Saint Lazarus of Bethany

He was born around year 1 in Bethany. He died around the year 60. The exact place of his death could not be determined yet. Lazarus was the brother of Mary Magdalene and Martha, as well as a good friend of Jesus.

Saint Lazarus is the patron saint of butchers, gravediggers, beggars and lepers. His name means ‘God has helped’.

When Jesus learned that Lazarus had died, he wept over his death. He then made the four-day journey to Bethany where he raised Lazarus from the dead. He then attended the feast at Simon the Leper’s house, and many people came to see the saved man.

The resurrection of Lazarus from the dead was the culmination of Jesus’ acts of miraculous signs in John’s gospel and became the occasion for the decision to crucify, as well as to Hosianna on his entry into Jerusalem, and the basis of self-revelation: “I am the resurrection and the life”.

Lazarus as an individual is not interesting here, but as an example for all people whom Jesus loves. It is a powerful reminder that with God, nothing is impossible and that even in the face of death, hope always prevails.

A legend of the High Middle Ages made Lazarus the son of a duke, who renounced all vanity of the world. The Jews, together with his sisters and friends Maximin and Cedonius, gave him up to the wind and the waves on the sea on a ship without oars and sails. The ship therefore landed in Marseille, where Lazarus was elected bishop.