Lazarus Saturday (Lazareva Subota)

Saturday, 19 March – Lazarus Saturday (Lazareva Subota) The name Lazarus is derived from the Jebrew Eleazar meaning “God has helped” Celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church a day before Palm Sunday On the eve of Lazarus Sunday, 40 days of Great Lent are formally brought to an end at Vespers The day celebrates the raising of Rigtheous Lazarus of Bethany, as described in John 11:1-45 Lazarus was raised from the dead by Christ after he had lain in the grave for four days According to historical records Lazarus lived 30 years after the miracle and served as a bishop in Cyprus where he was buried. In the 9th century, his tomb was found with the inscription “Lazarus, a friend of Christ” – thus the feast has been also sometimes called a feast of friendship, a special love – it was the first recorded time whenJesus shed tears, weeping before the tomb of Lazarus Together with Palm Sunday, this is the day of joy and triumph between the penitence of Great Lent and the mourning of Holy Week. The Church bears witness to the power of Christ over death and exalts Him as King. Jesus said after hearing Lazarus’ illness, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” The miracle is performed by Christ as a reassurance to His diciples before the coming Passion The scripture readings and hymns for this day focus on the raising of Lazarus as a foreshadowing of the Resurrection of Christ The liturgy is the only time during the church year that the resurrectional service of Sunday is celebrated on another day On this day traditionally hermits would leave their retreats in the wilderness to return to the monastery for the Holy Week services In many places in the Russian Church the vestments and church hangings on this day and on Palm Sunday are green, denoting the renewal of life; in the Greek tradition the colour is gold In the Greek Church, it is customary to plait elaborate crosses out of palm leaves which will be used on Palm Sunday, and spice breads called Lazarakia are made and eaten on this day In Serbia, due to a lack of palm trees, willow branches are blessed and distributed to the faithful, and small bells are ofted tied to the branches In Cyprus and Greece, people chant and sing religious hymns In the past it used to be one of the common baptismal days, and children used to go door to door to sing special songs for the Lazarus resurrection, holding branches of palters and headed by a boy representing Lazarus, decorated with red poppies nad yellow wild daisies The reputed first tomb of Lazarus in the West Bank (believed to be the biblical Bethany) continues to be a place of pilgrimage to this day and several Christian churches have existed at the site at least since the 4th century; since 16th century the site has been occupied by al- Uzair Mosque. The adjacent Catholic church of St Lazarus was built between 1952 and 1955, and in 1965 a Greek Orthodox church was built just west of the tomb After the sacking of Constantinople by the Franks in 1204, the crusaders carried the saint’s relics to Marseilles, France, from there they disappeared and haven’t been found to this day In the 16th century, a Russian monk from the Monastery of Pskov visited St Lazarus’ tomb and took with him a small piece of the relics, reputedly leading to the erection of the St Lazarus chapel at the Pskov Monastery where it is kept today No celebration of St Lazarus is included on the General Roman Calendar but he is celebrated together with his sisters Mary and Martha of Bethany on July 29 In Cuba the celebration of San Lazaro on December 17 is a major festival, with a pilgrimage to a chapel housing an image of St Lazarus, one of Cuba’s most sacred icons The Raising of Lazarus — 15th century. Novgorod school.The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia The Lazarakia (“Little Lazaruses”) is a small sweet spice breads made by Greek Orthodox Christians on Lazarus Saturday Syriac Orthodox worshoppers taking part in a procession of Lazarus Saturday at the Church of Holy Sepulchre in the old city of Jerusalem Orthodox nuns processing from the Mount of Olives on Lazarus Saturday, holding palm fronds knotted into crosses in preparation of Palm Sunday’s procession By raising Lazarus from the dead before Your passion, You did confirm the universal Resurrection, O Christ God! Like the children with the palms of victory, We cry out to You, O Vanquisher of death; Hosanna in the Highest! Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord! *** Christ the Joy, the Truth and the Light of all, The Life of the World and the Resurrection Has appeared in His goodness to those on earth. He has become the Image of our Resurrection, Granting divine forgiveness to all! .

Load more