Who was the Woman at the well?

Her name is St. Photina (the luminous one or light) or St. Svetlana (in Russian), the Samaritan woman who encountered Jesus at the well, Holy Martyr...First Evangelist.


Yes, it was a woman again. She who encountered the Lord, left her water jug and ran back in the blazing Sun to round up her countrymen. She, of five husbands, the latest of whom was not even her spouse. She, who was the most depised of women-folk, even among her own people. She was the chosen one!


I often wonder about this lady, who lived such a slatternly lifestyle that she was too ashamed to join the other women at the well in the mornings and didn't have the hope nor the strength to make that change. She needed a saviour. Not just a pious holy man but a redeemer.


The Lord knew she was coming. So he waited...and from that beautiful encounter came forth the Living Waters.


Her feast day is commemorated on March 20.


St. Photina, Ora Pro Nobis.