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Page Illustration |
The
New Cathedral Church of St Mary, Edinburgh: The South Transept |
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The Illustrated London News. November
22nd. 1879. The complete weekly issue which includes the full page
engraving of " Interior of the Church at the Monastery of St
Lazarus, Larnaca, Cyprus." Also known as " The
Confession"
" Among the ecclesiastical antiquities
of this island, which has so recently passed under British Rule. the
seaport town of Larnaca, most frequently visited by foreign vessels,
contains one that has a certain degree of interest. We give an
illustration of the interior of the Greek Church attached to the
Monastery of St. Lazarus , at Larnaca. It stands in the centre of a
large square, one side of which is a burial-ground, inclosed by tall
iron railings, and the other three sides consist of the cells formerly
inhabited by the community of monks, but now let out on hire to common
lodgers, while the cemetery has become a boy's playground. The church
is reported, by Greek religious tradition, to contain the tomb of
Lazarus, who is said to have come from Bethany, long after Our Saviour
raised him from the dead there, and to have ended a long life here in
Cyprus. They keep tapers over burning in the vault beneath the altar ;
there is a descent by a few steps, and in the dim light of the shrine,
a granite slab is visible, arched at the top, with a little spring of
water under it, filling a stone basin. This water has miraculous
properties, for the healing of sores by the application of rags dipped
in the water. It would seem that the Lazarus, the poor man who had
sores, mentioned in the New Testament parable of Dives and
Lazarus, is considered by the Greek clergy to be the same
Lazarus that was raised from the dead.
Price: CyP 125.00
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