# St Faith **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 22, 2015, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320 "2015-02-22T04:54:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/1 "2015-02-22T04:54:25Z")
In Christian iconography, is there a personification of Faith like there is for Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia)? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/2 "2015-02-22T05:14:40Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > In Christian iconography, is there a personification of Faith like there is for Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia)? I wonder if that’s just a confusion because in Spanish the same word (Santa) is used for Holy and Saint. Santa Fe might mean nothing more than “Holy Faith” without necessarily conjuring up an image of a person (although it might be that too). Likewise, “Santa Cruz” means “Holy Cross” and not necessarily the name of an actual saint (although it might be that too). Likewise, “Santa Biblia” ([photo](http://www.mcssl.com/TinyMCE/thumbnail.ashx?src=%2fcontent%2f178258%2fspanish_bilingual.jpg&size=250)) means “Holy Bible”, not a real or metaphorical saintly person as an icon for the Bible. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/3 "2015-02-22T05:22:40Z")
ETA: That said, Faith is also a cromulent name for a Christian family to give their daughter, and such a lady [could well become a saint](http://www.shawnsmallstories.com/sidetracked/the-story-of-st-faith/), real or legendary, portrayed by paintings and statues. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/4 "2015-02-22T05:28:52Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I wonder if that’s just a confusion because in Spanish the same word (Santa) is used for Holy and Saint. Santa Fe might mean nothing more than “Holy Faith” without necessarily conjuring up an image of a person (although it might be that too)… No, my question was triggered by a stained glass window in an Anglican Church, no Spanish connexion. The window depicted a woman as Faith. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/5 "2015-02-22T05:35:15Z")
[Yes](http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foy_d%27Agen). (I linked to the French article because it seemed a bit more convincing than the English, but click “English” on the bottom left or search for “Saint Faith” and there is an article. There’s also an interesting bit on a poem to her from the 11th century, the oldest surviving literature in Occitan ([English article this time](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can%C3%A7%C3%B3_de_Santa_Fe)). (Edit: I wouldn’t say she is a personification for faith, but I suspect that is her origin rather than a real woman who happened to be named faith.) ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/6 "2015-02-22T09:51:14Z")
St Faith was known in medieval England, so there are cases of Anglican churches or chapels dedicated to her. The most high-profile example is [the chapel in the southern transept of Westminster Abbey](http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/art/wall-paintings). The complication however is that ‘Faith’ can be depicted in Christian art as one of the three theological virtues. But her attributes would probably be different - the saint should have a gridiron, whereas the virtue might have a cross, a chalice, an open book or a candle. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/7 "2015-02-22T12:43:35Z")
> [@APB](#): > > (…) But her attributes would probably be different - the saint should have a gridiron, whereas the virtue might have a cross, a chalice, an open book or a candle. Slight hijack: Please explain the meaning of “gridiron” in this context. I can’t get anything useful from Google, and [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gridiron) has nothing that seems appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/8 "2015-02-22T14:21:14Z")
It’s the [cooking grill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gridiron_(cooking)) sense, as it’s the way in which she is said to have been martyred. There’s a depiction of her martyrdom on the various Wikipedia links **Dr. Drake** provided above and she is shown with her gridiron on the Westminster Abbey webpage I cited. The more famous saint conventionally shown with one is St Lawrence. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/9 "2015-02-22T14:21:24Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > Slight hijack: Please explain the meaning of “gridiron” in this context. I can’t get anything useful from Google, and [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gridiron) has nothing that seems appropriate. Oh, never mind: [it’s the “cooking grill” meaning](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_of_Rome#mediaviewer/File:San_lorenzo%27s_grill.png). ETA: Thanks, **APB**! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/10 "2015-02-22T22:23:18Z")
> [@APB](#): > > The more famous saint conventionally shown with one is St Lawrence. “You can turn me over. I’m done on this side.” Can’t say Larry didn’t have some equanimity under fire (literally!)… As far as St. Faith, the three theological virtues (faith, hope and charity) are sometimes depicted in Catholic art as personifications (not unlike the ancient Greek depictions of the Graces). This is usually intended metaphorically, though, not as if those three concepts were actual supernatural people. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/11 "2015-02-23T15:16:59Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I wonder if that’s just a confusion because in Spanish the same word (Santa) is used for Holy and Saint. Santa Fe might mean nothing more than “Holy Faith” without necessarily conjuring up an image of a person (although it might be that too). Likewise, “Santa Cruz” means “Holy Cross” and not necessarily the name of an actual saint (although it might be that too). Likewise, “Santa Biblia” ([photo](http://www.mcssl.com/TinyMCE/thumbnail.ashx?src=%2fcontent%2f178258%2fspanish_bilingual.jpg&size=250)) means “Holy Bible”, not a real or metaphorical saintly person as an icon for the Bible. Good points. Also, consider the city of San Salvador (“Holy Savior”) in Mesoamerica. San is just the masculine form of the same holy/saint word. This is obviously a metaphorical reference to Jesus, not a separate saint with the first name “Savior”. Some “San” and “Santa” places that actually do refer to saints: Santa Ana - Saint Anne Santa Monica - Saint Monica Santa Maria - Saint Mary Santa Elena - Saint Helen/Ellen Santa Rosa - Saint Rose Santa Clara - Saint Clara/Claire Santa Barbara - Saint Barbara Santa Ynez - Saint Agnes San Francisco - Saint Francis San Juan - Saint John San Jose - Saint Joseph San Diego - Saint James (who would probably discourage jacking it) San Antonio - Saint Anthony San Marcos - Saint Mark San Luis - Saint Louis (also see San Luis Obispo, Bishop St. Louis) San German (e.g. the city in Puerto Rico) - Saint Germaine San Felipe - Saint Phillip San Pablo - Saint Paul San Andreas - Saint Andrew San Bartolome - Saint Bartholomew (that Bart right there!) San Pedro - Saint Peter San Bernardino - Saint Bernard ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/12 "2015-02-24T01:53:59Z")
[quote=“Senegoid, post:2, topic:713320”] …“Santa Biblia” ([photo](http://www.mcssl.com/TinyMCE/thumbnail.ashx?src=%2fcontent%2f178258%2fspanish_bilingual.jpg&size=250))… [QUOTE] Clicking that link caused an alert from AVG re malware ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/13 "2015-02-24T04:36:49Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > As far as St. Faith, the three theological virtues (faith, hope and charity) are sometimes depicted in Catholic art as personifications (not unlike the ancient Greek depictions of the Graces). This is usually intended metaphorically, though, not as if those three concepts were actual supernatural people. And this is the case with many other concepts; the late 18th and the 19th centuries put allegorical statues on any building large enough for them. I’m reasonably sure those statues of Agriculture and Seamanship I often walk by aren’t supposed to be actual people. As with Faith and while the city and country of San Salvador and El Salvador are named after Jesus, eventually there came to be at least one saint who was actually named Salvador, a Spanish Franciscan ([page in Spanish](http://www.franciscanos.org/edelvives/salvadorhorta.html)). [San Jesús Méndez](http://www.santopedia.com/santos/san-jesus-mendez) was Mexican (again, page in Spanish). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/14 "2015-02-24T05:33:03Z")
> [@APB](#): > > The complication however is that ‘Faith’ can be depicted in Christian art as one of the three theological virtues. But her attributes would probably be different - the saint should have a gridiron, whereas the virtue might have a cross, a chalice, an open book or a candle. I think this is what I’m looking for. I’ll double-check next Sunday but I don’t recall any grid-iron. I think she has a book and an upraised hand. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-faith/713320/15 "2015-04-27T04:32:42Z")
Just thought I would report back: the window of Faith that I saw has her holding both a cross and a book, presumably Gospel or Bible, and the name on the window is just “Faith”, not St Faith, so it’s clearly the personification of Faith, not the reputed martyr. Thanks to all for the replies.