17/30 October: The translation of the holy relics of the Righteous Lazarus, the Four-Days Dead, the Bishop of Kition.
On this day, the Church commemorates the translation of the holy relics of Lazarus the friend of Christ, from Kition in Cyprus where he was a bishop to Constantinople, in the year 898.
The story of Lazarus is told in the Gospel of John, chapter 11, and needs no re-telling. According to tradition, following the Gospel events of Christ’s resurrection, Lazarus was forced to flee to Cyprus due to his notoriety - see John 12:10. Paul and Barnabas appointed Lazarus the bishop of Kition, and he served in this capacity for the next 30 years until his second and final death.
One of the fascinating details about his life in those 30 years, is that he never smiled. It is said that he was haunted by the memory of hell, where he spent the four days from his death to being resurrected by Christ. To use a modern term, Lazarus suffered from PTSD.
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