A Patroness for 21st Century Women? St. Photina

More popularized as the “Woman at Jacob’s Well” whose encounter with Jesus Christ would transform her scandalous life to one of courageous zeal for the Faith,  St. Photina may well be the 21st century patroness of repentant women.  On that fateful day, about 2,000 years ago, the  startled Samaritan woman likely wearily lugged a water jug, an ordinary task, on an ordinary day.  She could not know that meeting the Messiah would later illuminate her soul to such a degree that at the dusk of her earthly time, she would be unwaveringly emboldened to denounce the infamously cruel and diabolical Nero— to his face.  One version says she spat in his face.  Her sons and sisters would suffer a similar fate, in no small part due to her steadfastness after realizing Truth in the Person of Jesus Christ and in the face of evil.

 
St. Photina’s  astonishing meeting with Jesus and eventual violent martyrdom presents as a sign of hope for all generations.  More so,  given the multiple Nero’s of our age, and increasingly onerous, often lethal, persecution, even is democratic countries,  this tenacious  Christian figure superbly models the power of conversion and courage under fire.  Think of the millions of depressed, bitter, and angry women in our age who forfeited their dignity for contraception, abortion, and fleeting relations with men, some of whom preferred a video game to their company.  Prior to meeting Jesus Christ, there is every chance that Photina (whose Samaritan name we do not know) had low self esteem.  What did become evident, though, was that she was also a keenly intelligent woman and while being abused, persisted in searching for that “something better.”  

 
Moreover, the time has come to view this extraordinary convert through a fresh lens and share her universal appeal to those searching for truth.   Indeed, this may well be the era for her to literally”shine” as her name suggests.  Certainly St. Photina’s  story, even if all the facts are not verified and some details perhaps exaggerated, reminds us that supernatural grace can enter even at the slightest thirst for knowledge and understanding.   The effects roll like a tsunami wave over space and tense, and her receptivity to the Word echoes through history for several reasons.

 
However, on March 20th, her Feast Day and the first day of Spring, an appropriate springboard would be recalling John 4:4-42.   Jesus had just left Judea and was returning to Galilee, after John the Baptist identifying him as “The One from Heaven.”  (John 3: 31) “He had to pass through Samaria,” but that was considered a “theological” choice as many Jews bypassed the repulsed  area, taking a route across the Jordan.

 
Then, during Jesus’s sojourn on Earth, Samaritans and Jews were mutually distanced from each other.  The Jews held Samaritans in contempt, and Samaritans would not easily congregate with any Jews.  

So, Jesus entered Sychar, location of Jacob’s well and sat down, about noon, and had what many Jews would have considered the audacity to ask a Samaritan women  drawing water for a drink.  In either culture, a man alone speaking to a woman alone in the context of this Scripture would astonish people.  Men and women were often set apart, and certainly in the isolation of the well, where no one else was nearby, could have led to speculation.  Nothing is said about a comely appearance, and it is fair to conclude that this disreputable woman may not have been particularly attractive though artistic depictions show otherwise.  Still, she was female. Moreover, Jews beheld Samaritan women as impure, along with any vessel they handled.  Even the Samaritan woman incredulously asks how He, a Jew, could ask her, a Samaritan, for a drink.  Before obliging him, there is an eye opening exchange, wherein Jesus presents the “living water” she should be requesting instead.

 
Jesus says:”  Everyone who drinks of this (well) water will thirst again, but whoever drinks the water that I shall give will never thirst, the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  

 
“Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst…”. (John 4:13-14)

This was an exceptional woman, open to provide Jesus with water—almost a precursor to His utterance on the Cross, “I thirst” (for love), but hardly shies away even if puzzled.  Evidently a deep contemplative,  she proactively seeks counsel and understanding abut the “living water.”  One could perceive her as a person who had considered her life and its implications, and perhaps even pleading to God to bring  direction.  However, she knows all to well her past, and when Jesus requests her to bring back her husband, she admits she has none.  Jesus surprisingly to her agrees and that she has had five husbands, and the one she called her husband then was not her husband.  Evidently, this woman had “thick skin” but also a gentle nature because she did not balk or grow angry but sees Jesus as a prophet.  By the end of their meeting, though, she will realizes He is much more and accepts Jesus is the One. 

 
How uplifted she must have felt knowing that she had been visited by an omnipotent Person who nonetheless was also so gentle and even humorous.  At what exact moment did conviction of Truth flood her soul we do not know, but we can surmise that she experienced tremendous acceptance and consolation despite her shady life.  Might she not have also understood on some deeper level His sorrow for her not knowing how deeply she was loved?

 
In turn, though, St. Photina demonstrates that same generosity of spirit.  Boldly she returns to her people to proclaim her amazement at a man who knew all about her.  (Likely the village also knew).  Her past does not deter her, though, and she sweeps away  a shameful biography to save souls.  She is now mission driven, as we all should be around he world and in every corner.

 
According to Greek tradition, eventually St. Photina traveled and fearlessly, publicly preached the Gospel.  At one fateful point, supposedly one of her sons , Victor, was advised by an Italian official—a later martyr named  Sebastian—that he was writing his mother and brother in warning of retaliation and to be secret about her faith. She refused.   Supposedly while writing the letter, Sebastian, like St. Paul, experienced  blindness for three days without uttering a word and then declared that “the God of the Christians is the only true God.”   He emphasized that “Christ was calling him.”  Victor himself, it is told, was visited by Our Lord who said to him that “From this day forward, your name will be Photinos, because through you many will be enlightened and will believe one Me.” (Orthodox Church of America)

 
By this visitation, one can easily understand the new name for the “woman at the well,” who Jesus knew from all time would be converted and also illuminate the world with the presence of Jesus Christ.  (It is a tale of “light from Light” for both mother, sons, and Sebastian.) 

 
Accounts vary as to St. Photina’s also known as St. Photiona (Orthodox Church),  ultimate demise, but all agree on her complete surrender to a holy death. By one account she died in Carthage, but the more accepted scenario was torture, imprisonment, and death in Rome, after reputedly converting Domnina, the daughter of Emperor Nero and many of the tyrant’s servants.  Other Christians stood and eventually died along side her, including her sons Joseph and Victor.  Recall that in the time of Nero (AD 54-68),  Christian were brutally tormented and killed in the most vile ways..   There was no exception and perhaps enhanced means against this obstinate group.  Some were blinded,  though they remained steadfast.  Photina, along with Sebastian and her sons and five sisters spent three years bring held captive under grueling circumstances.  God foresaw that Photina would be instrumental in conversion of many more even while held hostage. One prevailing story claims that St. Photina  converted a sorcerer who brought her poisoned food.

 
At one point, when Nero demanded an update, he learned that some of the martyrs were not only still alive but had had their sight restored, and that he was furious when learning visitors were becoming Christian.  He became more incensed that the whole prison was fragrant and bright where God was glorified.  Some captives were crucified; one torn apart.  

 
The perverse ruler also questioned Photina again and asked for her to renounce God.   After many torments, including ironically being placed in a well, she spat in his face, and declared, “O most impious of the blind, you profligate and stupid man!  Do you think me so deluded that I would consent to renounce my Lord Christ and instead offer sacrifice to idols where as a blind as you are?”

 
She was again thrown in the well where in an incredible ironic twist,  she ultimately surrendered her soul to God.

 
Consider that her story could be replicated in our time and actually has been when one thinks of many women, but also men, who led lives of debauchery, but today are fearless evangelists in many quarters:  business, entertainment, health, education, and communications.  Almost daily, it is not surprising to learn of another who will no longer change back or retreat into the shadows.  Yet, the world despises them, and daily upheavals have resulted in burned churches, lost employment, public ridicule, and beaten believers.  Moreover, these incidents of unfettered fury are no longer confined to the poorer regions of the world but taking place on Main Street, USA.

 
Most will not suffer death, but certainly any holy person once converted or reverted will prioritize holiness above material gain and worldly popularity.  

 
The woman of the well, St. Photina once blind in a spiritual way and living in gross sin, lonely but open to Truth, was again rescued at a well, but this time, it was to usher her into the eternal glory of God. 

 
(Visit Holy Family School of Faith Institute (schooloffaith,com), Orthodox Church in America, oca.org, and for more detailed robust accounts of Photina’s suffering at the hand of Nero.)