The magnificent temple, located near the port of Larnaca and dedicated to Lazarus the four-day, is one of the most famous places of Orthodox pilgrimage. The architecture of the temple, built around the 10th century, has undergone various changes. The English consul in Syria, Alexander Drumond, who visited Cyprus in 1745, wrote with admiration about the church of Lazarus: “I have never seen anything like it!”.
We do not know much about the life of righteous Lazarus. He was born in the city of Bethany, located about three kilometers from Jerusalem. He had two sisters - Martha and Mary. Mary, according to the story of the Evangelist John, was the woman who anointed Jesus with peace and wiped His feet with her hair.
Jesus often visited the house of Lazarus. He was not only a disciple of Christ, but also His friend. Once, when Christ was in Galilee, He was informed that His friend Lazarus had died. But Christ answered: “This disease is not for death, but for the glory of God” (John 11: 4) and postponed his coming to Bethany for several days. He arrived there on the fourth day after the burial of Lazarus. The Lord asked to take him to the grave and to move the stone that covered the entrance to the tomb. After that he called out: "Lazarus, come out!" And Lazarus, entwined with burial cloths, left the tomb.
After the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus, the Jewish high priests began to persecute. They even wanted to kill him, because many people who came to see the person whom Christ had resurrected began to believe in the Savior.
After Christ's ascension to heaven, persecution began against the Jerusalem Church and Lazarus was expelled from Judea. He was put in a boat without oars and released into the open sea. By divine will, Saint Lazarus sailed to the shores of Cyprus.
In Cyprus, Lazarus was ordained by the Apostle Peter to the rank of Bishop of Kition and lived another 30 years until his second death.
The legends of those days speak of the life of Saint Lazarus in Cyprus. For example, they tell us that for thirty years after the resurrection, Saint Lazarus never smiled and only once broke his custom. Someone wanted to steal a pot - seeing this, Saint Lazarus smiled and exclaimed: "Clay steals clay."
According to the 12/13 century Synaxarius of Constantinople, the name of Saint Lazarus is associated with the Salt Lake, which is located in the outskirts of Larnaca. According to this legend, in the time of Lazarus, this salt lake was a huge vineyard. Once Saint Lazarus happened to pass along this land. Thirsty, he asked the owner for grapes to quench it. The owner refused his request. Lazarus pointed to the basket, which was apparently filled with grapes. When the owner said that there was salt in the basket, Saint Lazarus, as punishment for greed and hypocrisy, turned the vineyard into a salt lake.
The relics of the righteous Lazarus were found in 890 in the city of Kitia (present-day Larnaca) in a marble reliquary, on which was written: "Lazarus the Four Days, friend of Christ." The name of the capital Larnaca comes from the Greek word "larnax" and means "tomb" or "sarcophagus". It was the opening of the tomb that gave the name to the city.
The Byzantine emperor Leo the Wise (886 - 911) ordered to transfer the relics of Lazarus to Constantinople and put them in the temple in the name of Righteous Lazarus.
In the 9th century, a stone temple was built in his honor over the tomb of Saint Lazarus in Cyprus. Initially, the basilica was decorated with three domes, which were later destroyed, either from an earthquake, or they were ordered to be demolished by the Turkish invaders (by 1571 the entire island was occupied by the Ottoman Empire).
In the early 1970s, restoration work was carried out in the church of St. Lazarus. During their conduct, stone tombs were found in the temple, in one of which the relics of St. Lazarus were discovered. They were placed in a special ark in the form of a bishop's miter and exhibited for the worship of believers in a carved gilded tomb with a canopy and a Byzantine dome crowned with a cross.
Inside the temple, an ancient carved iconostasis, consisting of 120 icons, attracts the eye. He is considered to be the example of the most skillful wood carving. The most valuable is the icon dating from 1734, on which Saint Lazarus is depicted as Bishop of Kition.
Directly under the iconostasis, a small church carved into the rock has been preserved - there are steps from the right side of the iconostasis. It contains two sarcophagi. Lazarus was once buried in one of them.
The history of the church is not devoid of interesting details. The church acquired its present appearance in 1743. The first church, built in the 9th century, was destroyed by an earthquake, but then rebuilt. The first church, which was erected with donations from Leo the Wise, was destroyed by an earthquake, then rebuilt. Under the Ottoman rule, the temple was a mosque, and under the Venetians it was the church of a Benedictine monastery. But in 1569 it was bought by the Orthodox Church and since then it has been the Orthodox Church of St. Lazarus.
Orthodox Cyprus
Happy Lazarev Saturday!
May the Russian Church and Holy Russia rise again, like the Four-Day Lazare, friend of Christ!
Righteous Lazarus, brother of Martha and Mary, lived in the village of Bethany, at the foot of the Mount of Olives, not far from Jerusalem. Many people, wanderers and travelers from all over the world to the Holy City passed through this village. The name "Elizar" in translation from Hebrew means "God's help". The villagers of Bethany and many travelers respected this humble man, a toiler, a man of faith, and tried to follow his example. People often turned to kind Lazarus for help or advice. And for some reason he himself liked to help everyone. Because he sincerely loved people. Always and in everything he was friendly to them, smiling, reliable.
During His earthly life, Christ often visited the house of Lazarus, whom he loved and called his friend (John 11: 3; John 11: 11). Here He always found peace, support and full understanding. Closeness to the Savior, His love and trust, did not make Lazarus proud. Rather, on the contrary, he was only tormented by unworthiness, lamented and bewildered: "Where did I come from?" Perhaps one of all the Jewish people at that time, Lazarus strove to at least somehow justify the love of Jesus and His friendly attention to his family. The boundless faith and sincere love of Lazarus were subjected to a terrible test, since it was through Lazarus that the Creator revealed all the glory of the Son, the zenith of His spiritual power. So, Lazarus not only died, but was brought down by God to hell, where he saw with his own eyes the torment of sinners.
But when Lazarus had already lay in the tomb for four days, Christ finally came to Bethany and raised him from the dead (John 11, 17-44). This Miracle was the triumph of Christ's earthly life, His great victory. Family connection. Consolation of inconsolable sisters. Shock the villagers. Glory rolls throughout Judea and far beyond. The prototype of the triumph of the complete and final victory of Christianity throughout the earth. Many Jews and pagans, having heard about the Miracle of the Resurrection of Lazarus, came to Bethany and, having made sure of its validity, became followers of Christ. For which the high priests wanted to kill Lazarus.
Yes, it was all like that. And at the Entry of Christ into Jerusalem at the foal, Lazarus resurrected by Him was near. Living evidence that God is in control of everything. That He is the Almighty Lord of death itself. Just believe sincerely, as the Friend of Christ always believed, and you will forever be alive and forever saved. It was exactly like that. General rejoicing ... The great City shocked by the Miracle ... Enthusiastic crowds, with armfuls of flowers and palm branches, tearing off their clothes, singing Hosanna, running to touch or at least look at Christ ... His divine beauty, greatness ... A humble smile and blessings to everyone and an intimate, overflowing with warmth of gratitude look - to him, a simple peasant Lazar ...
But was he happy to be resurrected from the dead? Nobody knows that. But they say that holy Tradition has preserved this fact that until the end of his days Lazarus never smiled. Even when the Mother of God herself honored him with Her attention in Crete and presented him with a royal papias embroidered with crosses. Kind and smiling from birth, Lazarus could no longer smile. After all that he saw in hell, Lazarus became a different person: Revelation. God deigned him to see all the horror and scale of the spiritual warfare that He has to wage with the day woman and the fallen angels. Such is the honor to His faithful.
It was not for nothing that after His Resurrection Jesus sent Mary Magdalene to the Apostles, but not to the Mother, not to the friend Lazarus and his sisters. Because they knew and did not believe in the possibility of Jesus' death. The miracle of the Resurrection of Lazarus was for them a premonition of what would happen to Christ Himself. These four were the people of Revelation. Their fate, like the fate of Lazarus, Job the long-suffering and those few of the faithful who did not doubt, is a great Lesson for all of us. And this is our great Hope, if we learn this Lesson. We must realize a simple truth: God chooses out of humility, and sometimes rewards with difficult trials. Therefore, faith and adherence to Christ is not a guarantee of heavenly life on Earth. Rather, on the contrary, because closeness to God is always being in the very epicenter of spiritual warfare. And only if we firmly hold on to Him, like Lazarus, like the Apostle Peter drowning in the abyss, like the centurion Jairus, - only in this way can we resist and not perish in that nightmare of trials that every believer, every true Christian, alas, takes upon himself.
Let us prepare and become ready for these tests for faith and for the Lord. And when they happen, we will not complain and ask, like little children: "Why do I need all this?" Let us give worthy gratitude that we were worthy to sympathize with Christ for the human race. As a Friend Lazarus, who spent all his 30 years after the Resurrection in grief and unceasing prayer for the souls of those sufferers whom he saw on his short journey through the circles of Retribution. What more could he do for his Friend? If you and I and all people could try even a little to follow the example of Lazarus, our world would certainly have changed a long time ago.
Most of all, St. Lazarus is mentioned in the Gospel of John (John 12, 1 - 2, John 12, 9 - 11). The resurrection of Lazarus is remembered by the Church on Saturday of the sixth week of Great Lent, "Lazarus Saturday." After the resurrection, Saint Lazarus lived for another 30 years. Due to persecution for his faith, he was forced to leave for Crete. At first he lived as a hermit, in an earthen cave on the shore of the ocean, then bishopric in Kitia, modern Larnaca, where he spread Christianity, healed and worked miracles. He rested peacefully there. The holy relics of Bishop Lazarus were found in Kitia. They were lying in a marble ark, on which was written: "Lazarus 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. The transfer of the relics of the righteous Lazarus the Four-Day, Bishop of Kitia, took place in the 9th century.
Lazarus the Four-Day, friend of Christ. A few facts about the resurrected Lazarus and his further fate
The resurrection of Lazarus is the greatest sign, a type of the Universal Resurrection, promised by the Lord. The figure of the resurrected Lazarus himself remains, as it were, in the shadow of this event, and in fact 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 the 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 denounced Christ to the Pharisees? Consider these and other points related to the amazing gospel miracle.
Did you know that many people attended Lazarus' funeral?
Unlike the hero of the same name from the parable "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 person.
Due to their nobility, the family of Lazarus apparently enjoyed special love and respect among people, since many of the Jews who lived in Jerusalem came to mourn the sisters who were orphaned after the death of their brother. The holy city was about fifteen stadia from Bethany (John 11:18), it is about three kilometers.
“The wondrous Catcher of Men chose the rebellious 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 our own ears we heard the call to the dead to rise again, with our own eyes we saw his first steps after the resurrection, with our own hands they untied the burial shroud, making sure that this was not a ghost. Well, did all the Jews believe in Christ? Not at all. But they went to the leaders, and "from that day on they decided to kill Jesus" (John 11:53). Thus, the righteousness of the Lord was confirmed, who spoke through the lips of Abraham in the parable of the rich and poor Lazarus: "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then if someone is raised from the dead, they will not believe" (Luke 16:31). "
Saint Amphilochius of Iconium
After the murder of the first martyr Stephen, Lazarus was put in a boat without oars and sent to sea
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Did you know that Lazarus became bishop?
Being exposed to mortal danger, after the murder of the holy First Martyr Stephen, Saint Lazarus was taken to the seashore, put in a boat without oars, and removed from the borders of Judea. By divine will, Lazarus, together with the disciple of the Lord Maximinus and Saint Kelidonius (blind, healed by the Lord) sailed to the shores of Cyprus. Thirty years old before his resurrection, he lived on the island for more than thirty years. Here Lazarus met the apostles Paul and Barnabas. They elevated him 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-day).
Tradition says that after the resurrection, Lazarus maintained strict abstinence, and that the Bishop's omophorion was presented to him by the Most Pure Mother of God, making him with Her own hands (Sinaxar).
“Indeed, the disbelief of the leaders of the Jewish and 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 I have seen and hated both Me and My Father” (John 15:24) ”.
Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky)
Church of Saint 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: "Our friend Lazarus fell asleep." In the name of the friendship between Christ and Lazarus, Mary and Martha call on the Lord to help their brother, saying: “Behold, whom you love is sick” (John 12: 3). In the interpretation of the blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, Christ deliberately focuses on why He wants to go to Bethany: “Since the disciples were afraid to go to Judea, He tells them:“ I am not going after what I went before, in order to expect danger from the side of the Jews, but I am going to wake up a friend. "
The relics of Saint Lazarus the Four days in Larnaca
Do you know where the relics of Saint Lazarus of the Four are located?
The holy relics of Bishop Lazarus were found in Kitia. They lay in a marble ark, on which was written: "Lazarus 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 a 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. There is an empty tomb with the signature "Friend of Christ", in which the righteous Lazarus was once buried
Did you know that the only described case when the Lord Jesus Christ wept is connected precisely with the death of Lazarus?
"The Lord weeps because he sees a man created in His own image undergoing decay, in order to take away our tears, because for this he died, to free us from death too" (Saint Cyril of Jerusalem).
Did you know that the Gospel, which speaks of the weeping Christ, contains the basic Christological dogma?
“As a man, Jesus Christ both asks, and weeps, and does everything else, which would testify that He is a man; but as God He resurrects a four-day old and already emitting the smell of the corpse of a dead man and generally does what would testify that He is God. Jesus Christ wants people to make sure that He has both natures, and therefore shows Himself first as a man, then as God ” (Evfimy Zigaben).
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The only described case when the Lord wept is associated with the death of Lazarus
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Do you know why the Lord calls the death of Lazarus a dream?
The Lord calls the death of Lazarus a dormition (in the Church Slavonic text), and the resurrection that He intends to accomplish is awakening. By this He wanted to say that death for Lazarus is a transient condition.
Lazarus fell ill, and Christ's disciples said to him: “Lord! that's whom you love is 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 his disciples: “Our friend Lazarus 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 unnecessary, but also harmful for a friend: because “if sleep, as we think, serves to his recovery, but You will go and wake him up, then You will prevent his recovery. " In addition, the Gospel itself explains to us why death is called sleep: "Jesus spoke about his death, and they thought that He was talking about ordinary sleep"(John 11:13). And then He directly announced that “Lazarus is dead” (John 11:14).
Saint Theophylact of Bulgaria speaks of three reasons why the Lord called death a dream:
1) “in humility of mind, for he did not want to appear boastful, but in secret called the resurrection a wake-up from sleep ... For, having said that Lazarus was“ dead, ”the Lord did not add: I will go and raise him up”;
2) "to show us that all 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. As it is easy for us to wake up the sleeping one, so, and a thousand times more, it is convenient for Him to resurrect the deceased ”, "Let it be glorified through" this is the miracle "Son of God" (John 11: 4).
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Do you know where the grave is, whence came Lazarus, returned by the Lord to earthly life?The Dominican monk Burkhardt of Zion wrote about the worship of Muslims at the grave of righteous Lazarus in the 13th century
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The tomb of Lazarus is located in Bethany, three kilometers from Jerusalem. Now, however, Bethany is identified with the village, in Arabic called Al-Aizaria, which grew up already in Christian times, in the IV century, around the tomb of Lazarus himself. Ancient Bethany, where the family of the righteous Lazarus lived, was located at a distance from Al-Isaria - higher up the slope. Many events of Jesus Christ's earthly ministry 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.
The grave 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 overwhelming majority of the population are Muslim Arabs, who settled in these parts already in the 7th century. Back in the 13th century, the Dominican monk Burkhardt of Zion wrote about the worship of Muslims at the grave of righteous Lazarus.
Resurrection of Lazarus. Giotto. 1304-1306
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 prototype 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, will come to life " (John 11:25).
And one person was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, from the village of Mary and Martha, her sister. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. The sisters sent to say to Him: Lord, here is the one you love is sick. Hearing this, Jesus said: This disease is not for death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through her. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. And when he heard that Lazarus was sick, then He remained for two days in the place where he was. Then, after that, He says to the disciples: we go back to Judea. The disciples say to Him: Rabbi, have the Jews just searched to stone You, and are You going there again? Jesus answered: Is it not twelve hours in the day? He who walks during the day does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. And whoever walks at night stumbles, because there is no light in him. And He said this, and said to them afterwards: Lazarus our friend is asleep; but I'm going to wake him up. The disciples said to him: Lord, if he falls asleep, he will be saved. But Jesus said about his death, and they thought that He was talking about a simple dream. Then Jesus said directly to them: Lazarus is dead. And I rejoice for you that I was not there for you to believe. But let's go to him. Then Thomas, called Gemini, said to the other disciples: we also go to die with Him. When Jesus arrived, he found that he had been in the tomb for four days. And there was Bethany near Jerusalem, about fifteen miles away. And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them in their grief over their brother. Martha, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went out to meet Him; Maria was sitting in her house. Then Martha said to Jesus: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask God, God will give You.
Jesus says to her: Your brother will rise again. Martha says to Him: I know that he will rise again on the resurrection, on the last day. Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will live; and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? She says to Him: Yes, Lord, I have believed and believe that You are Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world. And having said this, she went and called Mary, her sister, saying in secret: The Teacher is here and is calling you. But when she heard, she got up hastily and went to Him. Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house and comforted her, seeing how Mary hastily got up and went out, followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to cry there. And Mary, when she came to where Jesus was, seeing Him, fell at His feet and said to Him: Lord, if you were here, my brother would not have died. Jesus, when he saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, was troubled in spirit and became agitated and said: where did you put him? They say to Him: Lord, go and see. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said: this is how He loved him. And some of them said: Could He, who opened the eyes of the blind, have done so that this one would not die? Jesus, again indignant in Himself, comes to the tomb: it was a cave, and the stone covered it. Jesus says: take the stone. The sister of the deceased, Martha, says to him: Lord, it already stinks: after all, he is four days old. Jesus said to her: Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? Then they took the stone. Jesus raised his eyes upward and said: Father, I thank you that you heard me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I said for the sake of the people standing around, so that they would believe that You sent Me. And having said this, he called with a loud voice: Lazarus, come out. And the dead man came out, bound hand and foot with funeral straps, and his face was wrapped in a handkerchief. Jesus says to them: Untie him and let him go. Then many of the Jews, who came to Mary and saw what He had done, believed in Him. (John 11: 1-45)
Not far from Jerusalem, behind the Mount of Olives, is the Arab settlement of Al-Lazaria. At the beginning of the 20th century, two Scottish women who converted to Orthodoxy and monasticism with names - Martha and Mary, organized a monastic community here, which is still engaged in social service - educating and educating Arab girls. Once this place was called "Bethany", here lived the Gospel Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, in whose house the Lord often visited. The evangelist says amazing words about Lazarus and his sisters: “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (John 11: 5). God loves man, each person personally, so that by responding to the love of God, man can become a friend of God. And once, when the Lord was with his disciples at Jordan, Lazarus' sister sent him a message: “Lord! behold, the one you love is sick ”(John 11.3).
But the Lord does not go right away, He waits for two days, and then says: "Our friend Lazarus fell asleep, but I am going to wake him up." Pupils believe: "If you fall asleep, then it will recover." And then the Lord reveals to them that Lazarus has already died, "but let's go to him." But not long ago they wanted to stone the Lord in Jerusalem. And one of the twelve, Thomas says, “Let us go and die with Him” (John 11:16). And so they go to the already dead, their teachers want to kill, and they are ready to die with Him.
When the Lord with his disciples enters Bethany, He is met by the sister of the deceased, Martha, and the Lord promises that her brother will be resurrected. Subsequently, a Byzantine monastery was created on this site, and now there is a female monastic community and quite recently on its territory, during the construction of a playground, a 5th century marble slab was found with an inscription in Greek: “Here Martha and Mary first heard from the Lord the word about resurrection ". And although the Old Testament only spoke in secret about the future restoration of man, what Martha answered then testifies that the belief in the resurrection of bodies was already generally accepted at that time: “I know,” she says, “that he will rise on the resurrection, at the last day ”(John 11:24).
But the Lord Himself is Life and Resurrection, and therefore He says: “He who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? " “So, Lord” - Martha answers - “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world” (John 11:27). The Lord weeps over the deceased Lazarus, weeps over the fate of a person who submitted to death.
Death is unnatural for man; for man was not created in order to die, but in order to inherit eternal life through communion with God. But when the first man, having sinned, fell away from God - the Source of Life, then death and its forerunners - sickness and suffering - entered the world.
And the Son of God comes into this world that has turned away from God, He is incarnate and takes upon Himself all the limitations of our existence. And, being Life Itself, He will accept death in order to be the Lord of both life and death: “For to this, Christ died, and rose, and came to life, to have dominion over the dead and over the living” (Rom. 14.9).
But even before His death on the Cross, the Master of the World resurrects Lazarus with His command: “Lazarus! go out ”(John 11:43). And the person who was in the tomb for four days comes back to life.
And since through this miracle many believed in the Lord, the council of the high priests and Pharisees finally decided to destroy Him: "This Man does many miracles, and if you leave Him like that, then everyone will believe in Him." Everyone will believe that Jesus is the Christ. And Christ is the King, and then, the council of elders believes, "the Romans will come, under whose rule Judah is, and they will take over both our place and our people."
This will happen in the 70s of the 1st century: the Romans will come and kill the people, and destroy Jerusalem, and burn the temple, but not because everyone will believe, but because they did not believe, because, as the Lord said, Jerusalem is not he knew the time of "visiting his own" (Luke 19:44), did not know that he was serving his world.
In the meantime, a certain Caiaphas involuntarily pronounces a prophecy: "It is better for us that one person should die for the people, than that the whole nation should perish." The apostle clarifies: "But he did not say this on his own behalf, but, being the high priest that year, foretold that Jesus would die for the people." And the Evangelist adds: “not only for the people, but so that he may gather together the children of God who are scattered abroad” (John 11: 49,52). To gather into the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, to gather, so that everyone who believes in the Son of God Jesus Christ has eternal life. And as the Lord is Risen, so will we be resurrected, and, therefore, death is nothing more than a dream, because if we are united with the Lord in the Church and Her Sacraments, then we already have the guarantee of eternal life.
“Everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him has an eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day,” says the Lord (John 6:40).
Before the Lord called Lazarus to life, his body had already undergone decay. So it will be during the general resurrection of the dead, when a person is restored in all his fullness, when souls unite with their bodies turned into dust, when, according to the apostolic word, “the dead will rise incorruptible” (1 Cor. 15:52), when “the mortal is clothed into the immortal ”, when the Old Testament prophecy will finally triumph:“ death is swallowed up in victory ”(Isa. 25: 8). The victory that the Lord won by His Resurrection. And this victory will become the final property of man in the universal Resurrection of the dead on the last day of this world, the Resurrection, the hope for which each of us professes in the Creed as follows: “I tea the resurrection of the dead and the life of the century to come. Amen".
In Bethany, there was someone named Lazarus, whom Jesus Christ loved, and he had two sisters: one was called Martha, the other Mary. They were simple people, hospitable, cordial, kind. Because of their simplicity and childlike faith, the Savior often visited their homes. This Wanderer, who did not have where to bow his head, found Himself here a refuge and rest from His labors. And now, like a whirlwind, like a storm, misfortune suddenly flew into this pious house: Lazarus fell ill with a grave, fierce illness.
He fell ill ... And a little later he died and was buried, bitterly mourned by his sisters and all his relatives. The grief of the Lazarev sisters was even more bitter because at that time their sweet Comforter, their merciful Teacher was not with them, but He was then on the other side of the Jordan, doing great miracles there: giving the blind insight, walking the lame, raising the dead, as if stirring up from sleep, and from all diseases with a single word healing, giving health to everyone ...
Jesus Christ foresaw with His Deity that Lazarus, His friend, died and said to the Apostles: "Behold, our friend Lazarus, die." He said and went with them to Bethany. As they approached Bethany, Martha and Mary met them on the way; sorrowful, they came to Jesus, fell with tears on His most pure feet and exclaimed in sorrow: "O Lord, if you had been with us, Lazarus, our brother, would you not have died then?" The good Lord answered them: "If you believe, the packi will live." But they, from the deep sorrow of this consolation, as if not hearing, with a great cry and cry, said to Him: "Lord, Lord, our brother Lazarus, four days already lies in the grave and stinks!" Then the Creator Lord, as if not knowing where the deceased was buried, asked them: "Show Me the place where they laid him." And with a multitude of many people they went down with Him to the sepulcher, and the place where the deceased was buried was shown to Him. When Jesus Christ approached the grave, he ordered to roll away from it the heavy stone lying on it.
They took a stone from the coffin, and a kind of sacred trembling suddenly ran over everyone; everything was somehow silent around. It was quiet, it was quiet; some kind of reverence seized everyone: our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, looked at heaven at that time - to where His Father dwells. I watched and prayed ... Oh, this prayer - like a hot flame it blazed and as if on the wings of swift eagles it rushed to heaven! Christ prayed, and tears, drop by drop, as if drops of graceful dew, flowed from His most pure eyes.
The Savior prayed, and finished the prayer with praise to His Father: “Father, I give praise to You that You heard Me, but I vedeh, as if you always listen to Me, but, for the sake of the standing, dekh, yes they have faith, as You are My ambassador and glorify the name Yours is holy! " And having said this, with a great voice he cried out: "Lazarus, come out!" From the thunder of this voice the rivets of hell were ripped open, all hell groaned from its illness. He groaned, and, groaning, he opened his gates - and Lazarus, who had died, went out from there. Like a lion from a den, he went out of the grave; or, it would be better to say, just as an eagle flies out of the abyss, it flew out of the bonds of hell. And he stood, twined with a cover, before the Lord Jesus Christ, worshiped Him as the Son of God, glorified Him, who gave him life.
Then Lazarus took his burial shroud, as the Lord had commanded, and went after Christ. On the way, many people followed Jesus and Lazarus, escorting Him to the very court of Lazarev. With all his heart and with all his soul, Lazarus rejoiced and rejoiced when he saw the house in which he lived with his sisters. Rejoiced and rejoiced with him and all his relatives. And, having made a prayer to God, Lazarus entered with the sisters into his house. The Lord Jesus Christ also entered there, staying with Lazarus for two days. Oh, welcome Guest, sweet Jesus! What joy from communication with such a Guest Lazarus and his sisters experienced in their hearts! Truly inexpressible, unspeakable was this joy.
Only the bishops and the scribes of the Jews did not rejoice: the devilish envy devoured their souls. Moved by the devil, they raged against Christ and Lazarus: they gathered their unrighteous council and decided to kill both of them. But Jesus, having seen this Jewish advice in His Divinity, left Bethany, for His hour had not yet come. And Lazarus, with the blessing of the Lord, fled to the island of Cyprus. On this island, he was subsequently made bishop by the apostles. They say that after his resurrection, until his death, Lazarus, whatever food he ate, he ate it with honey, and without honey he could no longer eat any food. So he did out of the grief of hell, in which his soul dwelt, before the Lord the Savior called him out of the grave. So in order not to remember this hellish sorrow, in order to drown out the feeling, the experience of this sorrow in his soul, Lazarus ate only one sweet, honey.
Oh, beloved, how bitter is this hellish bitterness, how terrible it is! Let us be afraid lest we test her for our sins. Lazarus could not escape the grief of hell, for Jesus Christ had not yet suffered, had not resurrected, and had not ascended to heaven. Therefore, all who died before Christ inevitably were involved in this hellish sorrow. But Christ consumed this sorrow with His honest Blood, and we who believe in Him, if we live according to His commandments, may not even recognize this sorrow. Let us strive, beloved, to achieve this!
They also say about Lazarus that the omophorion he wore was made and embroidered by our Most Holy Theotokos, the Mother of God, herself, and she presented it to Lazarus. He is a gift of this priceless reception honestly from our Lady Theotokos, with warm affection to the ground bowed to Her, kissed Her nose and thanked God ...
After his resurrection, having lived well and piously for another thirty years, Lazar Paki reposed in peace, departed to the Kingdom of Heaven. His holy body, the wise king Leo, according to some divine phenomenon, transferred from the island of Cyprus to Constantinople and in the holy temple, created in the name of Lazarus, laid it honestly in a silver shrine. This cancer gave off a great and ineffable fragrance and aroma and gave healing to all ailments of people who with faith flowed to the tomb of God's holy friend Lazarus.
