St. Lazarus's niche in Miami hermitage, 2007 (left); Image of St. Lazarus with dogs in Miami botánica, 2007 (center); St. Lazarus in New Age Afro-Cuban house altar, Miami, 2008 (right).

"Old Lazarus" botánica sign, Miami, 2007.

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The Christian Saint Lazarus, like the Virgin of Charity, has an avatar in the Afro-Cuban Santeria pantheon.  As the orisha Babalú-Ayé, the “owner of diseases,”  he has acquired an unprecedented popularity, far more than what he may command as Saint Lazarus among orthodox Christian devotees. Santería botánicas carry his name, his image is popular in house altars, and this niche dedicated to him in the hermitage of Miami is a gesture recognizing the constituency that straddles both worlds. It is perhaps the only gesture in that direction in a place where the Marian image has been racialized as white.  It is also significant that the Lazarus figure, so prominent in the Cuban Santería tradition, is the only other image displayed in the hermitage aside from that of the Virgin of Charity.

In the Christian tradition, the figure of Lazarus conflates two New Testament references: one to the resurrected Lazarus of Bethany and the second to the parable of the beggar at the rich man’s gate. In this tradition Lazarus is also considered the patron saint of lepers. In the Santería tradition, however, the Yoruba derived deity Babalú-Ayé is the patron of a wider range of diseases and epidemics, including, more recently, HIV. Although in both traditions, the Lazarus figure evokes associations with affliction and isolation, disease and healing that may be particularly pertinent in a hermitage next to a hospital, the sheer prominence of this figure in the Santería tradition suggests some minimal official ecclesiastical acknowledgement of that Afro-Cuban popular tradition and an effort to reach out to more unorthodox constituencies. Although the image at the hermitage's entrance patently alludes to the Afro-Cuban Lazarus/Babalú-Ayé, it represents Lazarus without the iconographic motifs of the crutches, the bodily sores and the dogs that have become intrinsic to his portrayal in the Santería tradition. Thus, this cleaned-up shiny plastic cast image of a resurrected Lazarus, is meant to stand apart from, or perhaps replace, the Lazarus from the other tradition.

OF RELATED INTEREST

"Cubans Hail Saint Lazarus" (Reuters, 1998)

"Fervor religioso cubano en muestra fotográfica" (El País, 2009)

"17 Milagroso: Exposición" (Casa las Américas, 2009)

San Lázaro Dossier Exposición, Casa las Américas, 2009

Web section: Other Traditions and Spaces