Photinai the Samaritan woman
From Sychar in Samaria. She meets Jesus around a well. At the end of the conversation, she asks him for living water. Jesus reads in her heart her secrets, including her unstable life made up of five "husbands." Afterwards, she becomes an ardent propagator of faith in Jesus.
Character and appearance
" thirty-five/forty year old woman. She is tall, with a beautiful strongly marked features. A Spanish type, we would say: a pale olive complexion, rather thick bright-red lips, dark eyes which are even exceedingly large, very dark eyebrows and hair, visible through her transparent veil. Also her rather plump figure is typically oriental and slightly soft, as is customary with Arab women. Her dress is a multicoloured striped robe, which is held very tight round her waist and her plump sides and breast, and then falls to the ground in a kind of flounce. She is wearing several rings on her rather plump dark fingers and bracelets on her wrists, which appear under her linen sleeves. Round her neck she wears a heavy necklace from which some medals are hanging; I should call them amulets because they are of all shapes. Heavy earrings hang down as far as her neck and shine under her veil."[1]
Apostolic journey
"«But now that I am no longer a sinner, I know nothing. I do not know what good is. What shall I do?» [...] «You cannot follow Me, a lonely woman as you are. But if you really do not want to sin anymore and you want to learn how not to sin, then go back to your house with a repentant mind and wait. The day will come, when amongst many more women who have also been redeemed, you will be able to be near your Redeemer and learn the science of Goodness. Go. Be not afraid. Persevere in your present will not to sin. Goodbye.»"[2]
It is probably she who is referenced when Jesus later returns to Shechem:
"One woman only will be missing because she departed from here to lead a life of expiation.
So she said, and I believe her, because when a woman divests herself of everything she loved and rejects sin and gives all her property to the poor, it means that she wants to follow a new life. But I could not tell You where she is. No one has seen her any more since she left Shechem. One of our people thought he had seen her dressed as a servant in a village near the Phial.[3] Another one swears that he recognised her, although she was dressed poorly, at Bersabea.[4] But what they say is not certain. When she was called by her name she did not answer and they heard her being called Johanna in the former place, and Agar in the latter.
It is not necessary to know more except that she has been redeemed."[5]
Jesus at the Last Supper will remember the souls saved including hers.[6]
Her name
This first name would have a Greek origin: "light" (as in photos).
Where is she mentioned in the work?
Learn more about this character
Saint Photina is celebrated on March 20 by the Church Catholic Church and on February 26 by the Orthodox Church. She is said to have been an apostle to Tunisia (Carthage) in the company of her sons, Joseph and Victor. She is said to have died in 66 AD.
Notes and references
- ↑ GRM 143.1.
- ↑ GRM 147.4.
- ↑ in the Cambridge catalog, this is a lake in Gaulanitis, currently known as Birkat Rām (Lake Ram) and the nearby village would currently be Mas'ada. The name Phialé comes from the shape of the lake, identical to Greek phiales, cups intended for libations.
- ↑ Bersabea, Greek and Latin name of Be'er Sheva.
- ↑ GRM 571.4
- ↑ GRM 600.25