With the arrival of our Orthodox brothers and sisters in the former St Mary’s Church in London Road my mind has been mulling over much of the service held there last Friday Evening for their observance of the “Salutation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” So with that in mind I thought of researching the Orthodox teaching of the Woman of the Well at Samaria. Some interesting understanding emerges..........
The original name of the Samaritan woman is not known, but the Orthodox Church knows her as Photini (Svetlana in Russian), "Equal to the Apostles". She was baptized after the resurrection, and in a continuation of her zealous apostolic ministry begun on the day she met the Lord, preached in many areas, including Carthage and Smyrna in Asia Minor, where she was martyred. She had 5 daughters and two sons, all of whom became martyrs. She is commemorated February 28th, and, of course, on the fifth Sunday of Pascha (Easter).
"The holy martyr Photina (Svetlana) ... was that Samaritan woman who had the rare fortune to speak with the Lord Christ Himself at Jacob's Well in Sychar (John. 4). Coming to faith in the Lord, she then came to belief in His Gospel, together with her two sons, Victor and Josiah, and five sisters who were called Anatolia, Phota, Photida, Paraskeva and Kyriake. They went to Carthage in Africa. But they were arrested and taken to Rome in the time of the Emperor Nero, and thrown into prison. By the providence of God, Domnina, Nero's daughter, came into contact with St. Photina and was brought by her to the Christian faith. After imprisonment, they all suffered for Christ. Photina, who first encountered the light of truth by a well, was thrown into a well, where she died and entered into the immortal Kingdom of Christ."
(Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic, The Prologue from Ochrid / Ohridski Prolog)
By the well of Jacob, O holy one,
thou didst find the Water
of eternal and blessed life;
and having partaken
thereof, O wise Photina,
thou wentest forth proclaiming Christ, the Anointed One.
(Megalynarion for St. Photina, according to the Byzantine usage)
The original name of the Samaritan woman is not known, but the Orthodox Church knows her as Photini (Svetlana in Russian), "Equal to the Apostles". She was baptized after the resurrection, and in a continuation of her zealous apostolic ministry begun on the day she met the Lord, preached in many areas, including Carthage and Smyrna in Asia Minor, where she was martyred. She had 5 daughters and two sons, all of whom became martyrs. She is commemorated February 28th, and, of course, on the fifth Sunday of Pascha (Easter).
"The holy martyr Photina (Svetlana) ... was that Samaritan woman who had the rare fortune to speak with the Lord Christ Himself at Jacob's Well in Sychar (John. 4). Coming to faith in the Lord, she then came to belief in His Gospel, together with her two sons, Victor and Josiah, and five sisters who were called Anatolia, Phota, Photida, Paraskeva and Kyriake. They went to Carthage in Africa. But they were arrested and taken to Rome in the time of the Emperor Nero, and thrown into prison. By the providence of God, Domnina, Nero's daughter, came into contact with St. Photina and was brought by her to the Christian faith. After imprisonment, they all suffered for Christ. Photina, who first encountered the light of truth by a well, was thrown into a well, where she died and entered into the immortal Kingdom of Christ."
(Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic, The Prologue from Ochrid / Ohridski Prolog)
By the well of Jacob, O holy one,
thou didst find the Water
of eternal and blessed life;
and having partaken
thereof, O wise Photina,
thou wentest forth proclaiming Christ, the Anointed One.
(Megalynarion for St. Photina, according to the Byzantine usage)
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