Christ Raising Lazarus

Larnaca, ancient Kition. The home of the Stoic philosopher Zeno, has one of the most beautiful and oldest churches in Cyprus: the Church of Saint Lazarus, the friend of Christ. It was built on the very sepulcher of the Saint, who, according to tradition, was the first Bishop of Kition. For some relative information's, let us go back into the past. A few days prior to the Passion Week,

Christ is going to Jerusalem to give Himself up as a sacrifice "for the life of the world" (John 6:51). Three kilometers on the east of Jerusalem, the holy City, for the last time. Many times He had walked along the streets of these small village because a home was there awaiting Him; the home of Lazarus. According to St. John the Evangelist, "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus."

Relics of St. Lazarus,
Larnaca, Cyprus

But this last visit that Christ paid to Lazarus home was not an ordinary one. The two sisters had informed Christ that their sick brother was dying: "Lord, behold; he whom thou lovest is sick". And the Lord declares that, "this sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God", is delayed two days and then He sets out for Bethany where He arrives four days after Lazarus' burial. Jesus "groaned in the spirit" and "wept"; then He stood before the tomb and - being the master of life and death - He restored Lazarus to life, despite the fact that "he had been dead four days" and was already stinking (John 11:1-44).

Later, Lazarus was compelled to seek refuge in Kition, Cyprus, to avoid the anger of the high priests and the pharisees, who wanted to kill him: Really, "the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus" (John 12:1011). Probably, Lazarus left his country when many Christians of Judea "which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch..." (Acts 11:19).

Christ wept for Lazarus because He loved him and his family very much; this was, a great privilege for him. At the same time, Larnaca was also privileged to become Lazarus's native town, a second Bethany. Here he was met by the Apostles Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journey to Cyprus and according to tradition, he was ordained by them as the first Bishop of Kition. That's why all the episcopal thrones in the churches of Larnaca bear the icon of St. Lazarus instead of that of Christ, as it is the custom in the Orthodox Church. Here he lived thirty more years, and here he was buried for the second and last time. On his tomb Leo VI the Wise, Emperor of Byzantium, erected, 1100 years ago, the magnificent church, in Byzantine style, we see today.

Saint Lazarus' stay in Larnaca is connected with various tradition. According to one of these, during the thirty years he lived after his resurrection, he never smiled except on one occasion, when he saw someone stealing a pot, when he smilingly said: "the clay steals the clay." He was worried at the sight of the unredeemed souls he had seen during his four day stay in Hades (the redeeming sacrifice of Christ on the cross has not yet taken place nor had his resurrection, which saved man from sin and eternal condemnation).

Another tradition deals with the Saline's (salt lakes) situated in the outskirts of Larnaca. According to this, the Saline's were formerly an immense vineyard. One day the Saint chanced to pass by, and being thirsty, asked the owner for some grapes to quench his thirst, but he refused to offer him any; and when the Saint pointed to a basket which seemed to be full of grapes, he replied that it contained salt. Then the Saint, to punish the wickedness and hypocrisy of those men, turned miraculously the immense vineyard into a salt lake.

Finally, it's worth while to mention also another tradition, about our Lady's and Ever-Virgin Mary coming to Cyprus, to visit St. Lazarus. According to this tradition, Lazarus was very grieved because he could no longer see the Mother of our Lord his friend; for this reason he sent a ship to the Holy Land, to bring Her as well as St. John the apostle and other disciples, to Cyprus. But while the ship with our Lady and Her companions was sailing towards Kition, a great storm in the sea curried them far away, in the Aegean Sea, on the shores of Mt. Athos, in Greece.

From there, our Lady, after converting the idolaters into Christianity and seeking Her Son's blessings and protection for all those who, in the future, were to "fight the good fight of faith" (as monks and ascetics) on the mountain, She sailed back to Cyprus. Finally, She arrived at Kition where She met Lazarus, to whom She brought, as a present, a bishop's pallium, woven in Her own hands. Having blessed the local Church of Kition, She returned to the Holy Land.

In old times the following custom existed in Larnaca: on St. Lazarus day, which is on Saturday, on the eve of Palm Sunday, various children, holding branches of palters and headed by a boy representing Lazarus, been decorated with red poppies and yellow wild daisies bearing in Cyprus the name of "Lazarus", went round the houses of the parish, where the priests, on one hand, chanted hymns about the raising of the Saint, and the children, on the other hand, sang the "son of Lazarus" (popular song in various versions). On the same day, in the year of the church, in the presence of all the parishioners, took place a representation of the raising of Lazarus. Both the priests and the children participated in the ceremony. These two customs do not exist any longer.

The Church of St. Lazarus in Larnaca has been known to the Christian world since the old times; until the early years of this century it was considered an indispensable supplement to the pilgrimage of the Holy Land.

Besides this, many illness were healed and other miracles were performed here owing to the Saint's grace, as Pietro Della Valle, a Roman nobleman and traveler who visited Larnaca in 1614-1626 informs us: When he had expressed his doubts concerning St. Lazarus' coming to Cyprus, he was given the answer that "this truth is proved by the miracles which the Saint works in his - church daily" (Exerpta Cypria). Its importance, as a great pilgrimage, has been strengthened after the discovery of part of the sacred relics of the Saint in a marble sarcophagus under the altar (This occurred on the 2nd of November 1972, during renovation works in the Church).

As it is known, the holy relics of the Saint were first discovered in 890 A.D. in his tomb in the small church that existed at that time. These were found in a marble sarcophagus on which were inscribed the following: "Lazarus, the foundry dead and friend of Christ". The then Emperor of Byzantium, Leo VI the

Wise, according to the prevailing custom, carried the holy relics to Constantinople, the capital of the empire, and in exchange, he sent money and technicians to build the church we see today. We cannot admit that people of Kition gave all the sacred relics without keeping even small part for their own town. The fact that only a small part of the relics were not discovered and not all of them, is good proof of their authenticity.

On the east side of the marble sarcophagus which exists today beneath the altar, in which the few remains of the sacred relics were found, one can see the inscription in Greek capital letters, of the word "FILIOU" that is "friend" in genitive case. Most likely this sarcophagus had replaced the original one, if we accept that this was transferred with the main part of the relics to Constantinople.

The event of the transport of the holy relics from Kition to Constantinople was immortalized by Arethas, bishop of Caesarea, in two of his famous speeches, made on the occasion. In the first speech he praises the arrival of the sacred relics from Kition to Constantinople, and in the second one he describes in detail the procession which the emperor formed to carry the relics from Chrysoupolis to the great cathedral of Saint Sophia. Leo, besides the church he had built at Kition after the Saint's name, he also built a second one in Constantinople in honor of the Saint.

After the capture of Constantinople by the Franks in 1204, the Crusaders, besides the other treasures they carried to the West, they also carried the Saint's holy relics to Marseilles, from where, later on, they disappeared and up to the present day they have not been traced.

This famous ancient Church of St. Lazarus erected, as it has already been mentioned, on his sepulcher, is the most precious monument of which Lamaca is proud. Who can enter it and not be moved! An air of grandeur, emanating from early Christianity, a "doric" grandeur which impresses you, characterizes it. Its famous iconostasis, an excellent example of woodcarving, looks like an immense embroidery in gold thread. Innumerable figures of Saints adorn it: beautiful figures, "mystic", filled with "the peace of God that surpasses every mind", holy figures which, during the morning and evening services, seem to bring heaven down to earth. The beautiful iconostasis looks really like a celestial firmament, and its icons like "illuminating stars", a true picture of "an assemble of the firstborn which are written in heaven" (Hebrews 12:13), a picture that reminds us so vividly of the world beyond.

From the architectural point of view, the style of the church of St. Lazarus is tliat of the "domed" churches of Cyprus. It was built, as already mentioned, latter in the 9th century (about 890 A.D.) by Leo Vi the Wise, emperor of Byzantium. It is all built of stone with three aisles and three domes in a row over the middle aisle.

Most likely, the church was originally five domed with a relative extension to the north and south side. Its three domes are today cut off from their basis; according to tradition, these were pulled down during the Turkish occupation of the Island, when a Turkish officer of higher rank ordered their demolition, because, on entering the port of Larnaca, he kneeled and prayed seeing them, considering them to be the domes of a mosque. According to another version, these domes were destroyed by the Turks during the Greek War of Independence in 1821, as a retaliatory measure.

Around 1750 there was erected the arcade which we see on the south side of the church. In 1857 the present campanile was built. Until then, the church had not a stone belfry and the bells was fastened on wooden pillars on a pedestal. It is known that since the occupation of Cyprus by the Turks in 1571 until the middle of the 18th century, all belfries were banned by the conquerors as well as the use of bells in Christian churches.

The ban was lifted in 1858 after a demand logged by the Christian Orthodox Russia, but even then, the use of bells was allowed only obtaining a permit from the Vizier. In Nicosia, only 1958 a single bell was allowed to be put up in the Phaneromeni church. The church of St. Lazarus in Larnaca however, had belts long before 1856 and the Turks tolerated this, owing to the fact that the people of Larnaca had freer movements because of the existence of the foreign Consulates and of a large European colony in their town.

But long before, during the Frankish period (1192-1570), the church ought to have had an old belfry equally imposing, as it can be seen in old plans of the town of Larnaca published in Europe by travelers of the past centuries, in which the church of St. Lazarus figures with its domes intact and with a very high belfry (Vide for ex., Ol. Drapper, "Naukeurige", Amstrerdam 1688). This must have been pulled down later by the Turks. As the Byzantine did not use to build high belfries, we suppose that this had been built during the Frankish occupation according to the Italian style of high belfries.

The windows of the church were formerly, by far smaller and narrower than those of today, and let little light get into the church, according to the requirements of the Byzantine church architecture [Vide Impressions of Seigneur de Villamont, a foreign traveler of 1589, in "Excerpta Cyrpia"].

Generally speaking, the architecture of the church, which is rare old style, seems to have impressed the foreign travelers, as we see in their published impressions: Alexander Drummond, for example, an English Consul at Aleppo, Syria, who visited Cyprus in 1745, writes the following: "In the town of the Salines [as Larnaca was then known to the Europeans] there is a church dedicated to St. Lazarus; its architecture is such that I have never seen before". Also, the person mentioned before, Pietro Della Valle {1614-1626}, describes the church as "an old one, built in a very beautiful architectural style" ["Excerpta Cypria"].

The iconstasis, is of exceptional art and is considered as one of the finest examples of wood carving in Cyprus. This one, as well as that of Tripiotis church at Nicosra. Its construction began in 1773 and was completed in 1782. A short time later, in 1793-1797, it was covered with gold, whereas the icons' paintings on it were completed by the painter Hadji-Michael and his apprentices or associates.

The iconostasis is adorned with 120 icons of wonderful craftsmanship; 13 big ones in the lower row and 60 smaller ones in the two upper rows (30 icons in each); 25 at the doors to the Sanctuary and 4 in the near the Crucifix at the top with a symbolic representation of the "pelican" at the base of the cross. The rest are small cyclical icons, 16 half the height of the iconstasis and 2 at the top.

The holy altar is a masterpiece of wood carving (a product of 1773), as well as the bishop's throne with the icon of St. Lazarus, dating 1734.

In the church, the following precious old byzantine icons are kept, belonging, most likely, to an earlier iconstasis. One, is that of St. Lazarus as a bishop bearing a multi-cross chasuble; another, of Byzantine popular art, is that of raising of Lazarus; four other big icons placed on wood-carved stands that adorn the four piers of the central dome, are: a russian icon of the Virgin covered with silver gilt, another of raising of Lazarus, one of St. Nicholas, and one of St. George with scenes from his life, dating 1717, a work of Iakovos Moscos, the Cretan.

It seems that in former times the inside of the church was covered with frescos because, until the last century some frescos could be traced on the piers of the central dome. These frescos must have been destroyed probably by the abundant humidity in the vicinity of Larnaca and especially of the Scala quarter, where the altimeter is slightly higher than that of the sea. [Until the middle of the last century the land southwest of the church, as from as the Salt lake, formed an immense marshy place known as the "Lakes of St. Lazarus".]

In very old times when the Scala area [St. Lazarus quarter] was till uninhabited and the town confined to old Larnaca, St. Lazarus Church, lonely as it was, functioned as a monastery. During the Frankish occupation it was converted by the Franks into a Benedictine (Roman Catholic) monastery, while for a short time it came under Armenian Roman Catholics.

When the Turks conquered Cyprus in 1570 they occupied the Church, as they had done with all the church's processed by the Latin's, until 189 when the Church was given back to the Orthodox Christians for 3000 coins. At the same time, the Roman Catholics were allowed to have religious services twice a years, on St. Lazarus' day and on St. Mary Magdalene's day, in the small chapel adjoining the sanctuary in the north aisle of the Church. This privilege was revoked in 1784 owing the efforts of Archbishop Chrysanthos [1767-1810] and the bishop of Kition Meteios A' [1776-1790], because the Roman Catholic Church, quoting their privilege, laid claims of joint ownership to the Church. At the north entrance to the Church, there still exists the five cross emblem of the Latin's, and in the north aisle, in the small chapel adjoining the sanctuary, the small Roman Catholic altar is still preserved as evidence of the Roman Catholics' presence in the previous years.

Early in the 18th century, when the Scala area was growing into a second town near the old town of Larnaca, the Church of St. Lazarus was made the parish Church of the whole new town of Scala. Until the middle of the 19th century, it was known as a quot;Monastery" [as the relevant documents of the period testify], despite the fact that long before it had ceased to be such. The rooms and cells all round, the monastic ritual preserved, the many divine services, and the numerous Church staff it had, still gave it the aspect of a monastery. The divine services in this Church were always conducted with a certain dignity and magnificence.

The rooms adjoining the Church, were formerly about twenty in number, and were used in the past centuries as hostels were travelers, pilgrims and traders stayed. On the north-west side of the yard, there is situated a small Protestant cemetery, with beautiful marble carved graves, where European merchants, sailors, English Consuls and American missionaries were buried.