Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus

Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus lived at Bethany, near Jerusalem, and Jesus was often a guest in their house. Luke tells that once Martha was busy serving while Mary sat at his feet listening, and when Martha complained, Jesus said that Mary had chosen the good portion. The Gospel of John tells that when Lazarus died, Martha met Jesus on the road and heard him say, “I am the resurrection and the life”; and that Jesus wept, then called Lazarus out of the tomb after four days.

Six days before the Passover, John says, Mary anointed Jesus’s feet with costly perfume at a dinner in Bethany where Martha served. In 2021 Pope Francis joined Mary and Lazarus to the memorial of Martha.