St. Lazarus of Bethany

St. Lazarus of Bethany was the brother of Martha and Mary and a beloved friend of Jesus, at whose home in Bethany, near Jerusalem, the Lord was often welcomed. When Lazarus fell sick and died, Jesus came four days later and, deeply moved, commanded the stone to be taken away and called him forth from the tomb with a loud voice, and the dead man came out still bound in his burial cloths — the greatest of the signs recorded in the Gospel of John, a foreshadowing of Christ's own Resurrection and of the resurrection promised to all who believe.

So striking was this miracle that many came to believe in Jesus, and the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death as well. Ancient tradition holds that Lazarus later became a bishop and shepherd of souls — some accounts placing him at Kition on Cyprus, others at Marseille in Gaul — laboring for the Gospel until his final falling asleep in the Lord. Honored in both East and West as a witness to Christ's power over death, he is commemorated on 17 December.