Saturday 27th April 2024
Lenten Fast: wine and oil allowed
Saturday of Holy and Righteous Lazarus
Today we commemorate:
Hieromartyr Simeon, the kinsman of the Lord (107). St. Eulogius the Hospitable, of Constantinople (6th C). St. Stephen, abbot of the Kievan Caves and bishop of Vladimir in Volhynia (1094). Burning of the relics of St. Sava I of Serbia by the Turks (1595).
British Isles and Ireland:
St. Asic, bishop of Elphin (490). Holy martyr Newlyna of Cornwall, (5th C). St. Enoder (Cynider) (6th C). St. Winewald, abbot of Beverley (751).
Hebrews 12:28-13:8; John 11:1-45
Readings in bold type are those appointed by the Typikon for use at the Liturgy
Hebrews 12:28-13:8
Since we are receiving an unshakable Kingdom, let us have the grace to serve God in an acceptable way with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Let love for the brothers and sisters continue. Do not neglect hospitality, for in this way some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those being held prisoner as if in prison with them, and those being maltreated as if it were your own body. Marriage is honourable in every way. Let the marriage-bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. With no inclination to be greedy, be content with things as they are, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor ever forsake you.’ And so we have the confidence to say, ‘The Lord is my helper and I shall not be afraid of what people do to me.’ Remember those who lead you, those who preached the word of God to you. Study the outcome of their way of life; imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and into the ages.
John 11:1-45
Someone was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who had anointed the Lord with oil and wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. And so the sisters sent to him saying, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ But when Jesus heard, he said, ‘This illness is not to death but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but even so, when he heard that he was ill he stayed where he was for two days. After that he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judaea again.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, only recently the Jews were trying to stone you. Are you going there again?’ Jesus replied, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daytime? If people walk in the daytime, they do not stumble because they see the light of this world; but if they walk at night, they stumble because they do not have the light.’ He said this and then told them, ‘Lazarus our friend has fallen asleep, but I am going to wake him.’ The disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep he will be saved.’ Jesus had spoken of his death but they thought that he had spoken of taking rest in sleep, and so Jesus then told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. I am glad for your sake that I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to the other disciples, ‘Yes, let us go so that we may die with him.’ When Jesus arrived he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany is near Jerusalem, about two miles away, and many Jews had joined those nearby to comfort Martha and Mary concerning their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was arriving she went to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died, but even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.’ Jesus told her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again at the resurrection on the Last Day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die, and all who live and believe in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She told him, ‘Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who is coming into the world.’ She said this and then went to call her sister Mary. She said to her privately, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling you.’ On hearing this, she set off quickly and went to him, for Jesus had not yet reached the village but was at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out, and they followed her, saying, ‘She is going to the tomb to weep there.’ When Mary came to where Jesus was, she saw him, fell at his feet, and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.’ And Jesus, seeing her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, groaned in spirit and was deeply moved. He asked, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept, and the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him.’ But some of them said, ‘Was he who opened the eyes of the blind man not able to act so that this man might not have died?’ Jesus, again groaning within himself, went to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone was placed against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the dead man’s sister, told him, ‘Lord, he smells already, for it has been four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’ And so they took the stone away from where the dead man had been laid, and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you always listen to me, but I am saying it because of the crowd standing around, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ After saying this he cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’ And he who had died came out, bound hand and foot with winding-sheets, and with a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Untie him and let him go.’ And when many of the Jews who had come to Mary saw what Jesus had done, they believed in him.