St. Photina 2026

Welcome to our daily rosary meditation. Let's begin in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let's call to mind all those we've promised to pray for. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day, He rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit As it was in the beginning as now and never shall be world without end amen Our first mystery Today is the feast of Saint Fortina According to tradition, she is the woman Jesus met in John chapter 4. John tells us, Jesus, tired from his journey, sat beside Jacob's well in the Samaritan city of Sychar. Today, it's the city of Nablus. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, Give me a drink. She was surprised. because Jews normally have no dealings with Samaritans. But Jesus replied, If you knew the gift of God, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. Then Jesus made a promise that has echoed through the centuries. Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks the water that I shall give will never thirst, and the water that I give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. As the conversation unfolded, Jesus revealed that he knew her life completely, that she had five husbands and was now living with a man who was not her husband. But instead of condemning her, he revealed himself to her. She said, I know the Messiah is coming. And Jesus replied, I who speak to you am he. And at that moment, everything changed. She left her water jar, ran back to the city and told everyone, come see the man who told me everything I've ever done. And many Samaritans believed because of her testimony. Fotina had no theology degree, no training in evangelization, but she had met Jesus, and that was enough. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us in her instance now And at the hour of our death Amen Hail Mary, full of grace The Lord is with thee Blessed are thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us in her innocence now And at the hour of our death, Amen Hail Mary, full of grace The Lord is with thee Blessed are thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women, blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women, blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and never shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our second mystery. About 30 years later, around 66 AD, Fotina and her grown children left Israel as the Jewish revolt against Rome was beginning. and they moved to Carthage in North Africa, where her son Victor became an officer in the Roman army. A government official and friend of his named Sebastian wrote him a letter urging him to keep his Christian faith private. But as Sebastian was writing the letter, he suddenly went blind for three days. On the fourth day, he declared, the God of the Christians must be the only true God. He asked for baptism and immediately regained his sight. News of this miracle and the conversion of Sebastian reached the emperor Nero and both Sebastian and Victor were arrested and brought to Rome. When Fotina heard this she and the other Christians traveled to Rome as well. And they were arrested and brought before Nero, but they refused to renounce their faith. Even in prison, they continued to speak about Jesus and converted many to the faith. Finally, they were tortured and put to death. Fotina became a martyr. A relic of the skull of St. Photina remains today in the church of Jacob's well in Nablus in the Holy Land. I've often stood before that relic of the martyr and prayed, Lord, give me, give us all the same love and courage that filled the heart of Saint Photina Mother of God, pray for our sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for our sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for our sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ens now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ens now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ens now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now, and ever shall be. World without end. Amen. O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our third mystery. Fotina told everyone about Jesus, and many of them converted. But just telling people about Jesus, it hasn't worked for me. So there must be another way other than just telling people. And actually there is. It's the way that Jesus used. Jesus came from heaven to earth to live friendship with Mary, Joseph, the apostles, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and others. So the method of Jesus was to live friendship. But I wonder if we have the right idea of friendship. I wonder if we see it the way Jesus does. So here's the definition of friendship. Friendship is a bond between two or more people united in pursuing something greater than themselves. C.S. Lewis explains that friendship differs from romantic love because friends stand shoulder to shoulder, pursuing some good thing other than each other. Friends don't just want to sit there absorbed in each other. They want to pursue a common goal together and talk about that thing that they're both interested in, whether that is God or physical health or family life or some meaningful work or the appreciation of beauty. Now, you might be running partners or hunting buddies, or you might be colleagues who work on a long-term project together, or you and your spouse work on raising kids or caring for elderly parents, but the key is that friendship develops as you pursue some good thing with another person. That's one of the reasons marriages fail when the kids move out. The friendship ends because the common goal or mission ended. So friendship is never just about each other. It's always about something else. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us to stay our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in her inheritance now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in her inheritance now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Oh my Jesus. Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our fourth mystery. If friendship is formed by the shared pursuit of some good thing, then I need to be forming myself in good things. Otherwise, I have no way to participate and nothing to contribute. If we're going to be running partners, then I need to commit to running. If we're going to be hunting buddies, then I need to own a gun and know how to shoot well. Otherwise, I have nothing to contribute. But first, we must eliminate what kills friendship. Screen time. If you remove the screen time from your life, boredom will drive you toward real friendships. If you remain absorbed in your screens, you will forfeit friendship because they will crowd out the attention and presence that friendship requires. So where do we begin? We actually begin by dedicating ourselves to pursuing good things. Seek a deep friendship with God in prayer Exercise Prepare and eat good food Engage in work that good for other people Grow in knowledge of God and the good world around us And experience real beauty through nature, books, music. Basically, commit to learning skills like cooking, taking walks, pickleball, reading good books, or going to concerts. then take the initiative to invite someone or a small group of people to do these things with you and have good conversation while you're doing them. Good conversation based on good common pursuits, that's the key to all authentic and lasting friendships. So if I lack deep friendships, the first place to look is not outward but inward am i pursuing anything worthy of being shared our father who art in heaven hallowed be your name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us to stay our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive Amen. Holy Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us in our hands now and at the hour of our death Amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us in our hands now and at the hour of our death Amen Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be World without end, Amen O my Jesus Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our fifth mystery. The deepest and most fulfilling friendships are formed when we pursue the highest good together. God, holiness, and the salvation of souls. This is spiritual friendship. And what is true of all friendships is especially true here. If we are to pursue God together, then I need to actually be seeking Him through the sacraments, daily meditation with a concrete resolution, removing sinful habits, growing in virtue, and a well-ordered life. If I want to be friends with a runner, well, I need to run. And if I want spiritual friendship, then I need to commit to the practices of the spiritual life. It's really that simple. Now, if you want spiritual friendship with people you love who aren't interested in God, then you need to begin with friendships on the natural level. Just invite them to do good things with you, like a meal or book club or some good activity. You have to build the bridge of friendship. Friendship is the bridge by which we cross over to others and then help them cross over to God. But you've got to build the bridge first and never burn it down. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners Now and at the hour of our death, amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners Now and at the hour of our death, amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners Now and at the hour of our death, amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. lead all souls to heaven especially those most in need of thy mercy saint michael the archangel defend us in battle be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil may god rebuke him we humbly pray and do thou o prince of the heavenly host by the power of god cast into hell satan and all the evil spirits who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit amen well treesa did anything catch your attention strike you with this meditation it was it was very good i think i had a lot of disconnected thoughts but they were i think practical to my life because i was immediately thinking about even from that third point what social practices i need to reintroduce to my life to bring those conversations and friendships back to life. And just practically, I was resolving to specifically ask people this week, what do you want to change about your life right now? What internally do you want to change What externally do you wish would change What can you change And I think that led me to what you were talking about in that other point that we have to have a common goal And I think one of those common goals can be the spiritual improvement of ourselves and others. And that's kind of, I think, what that question connects with, even with secular people. So that's kind my resolution also kind of my thought but how would you how would you go about asking it of a non-religious person a secular person just like that I don't think there's anything complicated about asking tell me like uh what do you really want to change about your life right now I have found that I agree I have found using asking people what's the what's the best part of your life right now? And then as a follow-up, I ask, what's the most difficult, what's the most painful part of your life right now? Then I get another segue to, I mean, that conversation really, especially when you talk about the difficult part. Because it's almost like we have to freshen up the simple question of how are you? I hate that question. We have to be more specific. What's going great in your life? What's not going great in your life? Because there is something, it's good in relationships to be able to talk with people and figure out your problems together and then get past it but i think it's dangerous part of the problem is we all kind of run out of things to talk about when we're not really living our lives and then you very quickly start talking about people but this is one of the things where it's genuinely a good task to be setting about what's wrong with your life let's talk about it what do you think prevents people from living their lives. I know it prevents me from living my life not to completely rehash a conversation we've had recently. I find it so hard. I wake up in the morning and I'm dead tired, but I can't go back to sleep because I need to wake up and I need to warm my brain up for the day. And I just want to scroll on something. Doesn't even matter what it is. I end up right now because I can't watch YouTube and I can't watch any TV shows or I can't watch anything, I end up just playing Tetris or something. There's not a lot to talk about when you're just playing Tetris in the morning. Well, you are a night person and your brain is like fully on about midnight. Yeah, I could talk about anything at midnight. But right now I'm trying to figure out what to do with the first part of my day because the hard thing is if I'm wasting away all morning and then I obviously I have a lot to talk about with my work which is really lovely because I can talk about what we meditated on but it's really hard if I'm spending all my free time wasting away and then I want to go hang out with people spend time with people and I've got nothing to talk about but when I'm especially when I'm writing a lot or I'm reading a lot I get to talk about all my research and all the things that have really interested me. Because you're pursuing something. Or when I'm playing music, there's so much to talk about. Yes. I have friends that are also deeply interested in music. So we can really, I loved one time we just put on a record and then we all just talked about what we liked about it, what we didn't like about it. So what made music interesting to us. When you are dedicated to some, to pursuing good things, when you're dedicated to skills, you seem to have more to talk about with people. I've noticed, and this is going to be very critical, but to be very clear, not only have I been in friend groups like this, but I have been the main instigator of making a friend group like this. And I think we're all coming in and out of, maybe it's just younger people, but I think the worst kind of friend group you can possibly have is a friend group that's only capable of referencing whatever is happening on social media right now or the news whatever the joke is maybe that's for older people and it's true younger people but i specifically mean not even their opinions on the news but they can only reference the most popular videos the most popular memes the most popular movies uh and everything is referential and not lived experience because you can tell that those people all go separately and they are on their phones and then they come together and they can only talk about their experience on their phones. And I've absolutely done that. And it's really easy to slip into, even I, I mean, my only social media right now is Pinterest, but I still send my roommate random screenshots all the time, just things I find funny. But stopping there, it happens because we're not experiencing other things. That's the only thing we have to talk about is celebrity gossip. That's all we see. Or random pictures. That's all we see. Or the bad things that are going on in the news this or or even just sports this i think this is the very hidden secret to friendship that if you're dedicated to pursuing good things dedicated to developing skills, you will have much to share with people. You'll have much to invite people into and you'll have much to talk about. Because there's also depth to that knowledge. I think the hard thing is it's not like we shouldn't reference things. It's really good to reference things. But when all you can do is you reference the thing and then you're done with it. It's kind of like my sports knowledge as much as I like hockey. When I end up in a conversation about hockey, I really it just ends up being oh yeah I can name that one player on the team and the one thing everyone knows about him I'm like yeah Cale McCarr is a really great uh two-way kind of defenseman that's all I can say about him though because I don't actually know that much about that conversation as much as I like about sports but finding things where you're actually passionate about it but you can have a real conversation that's more than reference to the thing to say we both saw it to actually like go see a movie and be able to discuss the movie well and then you have again you have something good to invite other people to participate with you yeah and then you have something to talk about together yeah so this my big takeaway is pretty simple i just want to i've got a new question to ask people this week and usually that's enough because it's just to start pursuing some answer together yeah this is precisely why i pursued cooking i know i i'll tell everybody i because so much of my work is very intense intellectual work i i needed something a completely different part of my brain and so the things i'm gonna i'll share with everybody i i i spent a lot of time in prayer which for me can be very into in intellectually um draining and i spent a lot of time in intense intellectual work for work and then one of my real areas of play is weight lifting now we've just added another intense thing you're kind of an intense person I'm kind of an intense person so I needed something with a completely different aspect of my brain and so I started cooking and I've been slowly slowly over the years taking on the skill, the culinary skill, the culinary art. And now I have something fantastic to invite others to, to share with them and to discuss. And the result is friendship. so I'm asking everybody out there what are you going to dedicate yourself to develop and that's even a good question to ask people there's a lot to talk about there thanks for the conversation thank you let's be apostles of friendship good conversation and the rosary share this with others Thank you.