Description

Akafist Sviatieĭ velikomuchenitsie Varvarie (The Akathist hymn for Saint Barbara) honors the Holy Great Martyr Barbara of Heliopolis (died 305), whose relics were transferred from Constantinople to Kiev early in the 12th century and have been kept there ever since. She is regarded as the saint who protects against sudden, unexpected death; her feast day is December 4. The hymn was printed for the first time at the press of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, also called the Monastery of the Kiev Caves, in the late 17th century. According to historian and ...