St. Lazarus

St. Lazarus of Bethany was the brother of St. Martha and St. Mary, a friend of Jesus, and the man whom Christ raised from the dead in the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of John. He is patron in various traditions of the sick, those facing death, gravediggers, and, through later legends, parts of Cyprus and southern France. His life is known first through the Gospel, where his house at Bethany becomes a place of friendship, grief, revelation, and resurrection.

When Lazarus fell ill, Martha and Mary sent word to Jesus: “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” Jesus delayed, and Lazarus died. By the time the Lord arrived, he had been in the tomb four days. Martha met Jesus with grief and faith, confessing that He was the Christ, the Son of God. Mary came weeping, and Jesus Himself wept. The scene reveals the tenderness of Christ’s human love and His divine authority over death.

At the tomb, Jesus commanded that the stone be taken away and cried out, “Lazarus, come forth.” Lazarus emerged bound in burial cloths. This miracle was not merely a kindness to one family. It was a sign pointing toward Christ’s own Passion and Resurrection. The raising of Lazarus intensified the hostility of the authorities, and John’s Gospel notes that some even planned to kill Lazarus because many believed in Jesus because of him.

Later traditions differ about Lazarus’s life after Bethany. Eastern tradition strongly associates him with Cyprus, where he is said to have become bishop of Kition, modern Larnaca. His tomb and relic traditions became important there, and devotion to him as “the four-days dead” remains strong in Byzantine Christianity. Western medieval legend connected Lazarus and his sisters with Provence, though this is historically less certain.

Lazarus is not remembered for sermons or writings, but for being loved by Christ and called from the grave. His life proclaims that death is not stronger than the voice of the Son of God.