|In the legends
Saint Faith was a very young Christian born in the city of
Agen, in Roman Gaul, in the third century. When a judge
named Dacian arrived in the city the people rejoiced that he
would vindicate the power of the pagan gods by forcing the
Christians to recant or die. Foy was the first Christian
brought before him, and he tried to persuade her to save her
life by sacrificing to Diana. When she refused he had her
stretched out on a gridiron over a roaring fire and applied
"an uncountable number of wicked punishments" (Sheingorn, "Passion," 35).
The other Christians had gone into hiding under a rock shelter just outside the city. But they could see what was happening to Foy, and their leader Caprasius had a vision while praying for her. He saw a dove descend from Heaven with a jeweled crown that it placed on the young girl's head.
This vision inspired Caprasius and two companions to go forth from hiding and declare their faith before the judge. Dacian again tried to persuade them to save their lives by recanting, but when they refused he had the attendants "rend his flesh without pity" (ibid., 36). Finally, since neither they nor Foy would yield, he had them all decapitated.
This story provides four attributes that can be used in images of St. Foy: a gridiron, a dove, a crown, and a sword. (Plus, of course, the palm branch signifying martyrdom.) The statuette at right has all of these except the dove. This modern stained-glass window has just the dove and the crown.
Prepared in 2013 at Georgia Regents
University by Richard Stracke, Emeritus Professor of
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