During Great Lent the daily hymns of Orthodox matins frequently deal with themes from Christ’s parables, like the Good Samaritan, the poor man Lazarus and the rich man or the prodigal son. The canon for the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent is mostly a series of meditations on the parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31). {There is a 2nd Canon also used on the 5th Sunday of Lent which deals with St. Mary of Egypt. I am guessing that these 2nd canons with their monastic themes – Sts. Gregory Palamas, John Climacus and Mary of Egypt – are much more recent additions to the Orthodox liturgical development with the Gospel Parable themes being the older tradition. But perhaps some reader knows that history and can comment on it}.
I found the commentary on the parable to be very insightful at points and have listed a few of the verses from the Canon right after the Parable of the poor Lazarus and the unnamed rich man:
The Lord Jesus told this parable: [Luke 16:19; RSV] ”There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. [20] And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, [21] who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. [22] The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; [23] and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. [24] And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.’ [25] But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. [26] And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ [27] And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house, [28] for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ [29] But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ [30] And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ [31] He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.’”
The verses of the Sunday Canon for the 5th Sunday of Great Lent which deal with the parable follow an Orthodox pattern of interpreting the Scriptural text in a very spiritual and somewhat allegorical way. The Canon at point offers insights into text but also a very particular way of reading the Scriptures. The first two verses I quote simply comment on the parable itself:
Through his sins the rich man was clothed in scarlet and fine linen,
and so he burns in the flames. (Canticle 3)
With their tongues the dogs licked the sores of the beggar Lazarus
showing a compassion to him in his need that the rich man never felt. (Canticle 4)
The first verse very pointedly does not let the rich man off the hook. Yes he is rich but he gained his riches through sinfulness – probably greed and the sins associated with greed (lying, cheating, stealing). The rich man lives a rich lifestyle not because he is a good man but because of the sins he has committed! He is not a good man with a blindness to the poor – he is a bad man who compounds his badness with evil neglect of the needy. He is wealthy because he is greedy, and he stays wealthy by never practicing charity.
The Canon verses do not leave the parable as offering an abstract truth or value free teaching or a purely objective wisdom. The message of the parable is meant to sink home into the heart of the listener/reader. It is “I” who the parable and the canon are about. It speaks to me personally.
The Canon verses draw me into the parable by speaking in the first person:
Lord, I am as wealthy as the rich man in passions and lusts,
yet in my lack of virtues I am as poor as Lazarus! But save me! (Canticle 3)
Like the rich man who spent all his days in pleasure,
I am rich in the deceptive joys of this life,
but I pray You, Loving Lord, in Your compassion
deliver me from the fire as you saved Lazarus. (Canticle 5)
And at the end of the Canon it summarizes for us the lesson it has drawn from the parable:
We have all learned the meaning of this parable from the Lord.
Let us all, then, hate the rich man’s lack of compassion,
that we may escape punishment and rejoice forever with Abraham. (Canticle 9)
