"This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus."

"When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”"

"Protoevangelium of James, 4."

"[After having known that Saint Anne would have been pregnant, Joachim tells to his shepherds:] Bring me hither ten she-lambs without spot or blemish, and they shall be for the Lord my God; and bring me twelve tender calves, and they shall be for the priests and the elders; and a hundred goats for all the people."

"In those days there was a man in Jerusalem, Joachim by name, of the tribe of Judah. He was the shepherd of his own sheep, fearing the Lord in integrity and singleness of heart. He had no other care than that of his herds, from the produce of which he supplied with food all that feared God, offering double gifts in the fear of God to all who laboured in doctrine, and who ministered unto Him. Therefore his lambs, and his sheep, and his wool, and all things whatsoever he possessed, he used to divide into three portions: one he gave to the orphans, the widows, the strangers, and the poor; the second to those that worshipped God; and the third he kept for himself and all his house."

"In the records of the twelve tribes of Israel was Joachim, a man rich exceedingly; and he brought his offerings double, saying: There shall be of my superabundance to all the people, and there shall be the offering for my forgiveness to the Lord for a propitiation for me."

"Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”"

"Protoevangelium of James , 1."

"Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was [a]who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil."

"Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about [a]two miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother."

"Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have die. ""

"[while retiring in the desert for forty days of fasting] I will not go down either for food or for drink until the Lord my God shall look upon me, and prayer shall be my food and drink."

"Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph."

"Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb."

"Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before."

"'In all things that come upon me I never desire to run around in quest of human wisdom, but I always act with the small power I have on whatever it is, and at the same time leave the whole thing to God.'"

"'I heard about a certain brother who, if he saw that his [brethren's] cell was uncared for and disorderly when he went to consult any of the brethren, used to say to himself, ‘Happy indeed is this brother! How free from care about many things, or rather, about all earthly things, and he so fixes his whole mind on high so that he has no leisure to put his cell in order.’ And again, if he came on another and saw his cell in good order, clean, beautiful, he used to say to himself, ‘The soul of this brother must be as clean and well-kept as his cell, for the good state of his soul must be represented by the good state of his cell.” He never said about anyone, ‘This man is uncouth or that one is vainglorious’, but on account of his own habitual good disposition he took edification from each of them.'"

"'He who does not hold to his own will always has what he will; for externally he does not get his own way but whatever happens, no matter what it is, gives him quiet satisfaction and he discovers for himself that he has what as they he will. For he does not want things to happen as he wishes; he wants things to have happened as they happened.'"

"Christ died He left a will in which He gave His soul to His Father, His body to Joseph of Arimathea, His clothes to the soldiers and His mother to John. But to His disciples, who had left all to follow Him, He left not silver or gold, but something far better – His PEACE!"

"'Hold fast to indifference in knowledge and believe that everything that concerns us, even the most trivial thing, happens through God’s providence, and you will bear anything that comes upon you without being troubled. '"

"'If a man has a friend and he is absolutely certain that his friend loves him, and if that friend does something to cause him suffering and be troublesome to him, he will be convinced that his friend acts out of love and he will never believe that his friend does it to harm him. How much more ought we to be convinced about God who created us, who created us out of nothingness to existence and life, and who became a man for our sakes and died for us, and who does everything out of love for us?'"

"'Do not desire to know the evils of your neighbor and do not entertain suspicions about him, but if suspicious thoughts burst out of your own wickedness, take care to mould them into noble thoughts, and in all things give thanks in accord with God’s goodness and holy love.'"

"'A man who gives way to his passions and suffers for it is like a man who is shot at by an enemy, catches the arrow in his hands, and then plunges it into his own heart. A man who is resisting his passions is like a man who is shot at by an enemy, and although the arrow hits him, it does not seriously wound him because he is wearing a breastplate. But the man who is uprooting his passions is like a man who is shot at by an enemy, but who strikes the arrow and shatters it or turns it back into his enemy’s heart. As the psalmist says, ‘Their own sword shall enter their own heart and their bow shall be broken to pieces.’'"

"'Let us examine brothers, how it is that at one time a man hears disparaging remark and passes it by without being disturbed, as if he had hardly heard it, and at another time he hears it and is immediately disturbed. What is the reason for such a difference? Is there only one reason for this difference or are there many? I see many proximate causes for this state of affairs, but there is one thing, one might say, which is the basic generating cause of them all. First, it happens when a man is at prayer or spiritually at rest and being, as one might say, in a good disposition he bears with his brother and is not disturbed. Again it may happen that he has a special affection for the someone who attacks him and for this he will suffer without difficulty anything that person does to him. Then there is the person who disdains the one who wants to cause him pain and despises what he does, and does not treat him as a man or attribute any meaning to what. is said or done by him."

"'Therefore, everyone who wants to be saved must not only stop doing evil, also work at what is good, as it says in the psalm, ‘Turn away from evil and do good.’ Mark what is says. Not only ‘turn from evil’, but also ‘do good’! For example: If a man was used to being unjust, he wants not only to stop being unjust but to act with justice continually. If a man was used to always to be angry, he wants not only to stop being angry but to cultivate mildness. If he was bold and insolent, he must not only give it up, but he must act with humility. This is to turn away from evil and to do good. Each of the vices has its contrary virtue. Pride has humility, avarice has almsgiving; licentiousness, self-discipline; neglect, perseverance; anger has meekness; hatred, love. In short, I repeat, every vice has its contrary virtue.'"

"'As was said about Abbot Anthony, brethren, namely, that when he was visiting the whatever good he saw in each he set about to acquire for himself. From one he picked up self-control, from another humility,from another hard work, from another serenity. And so he was found to have in himself the good found in each of the others. This then is what we ought to do and why we ought to come together, and when we return to our cell let us examine ourselves and learn where we have been helped and: what good we have received. '"

"Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”"

"'When God created man, he breathed into him something divine, as it were a hot and bright spark added to reason, which lit up the mind and showed him the difference between right and wrong. This is called the conscience, which is the law of his nature. This is compared to the well which Jacob dug, as the Fathers say, and which the Philistines filled up. That is, to this law of conscience adhered the patriarchs and all the holy men of old before the written law, and they were pleasing to God. But when this law was buried and trodden underfoot by men through the onset of sin, we needed a written law, we needed the holy prophets, we needed the instruction of our Master, Jesus Christ, to reveal it and raise it up and bring to life through the observance of the Commandments that buried spark. '"

"While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table."

"'Suppose we were to take a compass and insert the point and draw the outline of a circle. The centre point is the same distance from any point. on the circumference. Now concentrate your minds on what is to be said! Let us suppose that this circle is the world and that God himself is the centre; the straight lines drawn from the circumference to the centre are the lives of men. To the degree that the saints enter into the things of the spirit, they desire to come near to God; and in proportion to their progress in the things of the spirit, they do in fact come close to God and to their neighbor. The closer they are to God, the closer they become to one another; and the closer they are to one another, the closer they become to God. Now consider in the same context the question of separation; for when they stand away from God and turn to external things, it is clear that the more they recede and become distant from God, the more they become distant from one another. See! This is the very nature of love. The more we are turned away from and do not love God, the greater the distance that separates us from our neighbor.'"

"Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”"

"And, behold, an angel of the Lord stood by, saying: Anna, Anna, the Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth; and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world."

"My soul has been magnified this day."

"While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her. ""

"O God of our fathers, bless me and hear my prayer, as You blessed the womb of Sarah, and gave her a son Isaac."

"As the Lord my God lives, if I beget either male or female, I will bring it as a gift to the Lord my God; and it shall minister to Him in holy things all the days of its life."

"Now I know that the Lord God has blessed me exceedingly; for, behold the widow no longer a widow, and I the childless shall conceive."

"I will sing a song to the Lord my God, for He has looked upon me, and has taken away the reproach of mine enemies; and the Lord has given the fruit of His righteousness, singular in its kind, and richly endowed before Him."

"[After witnessing Jesus bringing Lazarus back from the dead] Bar Amand: The Messiah has come! A man was dead but now he lives! Uriah: I was crippled, and now I walk! Old Aram: I was blind, and now I see! Soldier: Who has done this? Old Aram: The man called Jesus!"

"Paul: What did you do? Nate: Uh, what--what do you mean What, y-y-you don't believe in miracles? Paul: The word "miracle" does not appear anywhere in the Old or New Testaments. Nate: What about the wedding at Cana? Huh? What about Lazarus? Paul: Please tell me you had nothing to do with this. Nate: I had nothing to do with this. Paul: Nate? You’re lying to me, right to my face. In church! There’s a fake miracle in my church. Nate: Shhh."

"Robert Ford: So our creatures have been misbehaving, and you haven't yet isolated the bug? That's so unlike you, Bernard. Unless, of course, you have and are simply embarrassed by the result. Bernard Lowe: It's the code you added, sir. The reveries. It has some, uh... Robert Ford: "Mistakes" is the word you're too embarrassed to use. You ought not to be. You're a product of a trillion of them. Evolution forged the entirety of sentient life on this planet using only one tool: the mistake. Bernard Lowe: I flattered myself we were taking a more disciplined approach here. I suppose self-delusion is a gift of natural selection as well. Robert Ford: Indeed it is. But, of course, we've managed to slip evolution's leash now, haven't we? We can cure any disease, keep even the weakest of us alive, and, you know, one fine day perhaps we shall even resurrect the dead. Call forth Lazarus from his cave. Do you know what that means? It means that we're done. That this is as good as we're going to get. It also means that you must indulge me the occasional mistake."

"Kane: And he cried in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" And Lazarus did arise from the grave...I have always believed that faith was measured in deeds, not words. And while many of my children worshiped my name, their deeds betrayed them."

"(Archie finds out that his job has been spared) Archie: What do you mean, 'Congratulations.' You don't have to congratulate me for nothing. See, there's nothing happening to me, you'd think I'm Lazarus rising from the bed."

"Perhaps they only looked for a Jesus to heal them, raise them Lazarus-like from the darkness."

"It follows not because Jesus awakened Lazarus from death that therefore he also must have arisen from death."

"The symbols of the Gospel for the state of the sick soul are sick bodies; but because one body cannot be sick enough to express it well, several have been needed. Thus there are the deaf, the dumb, the blind, the paralytic, the dead Lazarus, the possessed. All this crowd is in the sick soul."

"This dogma had first to be shattered before men could once more go out in quest of the historical Jesus, before they could even grasp the thought of His existence. That the historic Jesus is something different from the Jesus Christ of the doctrine of the Two Natures seems to us now self-evident. We can, at the present day, scarcely imagine the long agony in which the historical view of the life of Jesus came to birth. And even when He was once more recalled to life. He was still, like Lazarus of old, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes — the grave-clothes of the dogma of the Dual Nature."

"The Lord has taught with very great fulness, that souls not only continue to exist, not by passing from body to body, but that they preserve the same form [in their separate state] as the body had to which they were adapted, and that they remember the deeds which they did in this state of existence, and from which they have now ceased, - in that narrative which is recorded respecting the rich man and that Lazarus who found repose in the bosom of Abraham [Luke 16:19ff]."

"My friends, does God invite you? If He does, why don't you accept the invitation? If you want to come, just come along, and don't be talking about feeling. Do you think Lazarus had any feeling when Christ called him out of the sepulchre?"