St. Lazarus

Saint Lazarus

The Order takes its name from the biblical Lazarus, a name which means "God has helped". There are actually two men of this name mentioned in the Bible, the first was the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany, and a friend of Jesus. This Lazarus of Bethany, who our Lord raised from the dead (St. John, Chapters 11 & 12) subsequently attended a banquet given by Simon the Leper. The second was a beggar who Jesus mentions in the parable of "The rich man and Lazarus" (Luke, chapter 16, verses 19 to 31). This beggar, "full of sores", was widely regarded to have been suffering from Leprosy - the disease then being endemic in the Holy Land. The stories were probably both taken into account when the monks of St. Basil originally came to take a name for their leper hospital, and it seems logical that they chose the name of Lazarus. The name eventually gave rise to the terms "lazar" for leper, and "Lazaretto" for Leprosarium, or Leper House. The Saint Lazarus hospital was founded by one of the great gates to the city of Jerusalem, and is still known today as the Saint Lazarus Gate.

Saints Martha and Mary, sisters of
St. Lazarus (centre), the friend of Jesus

St. Lazarus was born in Bethany, a small town near Jerusalem. Jesus knew his father Simon, and used to visit their home every time he was in the area, and He developed so a close friendship with Lazarus, who followed his teaching and ideals.

In contemporary Christian tradition, Lazarus is the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany who falls ill and dies, and whom Jesus raises from the dead. "And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth.' And he that was dead came forth..." (John 11-12.) Jesus was close to Lazarus: elsewhere in John, Jesus is told of Lazarus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill," and upon the discovery that Lazarus had been entombed in a cave for four days, "Jesus wept." In a letter written by Clement of Alexandria some 200 years AD, reference is made to the lost "Secret Gospel of Mark" which suggests Lazarus may have been secretly initiated into a mystery tradition by Jesus.

No mention is made in the New Testament of his activities after being brought back to life, but it is now believed that Lazarus and his sisters were set adrift by the Jews, with their small boat ending up in Cyprus, where he became bishop of Kition, or modern day Larnaca. Devotion to Lazarus was commonplace in the early Church

Lazarus is said to have died at the age of sixty and was buried in a sarcophagus at Kition. In 890 AD the emperor of Byzantium Leon VI Sophos transferred Lazarus' remains to Constantinople and in return he built a church at Larnaca devoted to St. Lazarus. The church survives to this date, and is a truly wonderful place to visit. See Saint Lazarus church for more details.