Lazarus Saturday and the Completion of Lent
| March 15, 2008 | ||
| 7:00 pm | to | 8:00 pm |
There will be a service at 7:00 PM on Lazarus Saturday to mark the completion of the season of Lent.
From Wikipedia:
Lazarus Saturday, in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches, is the day before Palm Sunday, and is liturgically linked to it. The feast celebrates the resurrection of Lazarus of Bethany, the narrative of which is found in John 11:1-45.
Lazarus Saturday is the day when, traditionally, hermits would leave their retreats in the wilderness to return to the monastery for the Holy Week services.
The ancientness of this commemoration is demonstrated by the homilies of St. John Chrysostom (349 – 407), Blessed Augustine (354 – 430), and others. In the 7th and 8th centuries, special hymns and canons for the feast were written by St. Andrew of Crete, St. Cosmas of Maium and St. John Damascene, which are still sung to this day.