Sir: If, as Eric Christiansen alleges (Books, 17 December) St
Faith used to appear in visions demanding 'trinkets', this must be even more miraculous than the usual run of visions, for no such person ever existed.
`St Faith' is simply the French 'Sainte Foy' (Latin Sancta Fides), the Holy Faith. The adjective 'saint' was taken into English in the Middle Ages as the particular desig- nation of a holy person, instead of a general adjective, and so remained unchanged while the noun was translated, giving the impression that the latter was a proper name. The same is true of such dedications as St Saviour, St Sepulchre, St Cross, etc.
How the legend of `St Faith' demanding `trinkets' arose, I do not know. It may have been delusion or fraud, but on the other hand (and, after all, no one, to my knowledge, has claimed visions of St Saviour — at least under that name — St Sepulchre, or St Cross) it may be that it arose from an allegory (such as mediaeval people were very fond of) of the 'Holy Faith' demanding 'jewels' (charity, humili- ty, etc.) from its (or 'her') adherents, and that this allegory was later literalised. Colin Brown
30 Woodbridge Close, Leagrave, Luton
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