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. St. Photini was one of the first of many women to evangelize, to bring the Good News of Christ, to the people asking them to “come and see”. She underwent many tortures by the Emperor Nero including the flaying of her skin and imprisonment. St. Photini and her children spent three years in prison where she preached and transformed the prison into a bright and fragrant place where God was glorified. Nero mutilated the bodies of her 5 sisters and beheaded them and her two sons. Nero then asked St. Photini again if she would now relent and offer sacrifice to the idols. St. Photini spit in the face of the emperor and laughed at him. Nero gave orders to throw the martyr down a well, where she surrendered her soul to God around A.D. 66. St. Photini is commemorated on February 26 and on the Fifth Sunday after Pascha (Easter).