Minutes With Him

We can imagine that the conversation between Christ and the Samaritan woman, who was called St. Photini, only lasted a couple of minutes. A conversation about water, husbands and worship surely couldn’t have gone on for too long. However, all the years and months that led up to this moment in her life certainly could not compare to the few precious minutes she spent with Him. After years of relationships, pleasures and self-indulgence - a lifetime dedicated to the things of the world - she still came to the well on that day with an empty bucket. Little did she know, just a few minutes with Him on that day would change every minute, hour and day for the rest of her life. Her bucket would forever be full with “fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).

As the Bible mentions, St. Photini began her evangelistic ministry with the famous words “come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did” (John 4:28). However, tradition tells us much more. St. Photini started by preaching to those closest to her. Her five sisters and two sons were all baptized and became Christians. Not long after, her whole entire family became Christians. She started first with those in her own household. For how could she be a witness “to the ends of the earth” unless she was first a witness in “Jerusalem, in all Judea” and quite literally, “in Samaria” (Acts 1:8).

After her entire family was baptized, she began her ministry in Carthage. There, one of

her sons, Victor, ended up converting the military commander to Christianity. When the emperor Nero heard of this, he summoned St. Photini and her family to be tortured for many years in hopes that she would deny her faith. Enduring beatings with iron rods, great riches, furnaces, poison, snakes and prison… St. Photini could not be shaken. In fact, most people she encountered in her tortures (yes, even her torturers) converted to Christianity themselves. St. Photini was a breath of fresh air, rather, a fresh “fountain of water” to everyone she met (John 4:14).

A note on water… why does Christ say that we Christians are the “salt of the earth”?

(Matthew 5:13). It is because we are supposed to make those around us thirsty! As eating salty food makes us thirsty, so should our presence with those around us make them thirst for Christ. This was the effect that St. Photini had on others, again, after just minutes with Christ. After Nero and his army became weary of torturing St. Photini (note that the torturers were tired of the torturing, not St. Photini) she was finally thrown into an empty well. However, this time her bucket was full. Arguably, the well was also full. Holy tradition says that she died in the well after peacefully praying for many days.

Perhaps the greatest lesson we can learn from St. Photini, is that just a few minutes with Christ can be life changing. Only a few minutes with her Savior made her into a saint and great evangelist. How much of a shame are we? Spending all the years of our life growing up in the church, spending hours in liturgy and even more hours in service… yet we are still lukewarm. Having access to His full word and all the contemplations of the fathers… yet we still don’t consider His call to be personal to us. We have been given everything yet we are still not able to "redeem the time” (Epheisans 5:16). Do we know that it takes just a few minutes of true connection? Not just hours of presence. The church pews spend more time in liturgy than all of us, and yet they are not going to heaven.Let's not be neglectful in our precious minutes spent with God. Even just the five minute

car ride to school, or the ten minute walk between classes. It only takes one real encounter with God to be satisfied, and remembrance of this encounter to be a light unto the world.