The history of his Church at Larnaca
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 informations, let us go back into the past.
St. Lazarus (Eleazar in Hebrew) was a Jew from Bethany, a small town about 3 kilometers east of Jerusalem. He is Known as “the friend of Christ” who, after being dead for four days in the tomb, was raised by Jesus (John 11,11). The Bible, indicating the friendly relations of the Lord with the whole family, says: “Jesus loved Martha and her sister [Mary] and [their brother] Lazarus” (John 11,5).
Several times Christ had enjoyed their hospitality. At one time, during His last journey from Galilee to Jerusalem where He was going in order to be crucified “ for the life of the world ” (John 6,51), and while yet being far away, the two sisters informed Him that their brother, being seriously ill, was dying: “Lord, the one you love is sick”. And the Lord who declared that “this sickness will not end in death”, but was “for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it”, delayed His departure for two days and then continued to Bethany where He arrived four days after the burial of Lazarus. “Deeply moved in spirit”, He stood in front of the tomb and – being the Master of life and death – He raised Him, although “he had been there four days” and “ there was a bad odour” (John 11, 1-44).
Later, Lazarus was forced to seek refuge in Kition of Cyprus, escaping from the plot of the chief priests and the pharissees who sought to kill him: “So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him, many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in Him” (John 12, 10-11).
Most possibly, the time of his escape is considered to be the year 33 a.C. and, more precisely, the period of the persecution which burst out after the stoning of Stephen, when many Christians of Judea “been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen, travelled as far as Phoenicia, CYPRUS and Antioh”(Acts 11.19).
According to the tradition of the Church, Lazarus was thirty years old at 33 a.C. when Christ raised him from the dead. And he lived another thirty years in Kition of Cyprus, and died in about 63 a.C., at the age of sixty. The Apostles Paul and Barnabas faund him here when they came to Cyprus at 45 a.C. and consecrated him as the first bishop of Kition. According to this, he had been the shepherd of the christian flock of this town for 18 years (45-63a.C.). After that, he died for the second time and was buried in the place where his Byzantine church stands to-day. (See St. Epiphanios of Constantia Cyprus, “Contra heresies”; see also in the Lenten Triodion of the Orthodox Church, the synaxare of the saint’s name-day).
We don’t know any details of his life as a bishop of Kition, because written records of that time did not exist or have not been preserved . However, his work, as well as that of his fellow-bishops of the first century Cyprus, could not have been easy, due to the strength of the two rival powers: idolatry on the one hand which, due to the worship of Aphrodite, was very popular in Cyprus ; and the fanaticism of the numerous Jewish community of Cyprus on the other hand. The Church of Cyprus had to fight hardly for a long time in order to predominate.
Saint Lazarus’ stay in Larnaca is connected with various traditions. 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 had not yet taken place nor had his resurrection, which saved man from sin and eternal condemnation).
Another tradition deals with the Salines (salt-lakes) situated in the outskirts of Larnaca. According to this, the Salines 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 desciples, to Cyprus. But while the ship with our Lady and Her companions was sailing towards Kition, a great storm in the sea carried them far away, in the Aegean Sea, on the shores of Mt. Athos, in Greece. From there, our Lady, after converting the idolaters to 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 that 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 by Her own hands. Having blessed the local Church of Kition, She returned to the Holy Land.
The tradition about the coming of Lazarus in Cyprus and his consecration as a bishop of Kition is widely spread throughout the Orthodox world, including distant Russia. (In fact, in the monastery of Pskov, in Russia, a church is dedicated to “St. Lazarus, bishop of Kition”).
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