St. Photini the Samaritan Woman
and the Living Water
Sunday Sermon
for 6-2-2013 By Fr Ted Toppses
In the Name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
"If you
knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,'
you would have asked Him and he would have given you living water." John
4:10
Do we know
the gift of God? What would it mean for
us to free ourselves from death itself?
Do we dare to take the next step in the new life that awaits us? Will we approach Christ? Will we go into our quiet place and seek
God? Can we ask of Christ for a drink of
living water? Do we dare seek Him? Are we willing to proclaim Christ even if persecuted?
The following
is an excerpt from today’s Gospel of from St. John Chapter 4…
At that time, Jesus came to a city of
Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Jacob's well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat
down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
There came a woman of Samaria to draw
water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." For his disciples had
gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How
is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" For Jews
have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the
gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would
have asked him and he would have given you living water." The woman said
to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where
do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave
us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?"
Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again,
but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the
water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to
eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that
I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."
The woman in
today’s Gospel was coming to the well to meet the needs of this worldly life
seeking water to nourish the body. The
woman did not expect to find the everlasting wellspring of living water, Christ
our Lord, who would change her life from a simply earthly existence to a
heavenly one. This Samaritan woman is St.
Photini and led many to Christ.
Let us learn
today by examining and excerpt from her life:
St. Photini lived in first century
Palestine. She was the Samaritan woman who Christ visited at the well asking
her for water. It was she who accepted the “living water” offered her by Christ
Himself after repenting from her many sins (John. 4:5-42). She went and told
her townspeople that she had met the Christ. For this, she is sometimes
recognized as the first to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. She converted her
five sisters (Sts. Anatole, Photo, Photis, Paraskeve, and Kyriake) and her two
sons (Victor and Joses). They all became tireless evangelists for Christ.
The apostles of Christ baptized her
and gave her the name of Photini which means “the enlightened one.” She is
remembered by the Church as a Holy Martyr and Equal to the Apostles. After Sts.
Peter and Paul were martyred, St. Photini and her family left their homeland of
Sychar, in Samaria, to travel to Carthage to proclaim the Gospel of Christ
there.
During the reign of Emperor Nero in
the first century, excessive cruelty was displayed against the Christians, St.
Photini lived in Carthage with her younger son, Joses. Her eldest son, Victor,
fought bravely in the Roman army against the barbarians, and was appointed
military commander in the city of Attalia (Asia Minor). Later, Nero called him
to Italy to arrest and punish Christians.
Sebastian, an official in Italy, said
to Victor, “I know that you, your mother and your brother, are followers of
Christ. As a friend I advise you to submit to the will of the emperor. If you
inform on any Christians, you will receive their wealth. I shall write to your
mother and brother, asking them not to preach Christ in public. Let them
practice their faith in secret.”
Victor replied, “I want to be a
preacher of Christianity like my mother and brother.” Sebastian said, “O
Victor, we all know what woes await you, your mother and brother.” Then
Sebastian suddenly felt a sharp pain in his eyes. He was dumbfounded, and his
face was somber.
For three days Sebastian lay there
blind, without uttering a word. On the fourth day he declared, “The God of the
Christians is the only true God.” St. Victor asked why Sebastian had suddenly
changed his mind. Sebastian replied, “Because Christ is calling me.” Soon he
was baptized, and immediately regained his sight. St. Sebastian’s servants,
after witnessing the miracle, were also baptized.
Reports of this reached Nero, and he
commanded that the Christians be brought to him at Rome. The Lord Himself
appeared to the confessors and said, “Fear not, for I am with you. Nero, and
all who serve him, will be vanquished.” The Lord said to Victor, “From this day
forward, your name will be Photinus, because through you, many will be
enlightened and will believe in Me.” The Lord then told the Christians to
strengthen and encourage Sebastian to persevere until the end.
All these things, and even future
events, were revealed to St. Photini. She left Carthage in the company of
several Christians and joined the confessors in Rome.
At Rome, Emperor Nero ordered the
saints to be brought before him, and he asked them whether they truly believed
in Christ. All the confessors refused to renounce the Savior. The emperor then
gave orders to smash the martyrs’ finger joints. During the torture, the
confessors felt no pain, and their hands remained unharmed.
Nero ordered that Sts. Sebastian,
Photinus and Joses be blinded and locked up in prison, and St. Photini and her
five sisters, Anatola, Phota, Photis, Paraskeva and Kyriake, were sent to the
imperial court under the supervision of Nero’s daughter, Domnina. St. Photini
converted both Domnina and her servants to Christ. She also converted a
sorcerer, who had brought her poisoned food that was meant to kill her.
Three years passed, and Nero sent to
the prison for one of his servants, who had been locked up. The messengers
reported to him that Sts. Sebastian, Photinus and Joses, who had been blinded,
had completely recovered, and that people were visiting them to hear their
preaching. Indeed, the whole prison had been transformed into a bright and
fragrant place where God was glorified.
Nero then gave orders to crucify the saints,
and to beat their bodies with straps. On the fourth day, the emperor sent servants
to see whether the martyrs were still alive. Approaching the place of the
tortures, the servants fell blind. An angel of the Lord freed the martyrs from
their crosses and healed them. The saints took pity on the blinded servants,
and restored their sight by their prayers to the Lord. Those who were healed
came to believe in Christ and were soon baptized.
In a rage, Nero martyred all the saints
with extreme cruelty taking all their lives except St. Photini who he very cruelly
tortured and threw into a well. St. Photini was later removed from the well and
locked up in prison for twenty days.
After this, Nero had St. Photini
brought to him and asked if she would now relent and offer sacrifice to the
idols. St. Photini mocked him, said, “O most impious of the blind, you reckless
and stupid man! Do you think me so deluded that I would consent to renounce my
Lord Christ and instead offer sacrifice to idols as blind as you?”
Hearing such words, Nero gave orders
to throw St. Photini again down a well, where she surrendered her soul to God
in the year 66.
May we live
a life of faith and seek the true living water who is Christ our Lord, through
the profound example and intercessions of St. Photini, may we also courageously
proclaim Christ no matter how much we are persecuted.
Amen.
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