1st century
The sisters of Lazarus of Bethany, friends of the Lord who received Him in their home — Martha in her serving and Mary at His feet — and who beheld the raising of their brother from the dead.
The Holy and Righteous Martha and Mary, the Sisters of Lazarus of Bethany
Martha and Mary were sisters of Lazarus and members of a household at Bethany, a village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. The Gospels present them as friends of Christ who received Him in their home, and the Orthodox Church commemorates them together as righteous women and as myrrh-bearers, with a fixed feast on June 4.
The two sisters are best known from a small group of Gospel scenes that contrast their temperaments — Martha occupied with the duties of hospitality, Mary seated at the Lord's feet to hear His teaching — and from their presence at the death and raising of their brother Lazarus. Orthodox tradition holds that they believed in Christ before that miracle and that, after persecution scattered the Jerusalem community, they accompanied Lazarus and assisted in preaching the Gospel.
(Podoben: “Today the Virgin...”) Formerly, you dwelt in the town of Bethany,
now in Heaven, you abide in Paradise, where the Lord's countenance shines.
For with fervent longing, you gave your hearts and souls to Him Who is the Life and Resurrection;
as you stand on high, O Mary and Martha,
entreat Him to grant salvation to us.
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
When You proclaimed “Rejoice” to the Myrrhbearers,
You caused the lamentation of the foremother Eve to cease by Your Resurrection; O Christ God;
commanding Your Apostles to proclaim:
“The Savior is risen from the tomb.”
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
(Podoben: “Awed by the beauty...”) O sisters of Lazarus, you believed fervently in Christ and His wondrous deeds,
and were adorned with radiant virtues.
Now with your brother, you were found worthy to be numbered with the Saints;
together with him, pray to the Master for us,
O wise Mary and Martha.
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
Appearing to the Myrrh-bearing women at the tomb, the Angel exclaimed:
“Myrrh is meet for the dead;
but Christ has shown Himself a stranger to corruption.
So proclaim: ‘The Lord is risen, granting the world great mercy.’”
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
The Orthodox Church keeps the feast of the righteous sisters on June 4. They are additionally remembered on the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women, the second Sunday after Pascha, which gathers the women associated with the burial and resurrection of Christ.
In Western calendars Martha has long been venerated on July 29, a date now observed together with Mary and Lazarus.
Orthodox tradition relates that the sisters did not remain in the Holy Land but followed Lazarus into exile, an account associated with his settlement on Cyprus, where he is said to have served as the first bishop of Kition. A separate strand of tradition connects Mary with travel to Ephesus alongside the Apostle John.
A distinct Western legend, preserved in the medieval Golden Legend, places Martha in Provence in southern Gaul, where she is said to have settled at Tarascon; relics associated with her are reported to have been found there in 1187. These later accounts are devotional traditions rather than events recorded in the Gospels.
In the medieval West, Mary of Bethany was often conflated with Mary Magdalene and with the unnamed sinful woman of Luke's Gospel. The Eastern Church has consistently treated these as distinct persons, and the Roman Catholic Church likewise came to distinguish them in its more recent liturgical revisions.
Martha and Mary kept house at Bethany with their brother Lazarus, whom Christ raised from the dead and who shared their later exile.
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