Augustine Sokolovski
In the Orthodox Church, Saint Lazarus the Righteous, Lazarus of Bethany as he is called in the Gospel of John, is commemorated on two days. These are Lazarus Saturday, a movable feast associated with Easter, always falling on the eve of the Lord’s Entry into Jerusalem, and October 30 (October 17), when in 898 his relics were transferred from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Constantinople.
In ancient times, Larnaca was called Kition. Hence Lazarus’s third name—“Lazarus of Kition.” Since a portion of the relics of the Friend of God—as the Orthodox Church refers to and invokes Lazarus in its liturgy—has been preserved in the Basilica of Larnaca, he has become a patron saint who shapes the culture of both the city and the entire island of Cyprus.
On Lazarus Saturday, on the very evening of the feast day, a procession with the relics of Saint Lazarus takes place from the basilica throughout the city. This is a special blessing for the entire city and the world. To participate in it personally is an exceptional grace.
There is a view that Lazarus himself was the author, or at least one of the authors, of the Gospel of John. He is an exceptional witness to the Jesus’ extraordinary deeds, some of which have been preserved by no other sacred writer or even evangelist. Hence the extraordinary hatred that, according to the Gospel of John, the enemies of Jesus felt toward the Friend of God.
After the Resurrection, Lazarus, together with his sisters Martha and Mary, took part in the Gallic apostolic mission, preaching the Gospel in the south of modern-day France. He spent the last part of his life in Larnaca, where, as Bishop of Kition, he led the local Christian community. He passed into eternity—that is, he departed to be with his Friend Jesus in the Kingdom of Heaven—around the year 63. Saint Lazarus, Friend of God, pray to God for us!