Our Lord Jesus
Christ tirelessly taught His disciples and those who heard Him. Therefore, huge
crowds of people always walked behind Him, thirsting to hear His holy
teachings.
And now
He preaches at the well. He grew tired after a long journey and a sweltering
day. The Samaritan Woman came to the well for some water. The Lord began a
conversation with her about true prayer and about where we ought to pray to
God, and gave her instructions for eternal life, convicting her of secret sins.
The
Samaritan Woman, hearing this reminder of her intemperate and scampish life
with her unlawful husband, was moved thereby to the depths of her conscience
and heart—not justifying herself, but from an excess of grateful feelings she
exclaimed, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet (Jn. 4:19), and led the
whole city to meet the Lord.
This
remarkable woman then became a Christian, receiving the name Photini
(“radiant”) in Baptism, later completely justifying the meaning of her name.
She preached the name of Christ not just in her homeland, but in other
countries—in Africa and in Italy. Together with her younger son she turned many
people to Christ. Her older son Viktor served in the army under Nero and was
made a commander in Italy, so as to exterminate Christianity there, but instead,
as a soldier of Christ, he was the protector of Christians, and like his mother
a zealous preacher of the Gospel. When the Roman tyrant learned of it, he
ordered the Christians to present themselves to him. At that time, Photini
along with her five sisters and her son willingly appeared before the tyrant,
and to his question, “Why have you come to us?” they answered, “To teach you to
revere Christ.” Then the torturer ordered to crush the hands of the saints on
an anvil. However, it crushed neither their faith nor their bodies. It was then
ordered to cut off their hands, but the sword was ineffective. The martyrs were
imprisoned in a dungeon, but even there they continued to preach Christ, and
the place of criminals was turned into a church of God—for which they were
subjected to new torments, which eventually ended their suffering lives. St.
Photini’s (the Samaritan Woman’s) skin was flayed off, and her body was cast
into a well by command of the tyrant. Thus, she who at the well left the path
of sin and received from the Life-giver living water and grace, leaving her
temporal life behind at the well, passed into another, better, blessed, and
eternal life.
Such was
the Samaritan Woman mentioned in the Gospel. So bravely did she undergo
suffering for faith in Christ! Her life is one of the most striking examples of
how the grace of God can revive even the most sinful of souls, and raise it up
from the chasm of ungodliness to the heights of spiritual glory. Sinful and
despised by all, Photini went to the well to secretly draw up some ordinary
water, but she drew up “living water, saving water.” This sinner, whom merely
to touch was considered defiling by the zealots of the Law, mercifully accepted
the Lord and Savior! What great encouragement, what unshakable support for all
of us sinners. The Lord is always, every minute ready to accept everyone who
turns to Him with sincerity and depth of contrition.
Therefore,
my friends, no matter how corrupt we are, it is worth it to turn to the Lord
Jesus in full repentance; but our turning to the Lord and Savior must not
consist merely of empty words, or lamenting for a minute, but of a sincere and
firm determination to escape from the abyss of sin, without turning back.
A homily by St. Alexei Mechev
Translated by Jesse Dominick
Source: Pravoslavie.ru/Sobor.by
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