Saint Joanna

Description

Joanna (Greek: Ἰωάννα γυνὴ Χουζᾶ or Ἰωάνα ) is a woman mentioned in the gospels who was healed by Jesus and later supported him and his disciples in their travels, one of the women recorded in the Gospel of Luke as accompanying Jesus and the twelve and a witness to Jesus’ resurrection. She was the wife of Chuza, who managed the household of Herod Antipas, the king of Galilee. Her name means “Yahweh has been gracious”, a variation of the name “Anna” which means “grace” or “favor”.Joanna is shown as the wife of Chuza, steward to Herod Antipas while being listed as one of the women who “had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities” who accompanied Jesus and the Apostles, and “provided for Him from their substance” in Luke 8:2–3. Theologian Adrian Hastings suggested that she could have been one of Luke’s sources for information regarding the Herodian court. As the wife of an important court official, she would have had sufficient means needed to travel and contribute to the support of Jesus and the disciples.
Joanna is named among the women mentioned in Luke 24:10, who, along with Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, took spices to Jesus’ tomb and found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. The accounts in the other synoptic gospels do not mention Joanna as one of the group of women who observe Jesus’ burial and testify to his Resurrection.

She is recognized as a saint in the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic traditions.