Lazarus for four days. a few facts about the resurrected lazar and his future fate. Orthodox Apologist - Lazarus the Four-Day Constantine Iconomos, teacher Οικονόμου, δασκάλου Resurrection is right
In the Zachatievsky Monastery, with special reverence and love, the holy righteous Lazarus of the Four Days, Bishop of Kitia, is venerated. The veneration of this amazing saint, friend of God, goes back to the very beginning of the revival of the monastery, when on April 10, 1993, on Lazarus Saturday, in the Gate Church of the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, the first monastery church handed over to the sister community, the Divine Liturgy was served, for the first time after seventy years of desolation and persecution. So the holy righteous Lazarus became the heavenly patron of the monastery. The Resurrection of Lazarev, celebrated on that memorable day, foreshadowed the resurrection of monastic life within the walls of the oldest maiden monastery in Moscow. The nuns of the monastery turned in prayer to the holy righteous Lazarus for grace-filled help in external labors, and even more so in internal prayer work, sobriety and repentance. By the grace of God, in 2004 a pilgrimage to Cyprus took place and it became possible to venerate the whole-bearing relics of St. Lazarus, friend of the Lord. Mother and sisters had in their hearts a pious desire to keep in their monastery a particle of the holy relics of the revered saint. For this purpose, an appeal was even prepared, which could not be sent due to the circumstances of the time, but the letter was nevertheless “registered” in the “heavenly office”, and in 2012, 19 years after the first Liturgy in the monastery, the holy righteous Lazarus was pleased to visit the ancient maiden abode in their relics. At the beginning of June 2012, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill paid a visit to the fraternal Cypriot Orthodox Church, and His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus, as a token of the fraternal communion of the two Churches, presented His Holiness with a precious gift - an icon of the holy righteous Lazarus of Four Days and an ark with a large particle of his holy relics, with an urgent with the wish that the shrine be kept in a large temple with open access for pilgrims to worship. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the Conception Monastery was chosen to receive the reliquary with the shrine. On June 11, 2012, a solemn meeting of the delegation of the Cypriot Church took place in the monastery, which accompanied the ark with a particle of the relics of the holy righteous Lazarus of Four Days, Bishop of Kitia. In the evening they celebrated the All-Night Vigil with Litiya in honor of Righteous Lazarus. By 21.00, a host of Moscow clergy (about 100 priests) had gathered in the cathedral. At the end of the service, in a procession of the cross, the clergy and monastics went to the square in front of the holy gates of the monastery, to the monument to St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow. The entire cathedral, the cathedral square and the square in front of the monastery were filled with pious pilgrims who came to pray and venerate the holy relics. In reverent silence, everyone waited and finally waited for the arrival of the holy relics. Since that blessed day, the ark with the relics of St. Lazarus of the Four Days has been kept in the monastery cathedral, where prayers are served before it, an akathist is read.
The holy righteous Lazarus, brother of Martha and Mary, lived in the village of Bethany, not far from Jerusalem. During His earthly life, the Lord often visited the house of Lazarus, whom He loved very much and called His friend, and when Lazarus died and had lain in the tomb for four days, the Lord raised him from the dead. Many Jews, having heard about this, came to Bethany and, having convinced themselves of the reality of this greatest miracle, became followers of Christ. For this, the chief priests wanted to kill Lazarus. Righteous Lazarus is mentioned in the Holy Gospel one more time: when 6 days before Pascha the Lord again came to Bethany, the resurrected Lazarus was also there (John 12:1-2, John 12:9-11).
With the intensification of persecution, Lazar the Four-Day was forced to move to Cyprus. According to tradition, the holy apostles met Lazarus in Cyprus and ordained him a bishop. Righteous Lazarus became the bishop of Kittia (as the city of Larnaca in Cyprus used to be called). Not much information has been preserved about the righteous Lazarus. According to legend, the Lady Theotokos Herself made with Her own hands the holy omophorion for Lazarus and made a sea voyage to the island of Cyprus in order to personally convey this gift to the new Bishop of Kitty.
Lazar lived in Cyprus in the silence of his thoughts and labors. He never smiled after his resurrection, for he touched the mystery of life and death unknown to those living on earth. Righteous Lazar the Four Days lived on the island of Cyprus for about thirty years. It is not known how the saint died, but the Christians buried him with honor in a stone sarcophagus, and other bishops were later buried nearby. After many destructions from wars and earthquakes, the city moved to another place, and the burial of the ancient bishops, being under the rubble, was forgotten.
For a long time the grave of Lazarus was unknown. But at the burial place of the righteous, amazing events began to occur. In 392, the Cypriot Icon of the Mother of God was revealed there, famous for miracles. After the appearance of the Cypriot Icon of the Mother of God, a healing spring gushed in the same place, it then disappeared, then reappeared. And there were many more miraculous phenomena in the same place. At the end of the 8th century, it was decided to build a temple here. And then the ruins of an ancient church were discovered underground. Ancient sarcophagi were excavated, the inscription on one of which read: "Lazarus of the Four Days, friend of Christ." The place where the temple was found was called Larnaca (the tomb of Lazarus). Emperor Leo the Wise, who ruled then, decided to transfer the holy remains of Lazarus to Constantinople.
For many centuries, Orthodox Christians were convinced that the relics of St. Christ were lost in Constantinople during the destruction of it by the Crusaders. But in 1972, during the reconstruction of the temple of Lazarus in Larnaca, the stone throne was dismantled, at the base of which they found a white marble ark with particles of relics. On the lid was an inscription that inside the holy relics of Lazarus of Kita. Currently, in the restored temple in Larnaca, the shrine is exhibited in the temple near the icon of the resurrection of Lazarus the Four Days. You can go down under the altar to the tombs of the first bishops, where holy water flows from the empty tomb of Lazarus: this is the same source that pointed the Cypriots to the burial place of St. Lazarus.
Many people turn to the multi-healing relics of the righteous Lazarus, especially those who are in a state of severe despondency and despair, and the saint invariably helps everyone, strengthening the spirit and multiplying faith. Saint Lazarus, together with his holy sisters, the righteous Martha and Mary, is also the patron of hospitality and other works of mercy.
The holy righteous Lazarus, brother of Martha and Mary, lived in the village of Bethany, not far from Jerusalem. During His earthly life, the Lord Jesus Christ often visited the house of Lazarus, whom He loved very much and called His friend (John 11:3, 11), and when Lazarus died and had already lain in the tomb for four days, the Lord raised him from the dead (John 11:17-44) (The Resurrection of Lazarus is commemorated by the Church on Saturday of the sixth week of Great Lent - Lazarus Saturday). Many Jews, having heard about this, came to Bethany and, having convinced themselves of the reality of this greatest miracle, became followers of Christ. For this, the chief priests wanted to kill Lazarus. Righteous Lazarus is mentioned in the Holy Gospel one more time: when 6 days before Easter the Lord again came to Bethany, the resurrected Lazarus was also there (John 12:1-2, John 12:9-11). After the resurrection, Saint Lazarus lived for another 30 years, episcopated on the island of Cyprus, where he spread Christianity, and there he rested peacefully.The holy relics of Bishop Lazarus were found in Kitia. They lay in a marble ark, on which was written: "Lazarus of the Four Days, friend of Christ." The Byzantine emperor Leo the Wise (886-911) ordered in 898 to transfer the relics of Lazarus to Constantinople and put them in the temple in the name of the righteous Lazarus.
The Complete Life of Saint Lazarus the Four Days, Friend of God
He was from Bethany near Jerusalem, brother of Mary and Martha. During His life, the Lord loved them and often visited their home in Bethany, calling Lazarus His friend (John 11:3, 5, 11).After the premature death of Lazarus, shedding tears over his tomb, the Lord, as the Almighty, resurrected him from the dead, when Lazarus had already been lying in the tomb for four days and was already stinking (John 11:17-45). This miracle is remembered by the Church on the sixth Saturday of Great Lent (Lazarus Saturday).
After his resurrection, Saint Lazarus withdrew to the island of Cyprus, since the high priests decided to kill him (John 12:9-11), where he was subsequently made a bishop.
According to legend, Lazar, being a bishop, was honored with a visit from the Mother of God and received from Her an omophorion made by Her hands. After the miraculous resurrection, Saint Lazarus lived another 30 years, maintaining strict abstinence, and died on the island of Cyprus.
Pilgrims visiting the Holy Land are shown two tombs of the righteous man: one in Bethany in Jerusalem, and the other in the city of Kitim on the island of Cyprus. Not reaching the Holy City for about two and a half miles, the pilgrims visit Bethany, located on the eastern side of one foothill of the Mount of Olives. And a little to the northeast and below they indicate the tomb of Lazarus, also revered by the Mohammedans. A small entrance cut through the rock leads to a narrow deep cave. Having descended 25 steps, the pilgrims meet a small platform with a stone table in the corner, which serves as an altar during the days of worship on Lazarus Saturday. The site is considered the place of the Lord's appeal: "Lazarus, come out!" Five more steps down - and the burial cave. Here they usually read the Gospel of John about the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:1-7, 11-45) and the troparia of Palm Week. First, the Lord was met by Martha, then by Mary, when He went to the tomb to arouse Lazarus' friend - here is a large rounded "stone of conversation", from which many receive healing.
And on the island of Cyprus there is a second tomb of the righteous Lazarus. 90 km from the city of Limassol, along the road lying between the hills, the pilgrims arrive in the city of Larnaca, where there is a temple dedicated to Lazarus, where he served. The temple stands on the site of the original church of the 9th-10th centuries, built over the tomb of Lazarus. The present building of the temple of the XVII century. made of stone, its size is 35x17 m, there are two doors (from the north and west), a three-tiered bell tower, a vast courtyard, a museum. The temple has four pillars, if two pillars are counted in the altar, then it has six pillars, everything is covered with marble. There are three side aisles. In the center is a large chandelier: 5 tiers of candles below and three tiers above, and two chandeliers on the sides. To the left of the altar is the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, and to the right of the altar there is a cave - the tomb of the righteous Lazarus. There are choirs at the back of the temple at a height. The entrance to the cave goes along seven steps under the altar of the temple. The size of the cave is 6x12 m. The relics of the righteous Lazarus are in the middle: the head and half of his bones. And the second half of the relics was in Constantinople, the crusaders in 1291 took them to France, to Marseille. On the right is the iconostasis, in which the icons are arranged in three rows, and there are decorations in two rows between the icons. Across the cave is a tomb with the inscription: "Lazarus is a friend of God." Cancer - like a table, like a large bath, stone - 1.3x0.8x0.7 m. Temple - with a bell tower, along the length of the temple there is a gallery 2.5-3 m high, like a corridor along the surface of the courtyard, there are side doors: northern and southern, from the west - large entrance. And there are two side pulpits for preachers. This place is also revered by all Orthodox Christians as a great shrine, as proof of the undoubted mercy, love and omnipotence of God. The resurrection of Lazarus revealed power and power over death.
PRAYERS
Troparion of Righteous Lazarus the Four Days
voice 4
How great is the treasure and wealth that is not stolen / came to us from Cyprus, Lazarus, / By the providence of all God, by the command of the pious king, / giving healing to those who honor you as a gift, / delivering from troubles and from all harm, / by faith crying out to you: / save everyone with your prayers , Our Father Lazarus. Troparion on the resurrection of the righteous Lazarus
The general resurrection, before your passion, assuring you, raised Lazarus from the dead, Christ God. The same and we, like the youths of the victory of the sign bearing, We cry to you the conqueror of death: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.Kontakion of Righteous Lazar the Four Days
voice 8
Vyde, like a bright star, / from Cyprus, your honest relics, Lazarus, / The reigning city sanctifies and amuses the Christ-loving king / and people enrich their own, / you give the grace of healing to those who truly call to you: / Rejoice, Lazarus, friend of God. Prayer to the holy righteous Lazarus
Oh, zealous and fair friend of Christ, Holy Righteous Lazarus, praise to Bethany and great surprise to the whole universe! Blessed is your house, which our Lord Jesus Christ in the days of His flesh with love visited, seeing the faith and kindness of your soul and your God-loving sisters Martha and Mary, for you loved Him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your thought, and that before You were beloved of the end. Marvelous are your secrets, revealed to you by Your Divine Friend and our Lord, as if He had pleased Him before His Cross and Resurrection to show His Glory on you to the whole world and create thee a forerunner of His most radiant from the dead of the three-day Resurrection. For this sake, as the Lord of life and death, let you fall asleep in the sleep of death, and be buried, and even to the hellish depths of sleep, even if you saw beings from the age who died in a multitude of innumerable hellish bonds of content, and you saw terrible fears. And there, when your body has already given over to mortal mortification, after four days you heard the Divine voice of your Friend, who came to your grave: “Lazarus, come out!” And according to this voice, you abie rose from the grave, and taco rejoiced Bethany and Marthena and Mary’s tears, you quenched the tears, the Pharisees and scribes, in the hardness of the hearts of those who were, you frightened you. Quench, holy friend of Christ, our tears, sin for the sake of our shedding, revive our souls and bodies, in the stink of passions and impurities of sinful beings, raise us up from the tomb of despair and fierce despondency, save us all from eternal death, like you Our Lord restore from the sleep of death. And pray to the merciful God, may we be vouchsafed to be partakers of eternal life, even you yourself, through the labors of hierarchy on the island of Kristem, are now enjoying yourself in the cloisters of paradise, glorifying the All-Holy Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.Prayer to Lazarus Resurrection
Lord Jesus Christ, God, our Savior, Inexhaustible abyss of mercy, generosity and love, not creating death and sin, and even in paradise defining our eternal and holy and blessed life as a partaker of life! When, according to the action of the devil, murderers from time immemorial, as a single person, sin into the world below and death by sin, then, according to Your inexpressible love of mankind, You have determined with Your Cross and Resurrection to free Your people who have sinned from the abyss of hell and eternal death. And when the fulfillment of times came, You descended in the days of Your flesh, like the Good Shepherd, to seek Your lost sheep, and before Your Cross and free passion came to Bethany, You, with a single word of Lazarus, Your friend, died and were buried, calling from hell Thou hast raised from the dead. And so, with this great and terrible miracle before Your life-giving death, Thou shook the mortal realm, foreshadowing the four-day resurrection of Thy quick, Life-giving Christ, the three-day Resurrection from the dead, You assured us all, as if you want to crush the dark-shaped hellish kingdom with Your fortress and the general Resurrection of all, showing Lazarus, as if our life is a saving purpose. For this sake, we are unworthy with Martha and Mary now, let us rejoice lightly and with Bethany, let us triumph, Thy immeasurable indulgence is now celebrating and with Thy weeping over Lazarus, the future quenching of tears and death joyfully begins. Vouchsafe to all of us with pure and undefiled minds, with a meek heart and a humble disposition, with Bethany, accept Thee, the meek Master, and crush the evil one’s pride, and open the entrances of our hearts, and with faith, like Mary, we will anoint with the world of love the purity of the nose Yours, and with many diligence, like Martha, we will serve You, tasting Your Most Pure Body and Your Most Honorable Blood at Your mysterious Supper, on it lie down with us and exude us many valuable peace prayers, and tears of repentance, and the fragrance of chastity and purity, yes so beautified and enlightened, we will hear Your announcement: “Behold, I stand at the door and sense,” and according to Your voice, let us open the doors of the heart and create an abode for You, serving You and glorifying You with Your Beginningless Father and Your Most Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.The resurrection of Lazarus is the greatest sign, a prototype of the General Resurrection promised by the Lord. The figure of the resurrected Lazarus remains, as it were, in the shadow of this event, and yet he was one of the first Christian bishops. How did his life develop after returning from the captivity of death? Where is his grave and are his relics preserved? Why does Christ call him a friend, and how did it happen that the crowds of witnesses to the resurrection of this man not only did not believe, but reported Christ to the Pharisees? Consider these and other points related to the amazing gospel miracle.
Did you know that many people attended Lazar's funeral?
Unlike the hero of the same name from the parable “About the rich man and Lazarus”, the righteous Lazarus from Bethany was a real person and, moreover, not poor. Judging by the fact that he had servants (John 11:3), his sister anointed the Savior's feet with expensive oil (John 12:3), after the death of Lazarus they put him in a separate tomb, and many Jews mourned him (John 11: 31, 33), Lazarus was probably a wealthy and famous man.
Due to their nobility, the Lazarus family apparently enjoyed special love and respect among people, since many of the Jews who lived in Jerusalem came to the sisters orphaned after the death of their brother to mourn their grief. The holy city was fifteen stages from Bethany (John 11:18), about three kilometers.
« The wondrous Catcher of men chose the recalcitrant Jews as eyewitnesses of the miracle, and they themselves showed the coffin of the deceased, rolled away the stone from the entrance to the cave, breathed in the stench of the decaying body. With their own ears they heard the call to the dead man to rise, with their own eyes they saw his first steps after the resurrection, with their own hands they untied the funeral shrouds, making sure that it was not a ghost. So, did all the Jews believe in Christ? Not at all. But they went to the rulers, and “from that day on they decided to kill Jesus"(John 11:53). Thus, the correctness of the Lord was confirmed, who spoke through the mouth of Abraham in the parable of the rich man and the poor Lazarus: If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, then if someone rose from the dead, they won’t believe"(Luke 16:31)".
Saint Amphilochius of Iconium
Did you know that Lazarus became a bishop?
Subjected to mortal danger, after the murder of the holy Protomartyr Stephen, Saint Lazarus was taken to the coast of the sea, put into a boat without oars, and removed from Judea. By divine will, Lazarus, together with the disciple of the Lord Maximinus and Saint Celidonius (blind, healed by the Lord), sailed to the shores of Cyprus. Being thirty years old before the resurrection, he lived on the island for more than thirty years. Here Lazar met the apostles Paul and Barnabas. By them he was elevated to the bishopric of the city of Kitia (Kition, the Jews called Hetim). The ruins of the ancient city of Kition were discovered during archaeological excavations and are available for inspection (from the life of Lazarus the Four Days).
Tradition says that after the resurrection, Lazarus kept strict abstinence, and that the Holy Mother of God gave him the episcopal omophorion, having made him with Her own hands (Sinaxarion).
« Indeed, the unbelief of the chiefs of the Jews and the more influential teachers of Jerusalem, which did not yield to such a striking, obvious miracle, performed in front of a whole crowd of people, is an amazing phenomenon in the history of mankind; from that time on, it ceased to be unbelief, but became a conscious opposition to the obvious truth (“now you have seen and hated me and my Father"(John 15:24)".
Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky)
Church of St. Lazarus in Larnaca, built on his grave. Cyprus
Did you know that the Lord Jesus Christ called Lazarus a friend?
The Gospel of John tells about this, in which our Lord Jesus Christ, wishing to go to Bethany, says to the disciples: Lazarus, our friend, fell asleep". In the name of friendship between Christ and Lazarus, Mary and Martha call on the Lord to help their brother, saying: That's who you love, sick» (John 12:3). In the interpretation of the blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, Christ deliberately emphasizes why He wants to go to Bethany: “Since the disciples were afraid to go to Judea, He says to them: “ I am not going after what I used to go after, in order to expect danger from the Jews, but I am going to wake my friend”».
The relics of St. Lazarus of the Four Days in Larnaca
Do you know where the relics of St. Lazarus of the Four Days are located?
The holy relics of Bishop Lazarus were found in Kitia. They lay in a marble ark, on which was written: "Lazarus of the Four Days, friend of Christ."
The Byzantine emperor Leo the Wise (886-911) ordered in 898 to transfer the relics of Lazarus to Constantinople and put them in the temple in the name of Righteous Lazarus.
Today, his relics rest on the island of Cyprus in the city of Larnaca in a temple consecrated in honor of the saint. In the underground crypt of this temple there is a tomb in which the righteous Lazarus was once buried.
Crypt of the Church of Lazarus. Here is an empty tomb with the signature "Friend of Christ", in which the righteous Lazarus was once buried.
Do you know that the only case described when the Lord Jesus Christ wept is connected precisely with the death of Lazarus?
“The Lord weeps because he sees man, created in His own image, subjected to decay in order to take away our tears, for for this he died, in order to free us from death” (St. Cyril of Jerusalem).
Do you know that the Gospel, which speaks of the weeping Christ, contains the main Christological dogma?
“As a man, Jesus Christ asks and cries and does everything else that would testify that He is a man; but as God, He resurrects a four-day-old and already smelling of a dead corpse, and generally does what would testify that He is God. Jesus Christ wants people to make sure that He has both natures, and therefore reveals Himself either as a man or as God” (Evfimy Zigaben).
Do you know why the Lord calls the death of Lazarus a sleep?
The Lord calls the death of Lazarus a dormition (in the Church Slavonic text), and the resurrection, which He intends to accomplish, an awakening. By this He meant to say that death for Lazarus is a transient state.
Lazarus fell ill, and the disciples of Christ said to Him: God! that's who you love, sick» (John 11:3). And after that He and His disciples went to Judea. And then Lazarus dies. Already there, in Judea, Christ says to the disciples: Lazarus, our friend, fell asleep; but I'm going to wake him up» (John 11:11). But the apostles did not understand Him and said: If you fall asleep, you will recover”(John 11:12), bearing in mind, according to the word of the blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, that the coming of Christ to Lazarus is not only not necessary, but also harmful to a friend: because “if sleep, as we think, serves to his recovery, and You go and wake him up, You will hinder his recovery.” In addition, the Gospel itself explains to us why death is called sleep: Jesus was talking about his death, but they thought he was talking about an ordinary dream» (John 11:13). And then He directly announced that “ Lazar died"(John 11:14).
Saint Theophylact of Bulgaria speaks of three reasons why the Lord called death a dream:
1) “out of humility, for I didn’t want to seem boastful, but secretly called the resurrection an awakening from sleep ... For, saying that Lazarus “died,” the Lord did not add: I will go and raise him up”;
2) “to show us that every death is sleep and rest”;
3) “although the death of Lazarus for others was death, but for Jesus Himself, since He intended to resurrect him, it was nothing more than a dream. Just as it is easy for us to wake the sleeping one, so, and a thousand times more, it is convenient for Him to resurrect the dead”, “be glorified through” this miracle “Son of God” (John 11:4).
Do you know where the grave is located, where Lazarus came from, returned by the Lord to earthly life?
The tomb of Lazarus is located in Bethany, three kilometers from Jerusalem. Now, however, Bethany is identified with the village, in Arabic called Al-Aizariya, which grew up already in Christian times, in the 4th century, around the tomb of Lazarus himself. Ancient Bethany, where the family of the righteous Lazarus lived, was located at a distance from Al-Aizariya - higher up the slope. Many events of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ are closely connected with ancient Bethany. Every time the Lord walked with the disciples along the Jericho road to Jerusalem, their path passed through this village.
Tomb of St. Lazarus in Bethany
Did you know that the tomb of Lazarus is also revered by Muslims?
Modern Bethany (Al-Aizariya or Eizariya) is the territory of the partially recognized state of Palestine, where the vast majority of the population are Muslim Arabs who settled in these parts already in the 7th century. As far back as the 13th century, the Dominican monk Burchardt of Zion wrote about the worship of Muslims to the grave of the righteous Lazarus.
Did you know that the resurrection of Lazarus is the key to understanding the entire fourth gospel?
The resurrection of Lazarus is the greatest sign that prepares the reader for the Resurrection of Christ and is a type of the eternal life promised to all believers: “ He who believes in the Son has eternal life"(John 3:36); " I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, he will live"(John 11:25).
Sretenskaya Theological Seminary
Viewed (1113) times
08.05.2015
According to the Gospel, Saint Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha. His life was connected with the Savior, because it was him who was resurrected by Christ on the fourth day after he died. In the Catholic Church, Saint Lazarus' day is considered December 17, and it is he who is considered the very first bishop who served in Marseille.
The Gospel speaks of Lazarus only in the name of John, and all the events that are associated with him are associated with the resurrection. When Christ went to Lazarus, to the tomb where he was buried, he began to cry very hard, and those standing nearby who saw this began to say that Jesus loved Lazarus very much. After Christ was near the cave, the stone was rolled away from it, and the Savior began to pray. A few minutes passed, and a man's hand appeared from the cave, and then the whole man, it turned out to be Lazarus. He was bound with swaddling clothes, Christ asked to be untied.
The exact burial place of Lazarus is unknown.
According to the Catholic tradition, which was reflected in the Legend, Lazar with his sister and Mary Magdalene decided to go to Marseilles, where he began to preach the teachings of Christ. Marseilles were mostly pagans who did not immediately accept the new teacher. After some time, Lazar was able to become the Bishop of Marseille.
The relics of Lazarus were brought to the city of Kitiy, which is now called Larnaca, in a special marble reliquary. There was a small inscription on the cancer, which says that Lazarus was a friend of the Savior.
A few years later, Emperor Leo the Wise ordered the relics of the saint to be transported to Constantinople, where they were placed in a small temple of the same name. In the 10th century, in the city of Larnaca, near the grave of Lazarus, a church was built in his name. The most interesting thing is that in the 20th century, scientists accidentally discovered a small cancer in which there were human remains. According to them, these were the remains of St. Lazarus. Most likely, not all the relics of the saint were taken to Constantinople. Scholars continue to disagree on the burial place of St. Lazarus, as there were rumors at one time that he was buried in Bethany, where his grave is located. This place is now considered Muslim, and to see the grave, you need to pay money. There is a small mosque next to the grave. The city of Bethany during the Byzantine rule was called Lazarion, after it was captured by the Muslims, the city became known as El-Azaria, which in Arabic means "the city of Lazarus."
Several facts of the resurrection and the tradition of honoring Lazarus
The name Lazar comes from a shortened form of another name - Elizar. If we talk about the translation of this name, it means "God helped me." A small but very revered order of knights was named in his honor, which is called the Holy Order of Lazarus.
According to statistics, at the moment there are more than six thousand people in this order who live on different continents. The order is considered monastic, but refers to military people who take part in hostilities. It all started from the crusaders who fought in the lands of Palestine in the 11th century. Today, representatives of the order are engaged only in charity.
In Cyprus, in the city of Larnaca, where the Church of St. Lazarus is located, there is a tomb in a small underground crypt, 
and it has a museum. This museum is assembled from unique exhibits that were not bought or ordered from anyone. Everything that is there was brought and given as a gift by the parishioners of the temple, who have been visiting it for many centuries. A lot of time passed, and the museum became overcrowded, there was not enough space in it, and a new building was built, which was turned into a new and expanded museum.
Art critics spoke differently about Lazar
In the last century, Van Gogh decided to talk about an unusual interpretation of the plot presented in the New Testament. This work was very different from the canonical representation, since the Savior, who performed a miracle by resurrecting Lazarus, was shown as the Sun, and in the main place was the Saint himself with his sisters Mary and Martha. In modern Russia, Lazarus symbolizes a person who suffers from illness and poverty, although after death he was rewarded in his later life in Heaven.
In Cuba, not everyone can beg, it can be done by those who have dedicated themselves to the Saint. Lazarus on this island remains the most important patron for the population, and not only representatives of Christianity, but also supporters of Santeri, who consider Lazarus to be a deity, the lord of diseases, try to celebrate the holiday.
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In 2017, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Lazarus Saturday on April 8 - this is a rolling holiday in memory of the resurrection of the righteous Lazarus. The "Parishioner" in the rubric "Holy Scripture in Facts and Illustrations" briefly tells the story of the saint.
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Icon of St. rights. Lazarus |
Although the story of the resurrection of Lazarus is mentioned in only one Gospel - from John - but the fact of this miracle, as well as the very image of the holy righteous Lazarus of the Four Days, are of particular importance to believers. By resurrecting Lazarus 6 days before Holy Pascha, Christ thus showed the whole world that every believer is waiting for the resurrection. The miracle of Lazarus is a step towards Christ's Resurrection itself. Not without reason, in the Gospel of John, Jesus, having received the news of the fatal illness of Lazarus, says: “This disease is not to death, but to the glory of God, may the Son of God be glorified through it”(John 11:4). Interestingly, in Hebrew, the name of Lazarus is pronounced as Eleazar - literally translated "God helped me."
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City of Bethany |
Before you is a picture of the village of Bethany - the place where Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary lived. Bethany was located 3 kilometers from Jerusalem on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives - just on the way from Jericho to Jerusalem. Christ often visited Lazarus, whom He called His friend. It was in Bethany that Christ blessed His disciples before the Ascension. Here He was in the last days before the Crucifixion. Here, in the house of Simon the leper, Mary, the sister of the righteous Lazarus, anointed the feet of Christ with myrrh and wiped them with her hair. Now on the site of ancient Bethany there is a small Muslim settlement, which in Arabic is called El-Azaria.
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Christ and Saint Lazarus |
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Resurrection of Saint Lazarus |
It is no coincidence that the holy righteous Lazarus is called the Four-Day One - by the time Christ came to Bethany, the deceased Lazarus had already been in a stone coffin for four days. But Christ did a miracle: “Jesus, again grieving inwardly, comes to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay on it. Jesus says, take away the stone. The sister of the deceased, Martha, says to Him: Lord! Already stinks; for four days he has been in the tomb. Jesus said to her: Didn't I tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? So they took away the stone from the cave where the deceased lay. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said: Father! I thank You that You heard Me; I knew that You would always hear Me; but I said this for the people standing here, that they might believe that you sent me. Having said this, He called out with a loud voice: Lazarus! Get out. And the dead man came out, bound hand and foot with funeral linens, and his face was tied with a handkerchief. Jesus says to them: untie him, let him go.(John 11:38-44).
The resurrection of Lazarus is very significant not only for Christians. Two thousand years ago, when Jesus raised him from the dead, this miracle made a revolution in the minds and hearts of people. Not without reason after this event “The chief priests decided to kill Lazarus too, because for his sake many of the Jews came and believed in Jesus”(John 12:10-11).
Temples and churches have been built and rebuilt more than once at the burial place of the holy righteous Lazarus over the past centuries: first the Crusaders, then the Franciscan monks, the Benedictines. Today, there is a Muslim mosque on this site, and Muslim Arabs take a fee of one dollar from Christian pilgrims who want to go down the stone steps into a square cave in order to see with their own eyes the bed on which the body of the holy righteous Lazarus lay for four days.
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Larnaca city, island of Cyprus |
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Icon of St. rights. Lazarus |
And this is the city of Larnaca on the island of Cyprus. At this place more than three thousand years ago was the city-state of Kition. Here in A.D. 33 moved the holy righteous Lazarus. For him, this move was forced. Terrible persecutions began against Christians, the holy martyr Stephen was stoned to death, many disciples and followers of Christ were forced to leave the Jewish lands and seek salvation in other countries. Lazarus went to Cyprus, and here, in Kition, he lived until A.D. 63, when, at the age of 60, he passed away to the Lord for the second time. It is known that the apostles Paul and Barnabas, who visited Cyprus in 45, made Lazarus a bishop.
Unfortunately, we know little about his life and episcopal ministry in Cyprus. There are only a few church traditions. One of them tells how Lazar, who was very worried that after leaving Judea he could not see the Mother of God, invited Her to him, sending a ship for Her. The Most Holy Theotokos, together with some of the disciples, set off on a sea route. On the way, She visited the Holy Mount Athos. And in Cyprus she brought to Saint Lazarus as a gift an archbishop's pallium tied by her hands.
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Church of Saint Lazarus in Larnaca |
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Tomb of Saint Lazarus |
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Relics of Saint Lazarus |
The biggest attraction of Larnaca today is the Church of St. Lazarus, built on the site of his tomb. It is amazing that after the death of the saint, his relics mysteriously disappeared for almost eight and a half centuries. Only in 890, in a small church, which was located on the site where the large temple of the Holy Righteous Lazarus is now located, was a stone sarcophagus found with the inscription "Lazarus, who was dead for four days, friend of Christ." Upon learning of this find, the then emperor of Byzantium, Leo VI the Wise, ordered the relics of St. Lazarus to be brought to Constantinople. The inhabitants of Kition were forced to fulfill the will of the emperor, but kept part of the holy relics for themselves. Thanks to this, now all Christians can bow to this relic. Today, the preserved relics of the saint are in a special silver reliquary in the center of the most beautiful church of St. Lazarus, built in the 9th century.
