San Lazaro de Manila - Manila's Comfort of the Sick

San Lazaro de Manila

In the modern part of Santa Cruz, Manila where the Department of Health is located, there is a shrine erected for the purpose of helping and comforting the sick people and ask for this saint's help to alleviate their pain - St. Lazarus of Bethany, one of Our Lord Jesus Christ's closest friends and the brother of the famed Holy Bethany siblings. For centuries, St. Lazarus was known to help the sick in the Asilo for the sick that his shrine, the only shrine dedicated to this Saint in the Philippines, is continuously flocked by pilgrims for centuries.

The image

The venerable image of San Lazaro is that of a typical male Santo image of a disciple in wearing the Hebreaic fashion of their time. What was unique to this image is that he holds a crutch since it is interesting to note that he was then known as Lazarus, the leper who was mentioned in one of Jesus' Parables yet this was later corrected by Rev. Fr. Roberto Titco, the Chaplain and Rector of San Lazaro Shrine where it is opined that "Lazarus in the parable is a figment of the imagination in trying to teach His listeners the value of compassion for the poor. While the lesson of the parable is truly important, the characters therein, save Abraham, are not historical figures. They did not exist at all. Therefore, the Lazarus mentioned in the parable cannot be the object of veneration. He is not a saint because only historical persons are canonized."

The present image of San Lazaro was donated by the Maricosque family in 1963 after the original image was destroyed due to a fire that broke out at that time.

Jesus resurrecting St. Lazarus

The Life of St. Lazarus

The disciple and friend of Jesus raised from the dead by Jesus. He was the brother of Martha and Mary, and resided in Bethany, a suburb of Jerusalem, Israel. No mention is made in the New Testament of his activities after being brought back to life, but several traditions survive. In one, Lazarus, Martha, and Mary go to France, where he became the first bishop of Marseilles, before being martyred. In other traditions, Lazarus and his sisters went to Cyprus, where he became bishop of Kition, or Lamaka. Still another legend reports that he went to Syria.

Icon of St. Lazarus as Bishop of
Kition

Further establishing the apostolic nature of Lazarus' appointment was the story that the bishop's omophorion was presented to Lazarus by the Virgin Mary, who had woven it herself. Such apostolic connections were central to the claims to autocephaly made by the bishops of Kition—subject to the patriarch of Jerusalem—during the period 325–431. The church of Kition was declared self-governing in 431 AD at the Third Ecumenical Council. According to tradition, it is said that St. Lazarus never smiled during his thirty year life after his resurrection, worried by the sight of unredeemed souls he had seen during his four-day stay in Hades. The only exception was, when he saw someone stealing a pot, he smilingly said: "The clay steals the clay."

His supposed relics were translated to Constantinople and numerous churches were built in his honor. His liturgical Feast day is celebrated, together with his sister Mary of Bethany, on July 29, the memorial of their sister Martha. Earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology placed him among the saints of December 17. In some countries, like the Philippines, his Feast day is celebrated every Fifth Sunday of Lent, known as "Domingo de Lazaro" for it was on his day, in the Mazorabic Rite (the Rite that was is use prior to the reforms of Pope St. Pius V to the Roman Missal during the Counter Reformation period.)

San Lazaro de Manila

The devotion in the Philippines

Unbeknown to our Philippine history, St. Lazarus played a role in the rediscovery of the Philippines in 1521, for it was on his feast day, Domingo de Lazaro, that Ferdiand Magellan landed in the Philippines and claimed the islands for the Spanish crown. Magellan even named the islands as "Archipelago of St. Lazarus" in honor of the Saint.

Years later, one of the earliest known hospitals in the Philippines, San Lazaro Hospital was founded in 1577 as a dispensary clinic in Intramuros by Fray Juan Clemente, OFM for the sick and the poor. It became a hospital in 1578 for patient suffering from leprosy and other diseases. In 1784, San Lazaro Hospital was relocated to Hacienda Mayhaligue, now it's present site, through a Royal Decree from the King of Spain. A chapel was built through the initiative of Fray Felix Huerta, OFM and its premises enclosed with stone walls. Fr. Huerta dedicated the Chapel of the hospital to St. Lazarus and as of this writing, the only Shrine dedicated to St. Lazarus of Bethany in the Philippines.

The Enduring devotion

In the Shrine of San Lazaro de Manila, his Feast day is celebrated every Fifth Sunday of Lent, known as "Domingo de Lazaro" which was first celebrated in 1945 as a thanksgiving feast for the miracles that he wrought to his devotees over the years. Devotees would flock his shrine inside the Department of Health compound to ask for his intercession to cure their ailments. Thursdays are known by his devotees as his devotional day and novenas are conducted on that day in his honor.

Facial detail of the image of San Lazaro de Manila

As we end this blogpost dedicated to San Lazaro of Manila, here is the Memorare of St. Lazarus that is being prayed, especially on Thursdays:

O St. Lazarus, Beloved friend of Jesus, remeber the great love the Lord has for you. He frequented the home you shared with Martha and Mary, your sisters, and blest your family with His consoling presence. He wept upon your death but turned your death into the wornderful manifestation of Him being our life and resurrection. He called you forth from the tomb an released you from death to the glory of God the Father. 

Now in eternity, you live with Jesus, your beloved friend and our Lord, forever. We implore you to please remember us in His beatific presence and bring to Him the concerns we entrust to your powerful intercession. If what we ask is not for God's greater glory or for the good of our souls, please assist us to pray as we ought. We are confident in your fraternal bond with us and with Jesus, and we are certain that you will never be indifferent to us. With faith in Jesus, our life and resurrection, we eagerly await the day when, with you, St. Lazarus, our dear friend and humble patron, we shall adore and thank the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit face-to-face for all eternity. Amen

San Lazaro de Manila, pray for us!

Reference:

Agoncillo, Teodoro (1995), The History of the Filipino People, Rex Bookstore, Manila.
Barker, Kenneth L. & Kohlenberger, John III, ed. (2006), Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House.
Barclay, William, (1999), The Parables of Jesus, Westminster John Knox Press.
Titco, Roberto (2003), St. Lazarus: Beloved Friend of Jesus, Brother of Martha and Mary, Humble Patron of the Sick and the Poor, Shrine of St. Lazarus, Manila.