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<img height='275' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/345.jpg'>
<img height='275' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/346.jpg'>
<img height='275' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/347.jpg'> Faith, Hope and Charity Vatican II Issue Scott 345-347 (1962)</center>
 
Faith, Hope, and Charity are three of the seven Heavenly Virtues (Fortitude, Temperance, Justice, and Prudence are the others). However, there are also saints with the same names, although the details are obscure.
 
The three images of Faith, Hope and Charity shown on the stamps above, from the Vatican II Council issue of 1962, come from the Baglioni Predella by Raphael. In the work by the Renaissance master from 1507, three small panels illustrate Faith, Hope and Charity flanked by winged cherubs. The images form the predella sections of the Baglioni altar-piece which illustrated the Deposition of Christ, which was commissioned for the family chapel in the church of S. Francesco al Prato in Perugia. The works are now preserved in the Galleria Borghese in Rome:
 
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<img height='400' src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Raffaello_Sanzio_-_Theological_Virtues_-_WGA18669.jpg'>
 Raphael, Baglioni Predella 
From Wikimedia Commons (in the public domain)
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Faith, Hope, and Charity are the names of virgin-martyr-saints from the early Christian years. A group of martyrs, Sapientia (Wisdom), the mother, and her three companions, Spes, Fides and Caritas (Hope, Faith and Charity), suffered death and were buried near the tomb of St. Cecilia in the cemetery of St. Callixtus on the Appian Way. This occurred during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117-138). These saints also had a following among Christians in the East. The devotion to these saints was particularly strong in the Middle Ages.
 
Another group of young girls and their mother with much the same names were martyred perhaps in the second century and buried in a tomb on the Aurelian Way, where a later Church of St. Pancratius served as a place of rest for seventh century pilgrims to Rome. The church of San Pancrazio is a Roman Catholic ancient basilica and titular church founded by Pope Symmachus in sixth century Rome.
 
‘Faith’ (or ‘Foy’) is a third century saint in France and her relics were transferred to Conques in the 10th century (located in the Aveyron district of southern France, now a town of ca. 200+ with a St. Foy Abbey Church). It is located about 83 miles from Toulouse. St. Foy was martyred by being roasted and then beheaded. Veneration was widespread in the Middle Ages. There are devotions to her in Spain, England, and later South America.
 
Whether legendary, historical, or a mixture of both, the symbols of Faith, Hope, and Charity were three of the Vatican City stamps issued in at the opening of the Second Vatican Council. More important is that Faith, Hope, and Charity are three Heavenly Virtues promoted by the Catholic Church.
 
REFERENCES: 
<li>Farmer, David, Oxford Dictionary of Saints 
<li>Attwater, Donald, and John, Catherine, Penguin Dictionary of Saints 
<li>Catholic Answers, <a href='https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/faith-hope-and-charity-saints' >Faith, Hope and Charity, Saints</a>
<li>Musei Vaticani, <a href='https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/la-pinacoteca/sala-viii---secolo-xvi/raffaello-sanzio--predella-baglioni.html'>Raffaello Sanzio, Baglioni Predella</a>

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