Venerable Lazarus the Wonderworker of Mt Galiseia near Ephesus

Lazaros was born around 972, or perhaps nearer 981, near Magnesia in Asia Minor, to a peasant family, and was given the name Leo. He travelled to the Lavra of Saint Sabas in Palestine, then returned home and settled on Mount Galesios near Ephesus. There he lived for about forty years on a pillar, as a stylite.

A large community grew up around him, and he founded three monasteries on the mountain. His disciple Gregory the Cellarer wrote his Life soon after his death, and it shows that his reputation was not unquestioned in his lifetime, since local church officials and neighbouring monasteries were hostile to him. It is valued by historians for its many details of everyday life in eleventh-century Asia Minor. Lazaros died on 7 November 1053.