Righteous
Righteous Lazarus Of Bethany
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Righteous Lazarus of the Four Days — Christ's friend, brother of Martha and Mary, raised by the Lord on the fourth day after burial (John 11) — the greatest of the Gospel miracles, foreshadowing the general resurrection of the dead; according to tradition, having lived another 30 years afterward, he became the first Bishop of Kition on Cyprus, where he died a second time and was buried; his relics were uncovered in 890 and translated to Constantinople.
Righteous Lazarus of the Four Days was a resident of Bethany near Jerusalem, brother of Martha and Mary, a close friend of Jesus Christ. He fell ill and died; Christ, coming to his tomb four days after burial, raised him with the words "Lazarus, come forth" (John 11:1-44) — one of the greatest and best-known miracles of the Savior, becoming a prefiguration and foreshadowing of His own Resurrection and the general resurrection of all the dead.
According to Church tradition, after being raised Lazarus lived another 30 years or so. Fleeing persecution by the Jews, he sailed to Cyprus, where the Apostles Paul and Barnabas (according to Greek tradition, Barnabas personally) ordained him bishop of the city of Kition (modern Larnaca), of which he became the first bishop c. 45 AD. According to tradition, he received from the Theotokos Herself an epitrachelion woven by Her own hands. He died on Cyprus a second, final death; he was buried in a marble tomb inscribed "Lazarus, four-days-dead friend of Christ."
In 890 (according to other sources, 898) his relics were uncovered at Kition under the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise and translated to Constantinople, to a specially built church; in exchange the emperor sent Cyprus a replica reliquary, which is why the present Church of Righteous Lazarus in Larnaca, built over the original tomb, is today without the primary relics.
His feast is kept on Lazarus Saturday (a movable feast, the Saturday before Palm Sunday, dedicated to the Gospel event of the resurrection) and on October 17/30 (translation of relics to Constantinople).
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: an error in the original stub has been corrected — "Sabbath of Akindynos" does not exist in any source as the name of this movable feast; the correct name is "Lazarus Saturday." The category "righteous" has been retained as the established liturgical tradition (Lazarus is venerated primarily as "of the Four Days," raised by Christ, rather than for his later episcopal ministry), consistent with the predominant usage in sources, despite his episcopal rank.