SAINT
LAZARUS IN THE EAST
THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES AND TRADITION
Bethany, is a Jewish word
which means "the home of the Phoenicians". It has remained
known in history as the homeland of Lazarus the friend of Christ. Although
it is a small and insignificant Palestinian village, it has an important
place in the history of Christianity. It was one of the places for which
Christ had a special affection and would visit frequently. This was
due to the strong bonds of friendship that Jesus Christ had with the
family of Lazarus and with the leper who some believed was the father
of the saint.
The invitation
of Christ to the house of Martha and Maria, sisters of Lazarus is
a well-known event. While Martha "was distracted by her many
tasks" Maria sat "at Jesus’s feet and listened to his preaching"
(Luke X, 38-42). The event for which Bethany became renowned was the
resurrection of Lazarus (John XI 1-44) through which the Lord forwarned
His own resurrection. This is why the hymns sung during the Saturday
of Lazarus give prime emphasis on the sacrament of the joint resurrection
and then to the memory of the saint.
Other than these two events which took place in Bethany, there are
accounts of hospitality extended to Jesus Christis and visits to the
home of Simon the Leper (John XII 1-8, Mark XIV 3-9, Matthew XVI 6-13,
John XII 9-11, Matthew XXI 17).
Naturally, the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus aroused the
Jews and "the High Priests planned to put Lazarus to death"
(John XII 9-11), as he constituted living evidence of the miracle.
Therefore the banished saint fled to the island of Cyprus where he
encountered the apostles Paul and Barnabas and was ordained as the
first Bishop of Citium.
Ancient Citium, home to the philosopher Zeno, had the honour to propagate
the teachings of the Lord through a personal friend of Christ. According
to Saint Epiphanios, Bishop of Constantia of Cyprus (367-403), the
righteous Lazarus lived on for another 30 years after his resurrection.
Historical accounts describe him as sullen and frowning during his
lifetime which was due to all that he had witnessed during his 4-day
stay in the underworld. The same historical accounts report that he
had only smiled once during his lifetime and that was when he saw
someone stealing an earthen pot on which he commented aphoristically:
"a piece of soil steals another piece of soil".
Another historical account indicates some association of the saint
to the salt lake in Larnaka (the present day name of Citium). In the
present location of the salt lake there used to be a vineyard. As
he was passing by this spot one day the saint felt thirsty and asked
for some grapes from the woman who owned the vineyard. She refused
and in order to punish her he transformed the enormous vineyard into
a salt lake. This account has been confirmed by the workers who collect
the salt. They claim to have found roots and branches of the vineyard
when digging in the salt lake. Another legend describes the existence
of a well with sweet water in the middle of the salt lake, known as
the well of "rgas" i.e. the well of the old lady. According
to the Synaxarium (Constantinople Biographies of Saints), the lake
was contested by two brothers who fought tooth and nail against each
other to acquire it. The saint "through prayer drained the lake
and reduced its contents to salt".
In the text of "Patria" in Mount Athos, there are strong
references associating Cyprus and Saint Lazarus with the Virgin Mary
and Mount Athos. Accompanied by John the Evangelist, the Virgin Mary
came to Citium where she met Saint Lazarus and offered him a pallium
and a pair of maniples before continuing on her way visit Mount Athos.
According to the Constantinople Biographies of Saints, the saint was
buried in a marble tomb inscribed with the words "the fourth
day Lazarus, friend of Christ". This tomb was later placed in
a small church.
In addition to the information provided by Saint Epiphanios regarding
the thirty years of Saint Lazarus’s second lifetime, there is an even
earlier account according to researchers relating to Saint Lazarus’s
stay in Cyprus taken from Saint John of Eu(r)oia, priest and monk
of the Patriarchate of Antioch (circa 744). In his speech "On
the fourth day Lazarus", the Saint says: "For an old man
told me, who was privy to information about the blessed Lazarus through
some of the saint’s memoranda, that he became bishop on the island
of Cyprus and wore the wreath of a martyr for the sake of Jesus Christ;
he executed his duties to the full, stayed on the path of virtue and
upheld his faith and is now in perpetual bliss in the company of Christ".
Around the year 744 word spread in Antioch about Saint Lazarus. The
information surrounding the death of the saint, as being that of a
martyr, became a point of interest.
The
thirty-year presence of Saint Lazarus on the episcopal throne of Citium
has also been recorded by Saint Theodoros of Stoudites (759-826), who
reports in his catechitisms: "We celebrate the anniversary of the
death or rather the resurrection of the most blessed Lazarus, who, after
his return from the dead, lived on for a further thirty years in accordance
with the word of God, and served as a bishop".
The exhumation and translation of Saint Lazarus’s remains from Citium
to Constantinople commemorated by the Church on the 17th of October
of each year, was completed during the year 899/900 following the orders
of the byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise.
The translation
of the holy relics has been described in great detail in two celebratory
speeches delivered by the Metropolitan of Caesarea Arethas (850-post
932), a disciple of Photios the Great, while standing in front of
the relics and in the presence of the Emperor. In his first speech,
the priest highly commended the arrival of the the holy relics at
Constantinople, while in his second speech he gives a lengthy description
of the procession, participated by the Emperor, during which the relics
were translated from Chrysoupolis to Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
In exchange for the translation of the relics to Constantinople, Leo
VI sent money and builders to Cyprus to erect the splendid Church
of the Saint, well preserved to this day in Larnaka. Moreover he built
a monastery in Constantinople named after the virtuous Lazarus, which
housed the saint’s remains. Later on the relics of Maria Magdalene
were also translated to this same monastery. During the byzantine
years it was customary for the byzantine Emperor to pray in this monastery
on the Saturday of Lazarus.
It
is thought that the remains of the saint must have been translated to
Constantinople in the old marble tomb. This has been deduced from the
fact that the marble tomb which is found today under the altar of the
homonymous church in Larnaka bears the large script inscription "PHILIOY"
(belonging to Philios), while the old one bore the inscription "the
fourth day Lazarus, friend of Christ". On the 23rd of November
1972, some of the remains of the righteous Lazarus were found in the
present shrine.
This
indicates that the people of Citium could not have handed over all the
relics to the Emperor. Moreover, in his orations Arethas mentions "bones"
and "dust" not to an immortal body.
There is also an account originating from a Russian source at Oxford
Library which describes a Russian monk from the Monastery of Pskov,
who in the 16th century visited the town of Larnaka, bowed before Saint
Lazarus’s relics and took a small piece. This piece can be found to
this day in the chapel of Saint Lazarus at the Monastery of Pskov. The
accessibility of the Russian monk to the Saint’s remains leads to the
conclusion that the shrine with the remaining relics was visible to
the pilgrims at least until the 16th century. Later on, at an unknown
date, the people of Citium concealed them under the altar where they
remained until their discovery around the year 1972, following a fire
in the church.
Archimandrite
Lazarus Georgiou
Superior-Priest of the Church
of St. Lazarus in Larnaka
