Saint Faith

 (Latin Sancta Fides, French Sainte Foy, Spanish Santa Fe)

It is believed that she lived in the 3rd/4th century and died, at the age of twelve, as a child martyr, in Agen in the Garonne Valley in French Aquitaine.  But little is known in fact about her.  The story goes that she refused to make sacrifice to pagan gods and was put to death by the occupying Roman authorities on the order of the Governor Dacian, who had her roasted on a bed of bronze and then beheaded.

Her body was buried secretly, and then two centuries later a basilica in Agen was built on the site of her martyrdom and dedicated to her.  Her remains were later transferred to the monastery at Conques, on the pilgrimage route to Compostella in Spain. From here pilgrims spread the story of St Faith all across Europe.

St. Faith’s day falls on the 6th October in the Anglican calendar.