Book of Days Tales

Today is the feast day of Saint Barbara, (santa Barbara), venerated in both eastern and western churches as a saint and martyr. Accounts place her in the 3^rd century in Nicomedia, in present day Turkey or in Heliopolis in Egypt. There is no reference to her in authentic early Christian writings, nor in the oldest version of Saint Jerome’s martyrology. Her name can be traced only to the 7^th century, but veneration of her was common, especially in the East, from the 9^th century. Because of doubts about the historicity of her legend, she was removed from the liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite in 1969 in Pope Paul VI’s motu proprio Mysterii Paschalis, which eliminated a host of saints, many of whom, like Barbara, were widely venerated.

In areas where santa Barbara is venerated, it is common to make a sweet, spicy porridge.  This recipe serves 20 people, so you might want to cut it down a fraction:

Ingredients

500 gm crushed, hulled wheat
500 gm raisins
500 gm dried apricots
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons fennel
2 teaspoons anise
1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon of cloves
crushed walnuts
almonds (peeled, halved, soaked in hot water)
20 tablespoons sugar (optional according to taste)
pomegranate seeds

Instructions

Wash the wheat and soak overnight. Drain, place in a pot and cover it with cold water to 2cm above the wheat. Boil until the wheat is tender. Then add the spices and sugar. Wash the raisins, dice the apricots and add to the boiling mix. Boil for another 10 minutes. Serve hot with almonds and crushed walnuts; top with semi-sweet pomegranate seeds.