St. Joanna

St. Joanna was one of the holy women who followed Jesus during His public ministry and helped provide for Him and the Apostles. She lived in the first century and is identified in the Gospel of Luke as the wife of Chuza, the steward of Herod Antipas. Her patronage is connected with women disciples, widows, lay supporters of the Church, and witnesses to the Resurrection.

Joanna’s position placed her near the world of Herod’s court, yet the Gospel remembers her not for status but for discipleship. Luke says that she had been healed by Jesus, though the exact illness or affliction is not described. In gratitude and faith, she joined the company of women who accompanied the Lord and supported His mission from their resources. This detail is important: from the beginning, women were not passive spectators but active disciples whose generosity helped sustain the preaching of the Kingdom.

Her name appears again at the tomb. After the Crucifixion, Joanna was among the women who went with spices to anoint the body of Jesus. Instead of finding the dead, they encountered the empty tomb and the angelic announcement that He had risen. Joanna therefore belongs to the first witnesses of the Resurrection. She carried the message back to the Apostles, even though the first report of the women was not immediately believed.

Later traditions about her life are limited, and it is best not to invent details beyond the Gospel. What is known is already profound. She had received healing, followed Christ, used her means for the mission, remained faithful through the darkness of Calvary, and went to the tomb in love. Her sanctity stands at the meeting point of gratitude, service, courage, and apostolic witness.

For Catholic devotion, Joanna represents the hidden strength of lay discipleship. She shows that closeness to Jesus can transform one’s household, resources, sorrows, and public position into service of the Gospel.

Because Joanna had access to resources and social position, her discipleship also shows the conversion of privilege. She did not merely admire Jesus from a distance; she supported His mission, stood with the women in grief, and received the Easter message. Her name in Luke protects her from being forgotten.