Lazarus of Milan

Saint Lazarus of Milan was archbishop of Milan from 438 to 449. He is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church and, according to one source, by the Orthodox Church as well; another source says only the Catholic Church. He died on 14 March 449.

Little is known of his life and episcopate. He is said to have had a stern appearance and probably studied in Milan. Following Pope Leo the Great, he may also have taken measures against the Manichaeans. The Catalogue of the Archbishops of Milan places him between Glycerius, who died on 15 September 440, and Eusebius, attested from the summer of 451, assigns him eleven years of rule and says that he was buried on 14 March in the church of Saint Nazarius. According to tradition his episcopate is placed in the years 438 to 449, although one source speaks of 440 until his death.

One of the Carmina of Felix Ennodius, written before 521, is dedicated to him. In it the Milanese bishop is praised for the seriousness with which he restrained, even with a look alone, the boldness of the wicked, even though he also knew how to give time to those who tried to repent. According to a tradition mentioned by Baldassarre Oltrocchi, Lazarus ordained special litanies to keep the raids of the barbarians away from Milan. A late tradition, with no historical basis, associates him with the Milanese family of the Beccardi.

He was buried in the church of Saints Nazarius and Celsus in Milan. The sources disagree about the day of commemoration: according to one it is the day of his death, 14 March; according to another, the feast was moved to 11 February because of Lent.