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The saints

Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus

Jesus’ friends in Bethany: a busy sister, a listening sister, and a brother called out of the tomb.

Feast: 29 July · 1st century · The early Church · Bethany, near Jerusalem

Read the story 1 min read
Processional statue of St. Martha in a red gown, crowned with a halo of rays, holding a basket of bread.

Mimimdumdum, 2017. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Home / The saints / Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus

A house in Bethany

Jesus often stayed with three siblings in Bethany, near Jerusalem.1

Once Martha was rushing around serving while Mary sat at His feet, and Martha complained.2

Jesus told her she was anxious about many things, and Mary had chosen the better part.

Patron of cooks, homemakers and servers (Martha)1; siblings1

01Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus

I am the resurrection

When Lazarus died, Martha met Jesus on the road and said she believed He was the Christ, the Son of God.3

Jesus wept, and then called Lazarus out of the tomb after four days.4

02Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus

Friends of Jesus

In 2021 Pope Francis added Mary and Lazarus to Martha’s memorial.5

Live it this week

Sit down for ten minutes

Martha worked hard; Mary sat with Jesus. Every day this week, before you start the chores, sit for ten minutes with a Gospel passage and let it be the first thing.

Notes

How we know · 5 sources for this page
  1. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org
  2. Luke 10:40, World English Bible. read the chapter
  3. John 11:27, World English Bible. read the chapter
  4. John 11:43, World English Bible. read the chapter
  5. Holy See: “DECREE on the Celebration of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus in the General Roman Calendar (26 January 2021)”. vatican.va. vatican.va

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.