Lazarus Saturday
Categories: hymns, feast-days
Date: 07 April 2012 09:18:59
I believe, though may be wrong , that for us Eastern Orthodox as Great Lent finished yesterday at sunset and Holy Week starts on Palm Sunday (Saturday evening actually as as per Genesis' "evening and morning, the first/second/etc day" the Orthodox Church's liturgical day begins at sunset), so Lazarus Saturday forms a sort of bridge between Great Lent and Holy Week.
Today we commemorate Lazarus, whom Christ raised from the dead, a foretaste of Christ's own Resurrection and a reminder to us of Christ's two natures: fully God as He alone has the power to raise the dead; and fully Man as he wept in grief at the death of Lazarus. St Andrew of Crete, who wrote The Great Canon of Repentance I quoted from a few posts back, also wrote the Canon of Lazarus which I missed this year due to illness and last year due to my unhealthy obsession with working as much as I could. Thanks be to God for the Internet so I could find a copy and read it; below are some quotes from it. In it we also get some wonderful verses of the breaking the bars of Hades, a theme which is further developed in early Church writings and Orthodox hymnography on Great and Holy Saturday, the day where Christ laid in the grave and entered Hades and took death captive by His death.
Calling Lazarus by name, you have broken the bars of Hades in pieces, and shaken the power of the enemy; and before Your Crucifixion You have made him tremble because of You, O only Saviour. The same stone which the builders rejected, has become the cornerstone; this is the rock on which Christ has established the Church, which He has redeemed from among the nations. Shedding tears for Your friend, O Saviour, You have shown the reality of Your Incarnation: the flesh that You have taken from us was united to You in essence, not in appearance only; and, since You are a God Who loves mankind, You have immediately called him and raised him up. You have made the tears of Martha and Mary to cease, Christ our God, by calling Lazarus; through Your own authority You have raised him with Your voice, and he worshipped You. Hades, that had received so many, was unable to resist Your sovereign command, Jesus, but trembling it surrendered Lazarus, four days dead, yet brought to life by Your voice. Joining dust to spirit, Word, in the beginning You have breathed into the clay a living soul by Your word; and now by Your word You have raised up Your friend from corruption and from the depths of the earth. You have broken open the all-devouring belly of Hades and snatched me out, Saviour, by Your power; and You have raised me from the dead by Your command. Saviour who loves mankind, You have wept over the dead, and in this way you show to all the peoples that, being God, You have become man for our sakes, and, shedding tears by Your own choice, You have given us proof of Your heartfelt love. "I implore you, Lazarus," said Hades, "rise up, depart quickly from my bonds, and be gone; it is better for me to lament bitterly for the loss of one, rather than of all those whom I swallowed in my hunger." Let Bethany sing with us in praise of the miracle, for there the Creator wept for Lazarus in accordance with the law of nature and the flesh; then, making Martha's tears to cease and changing Mary's grief to joy, Christ raised him from the dead.