Trinity

Tradition tells that, her father being away, Barbara had a third window opened in the tower, besides the two appointed, to signify the light of the Most Holy Trinity that had shone upon her soul. She professed her faith with the very stones of her prison. Three windows: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, one only God in three Persons. By this sign her father knew that she was a Christian.

St Barbara, increase in us the faith in the Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one only God; that we may confess it not with our lips alone, but in the whole conduct of our life, as thou didst confess it in the walls of thy tower.

Then the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory be, as on the first day.

Day 5 — Patience in torments

Delivered to the judge, Barbara was scourged, wounded, and torn in her flesh. Not one complaint against her tormentors came from her lips. She cursed no man; she made no defence; she offered. The martyrs triumph not because they suffer less, but because they join what they suffer to the Passion of Him who suffered all things first.

St Barbara, teach us to bear with patience the crosses of every day, uniting them to the Passion of Christ; that we may murmur neither against God nor against men, but offer up in silence what we cannot escape.

Then the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory be, as on the first day.

Day 6 — God's consolation in trial

In the midst of the prison and of the pain, Our Lord visited Barbara and comforted her, healing her wounds. God never leaves His own alone: He doth not always take away the trial, but He cometh into the trial. What the night of the dungeon took from her, the presence of Christ gave back a hundredfold.

St Barbara, obtain for us the consolation of Heaven in sickness, in loneliness, and in anguish; and when God taketh not away the cross, let Him at least grant us to feel that He is there, as He was there in thy dungeon.

Then the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory be, as on the first day.

Day 7 — Perseverance unto the end

Neither prison, nor hunger, nor thirst, nor iron bent the constancy of Barbara until her martyrdom. To begin is little; to finish is all. Many have begun well whom the length of the trial hath wearied. He only shall be saved, saith Our Lord, that shall persevere unto the end.

St Barbara, grant us to persevere in grace unto the last breath; that we may never forsake the road begun, and that weariness, or habit, or discouragement may not make us let go on the eve of the victory.

Then the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory be, as on the first day.

Day 8 — The grace of a good death

Before she died, Barbara asked of God that whosoever should call upon her might not die without the sacraments; and her supplication was heard. Here is the heart of this novena. We know neither the day nor the hour; but we know what we shall need then: the priest, the absolution, the holy Viaticum, the anointing of the sick, and the peace of God. All else we ask may be denied us for our good; this alone we must ask without ceasing.

St Barbara, patroness of a good death, suffer us not to die without confession, holy Communion, and the anointing of the sick. Stand by us in our last hour, obtain for us repentance, the presence of the priest, and the grace to render our soul into the hands of God; and do the same charity to those we love, and to all who lie dying this day with none to pray for them.

Then the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory be, as on the first day.

Day 9 — The crown of martyrdom

Beheaded by the hand of her own father, Barbara went up to Heaven with the palm of the martyrs. Dioscorus was coming down from the mountain when the lightning struck him and burned him to ashes: for once, the justice of God showed itself openly. Yet it is not the punishment of the executioner that makes the glory of the saint: it is the blood shed for Christ. She kept nothing back, and she received all things.

St Barbara, help us to walk in thy footsteps, that we may enjoy God with thee for ever. Thou didst lose all in this world and gain all in the other: obtain for us to prefer nothing to Christ, and to hold Him fast unto the end, whatever it may cost.

Then the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory be, as on the first day.

The closing of each day

V. Pray for us, O holy Barbara.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, who among the other wonders of Thy power hast bestowed the victory of martyrdom even upon the weaker sex: mercifully grant that we, who keep the heavenly birthday of blessed Barbara, Thy virgin and martyr, may by her example draw nearer unto Thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen.

Printing the novena, and praying it free of charge

There is no official novena de Santa Barbara PDF, and no need of one: the text above is complete and free, and the page prints cleanly from any browser — everything you need for the nine days is on it, in order, without a booklet to buy. If you want a printed copy in hand, print this page once and keep it in your missal; if you want it para imprimir for a family or a workshop, print as many as you need. Older Spanish and Brazilian devotional books carry the same devotion under the name Santa Bárbara bendita, and readers who know that form will recognise it here: the same nine days, the same preparatory prayer, the same collect.

Praying it for one intention — including for love

The novena is made for a single intention, named plainly at the start and kept the same for all nine days. A dangerous trade, a sick man, someone dying without a priest, a storm season, an exam of conscience one keeps postponing — name it once, and stop arguing with God about it thereafter.

Many come to St Barbara para el amor — for a marriage, for a husband or wife, for a love in difficulty — and there is nothing wrong in asking her that, since a saint may be asked for anything honest. But be honest about what you are asking of her. St Barbara refused the marriages her father pressed on her; what she is famous for obtaining is not a suitor but a holy death.

If you want a novena whose whole substance is that grace, ask St Barbara for it; for the affairs of the heart the tradition sends you rather to the novena to St Rita, or to St Anne, or to the novena to St Joseph, the patron of households — and, for a happy death, to the same St Joseph, who died in the arms of Jesus and Mary.

And note what the novena is not. It is no magical device, no formula that binds God, no chain-letter. It is a prayer of confidence: God always answers, in His hour and according to what is good for the soul. That is why we ask first for the grace of a good death, and let the rest be given over and above.

How to pray the nine days

Pray one day each day, without skipping. Nine days, in order, one intention.

• The start date. Commonly 25 November, so that the ninth day falls on 3 December and the novena ends on the eve of her feast, 4 December. Any pressing need may be occasion to begin it on any day of the year.
• The order of each day. Sign of the cross, act of contrition, the preparatory prayer, the prayer to St Barbara, your intention, the meditation and petition proper to the day, then the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be, and the closing versicle and collect.
• If a day is missed. Take it up again where you left off and finish the nine. There is no rubric obliging you to start over; the tradition asks perseverance, not scrupulosity.
• What crowns it. If you can, hear Mass on 4 December, and go to confession during the nine days. A novena for a good death that leaves the soul in mortal sin has missed its own point.

Who was St Barbara?

Here we must be careful, because the truth is smaller than the legend and better than it. Her place in the 1962 calendar, her patronages and the collect of her commemoration are set out in our page on St Barbara.

What we do not know. Everything, or nearly. There is no mention of Barbara in the earliest martyrologies; the Martyrologium Hieronymianum does not know her name. Her Acts are late — no earlier than the seventh century in the forms we have — and the traditional hagiographers, Butler's Lives among them, judge them a fabrication of no historical value. Even the setting is unfixed: some copies place her at Nicomedia, others at Heliopolis in Egypt, others in Tuscany; the date has been given under Maximinus Thrax (c. 235) and under Maximian (c. 306) with equal confidence and equal evidence. We do not know her father's name, her city, or her year. Dioscorus and his thunderbolt belong to the story the Church has told; they do not belong to any record.

What is certain. That the cult is old and vast. From the seventh century her name is honoured in East and West; relics were claimed at Constantinople, at Kiev, at Torcello in the Venetian lagoon; the medieval West set her among the Fourteen Holy Helpers, the fourteen saints invoked in extremity, and Christendom raised her altars from Egypt to the Rhineland. The Roman Martyrology keeps her on 4 December, and the 1962 books keep her commemoration there (her collect, secret and postcommunion), among the commemorations of Advent.

Why miners and gunners. Because of the lightning. Once the thunderbolt that struck Dioscorus was joined to her name, the trades that live near sudden fire took her for their own: miners underground, quarrymen, artillerymen and powder-workers — on French ships the powder-magazine is still called la sainte-barbe — and after them firemen, sappers, and all whom an explosion may kill before a priest can be fetched. That is the logic of the whole patronage, and it is not superstition: these are men who may die without warning, and she is the saint of not dying unprepared.

Why a good death. Because of the one promise the legend carries: dying, Barbara begged that whoever called her martyrdom to mind should not depart without the sacraments, and a voice from Heaven granted it. The popular devotion rests on that legend. The devotion has been prayed for more than a thousand years by men who knew that the last rites are the only luggage worth having, and it stands beside the Church's other great prayers for a happy death and her meditation on the four last things.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the novena a Santa Barbara for?

For the grace of a good death above all: to die fortified by confession, holy Communion and the anointing of the sick, in the peace of God. Protection in sudden danger — fire, storm, mines, explosives, lightning — is given over and above, and it is the same grace under another name: not to be taken unprepared.

When does the novena to St Barbara begin?

On 25 November, so the nine days end on 3 December, the eve of her feast on 4 December. It may also be begun on any day the need is urgent — a sickness, a dangerous trade, a man in his agony.

Is there a novena de Santa Barbara PDF, and is it free?

The whole text is given free on this page, and prints from any browser — nine days, prayers, collect and all. There is no official PDF and no booklet you must buy; print it para imprimir as often as you like.

A printed sheet gets lost; the Iter Fidei app keeps the prayer at hand day after day, with a daily reminder and the Latin audio. Join early access here.

Who is "Santa Bárbara bendita"?

The same saint. Santa Bárbara bendita — blessed St Barbara — is how the Spanish and Latin-American devotional books name her, and the novena carried under that title is the one given here: the same nine days, the same petitions, the same Roman collect.

Can the novena to Santa Barbara be prayed for love?

You may ask a saint anything honest, including a marriage. But St Barbara's proper grace is a holy death, not a suitor — she refused the marriages her father urged on her. For matters of the heart the tradition points rather to St Rita, St Anne or St Joseph, as we set out above.

Why is St Barbara the patroness of miners and artillerymen?

Because of the lightning that struck her father: the trades that live near sudden fire claimed her. Miners, quarrymen, gunners and powder-workers, then firemen and sappers — men who may be killed without a moment's warning, and who therefore need the saint of not dying unshriven.

Did St Barbara really exist?

We do not know. Her Acts are late and, as Butler's Lives says without softening it, of no historical value; the oldest martyrologies do not name her, and her city and date vary from manuscript to manuscript. That is why her feast left the universal calendar in 1969. But her cult is ancient, she remains on 4 December in the 1962 books, and the Church has never forbidden her invocation. Pray to her with confidence and call the legend a legend.

Can she still be invoked in the traditional rite?

Yes. St Barbara keeps her commemoration on 4 December in the Roman Missal of 1962, with the collect Deus, qui inter cetera potentiae tuae miracula given above. The devotion is entirely lawful and belongs to the Church's treasury of prayers to the saints.

Pray the novena to Santa Barbara with day-by-day reminders and audio in the Iter Fidei app, and keep the nine days and their collect always at hand. Join early access here.

Sources. The devotional novena to St Barbara as carried in Hispanic and Brazilian devotional books; the collect Deus, qui inter cetera potentiae tuae miracula from the Roman Missal of 1962 (S. Barbarae Virginis et Martyris, 4 December); the Roman Martyrology at 4 December; Butler's Lives of the Saints on St Barbara, virgin and martyr; the Catechism of the Council of Trent on the sacraments of the dying; Holy Scripture, Douay-Rheims (Mt 6:9-13; Lc 1:28, 42).