Ruminations of an Expatriate

Not far from Playa Baracoa, about fifteen minutes by car, lies the small town of Santiago de Vega and the opulent Church of Saint Lazarus, which draws hundreds of visitors each day.

The day I visited there was one person who drug herself along the floor, through the door and down the aisle to one of the seven or eight elaborate alters at which lots of folks knelt, praying and offering flowers and candles. Some folks removed their shoes before entering.

There is a spring that emerges in the rear yard of the church, the waters of which are considered by many as having special qualities, though I never did determine what the special quality is. There is also an enormous tree, perhaps twelve to fifteen feet in circumference.

Adjacent to the church is a hospital that provided refuge to and treatment for those afflicted with leprosy. Today leprosy has essentially been eradicated in Cuba.
According to Biblical accounts, contained in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus offered a parable of a poor man named Lazarus and a rich man. A poor leper, Lazarus, had come to lie at the door of a rich man who refused Lazarus succor, though the man had plenty.

Lazarus died and was transported by angels to the side of Abraham. The rich man died and was dispatched to the eternal torment of the netherworld, from where he espied Abraham with Lazarus at his side. The rich man pleaded, “Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.”

Abraham responded to the man “My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.”

It seems that around the twelfth century western crusaders founded a leper hospital in Jerusalem which was operated by monks of the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem. Given the Western powers’ interest in its part of the world at the time, during the Middle Ages the hospital received financial assistance from every European country and many of their royalty and other rich citizens. Many of the kings of Europe endowed the hospital with vast tracts of European land.

Leper hospitals were quite numerous in Europe during the Middle Ages, numbering in the thousands. Though many of the hospitals carried the name of St. Lazarus, the European “houses” were not dependencies of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem fell to the Moslems in the mid-13th century and the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem gave up the hospital and morphed into a military order to defend the remaining Christian possessions.

The Order gave up its military pursuits in the 14th century, except for a brief stint chasing pirates in the Mediterranean during the 17th century. Today the Order has priories throughout the world and is still associated with administering to those with leprosy.

The Church of Saint Lazarus in Santiago de Vega is an out post of the Order as was the leprosy hospital next door.