(Church of St. Martha in Tarascon, France. This painting depicts the persecutors putting Lazarus, Martha and Mary Magdalen into a boat with their companions and setting them adrift. Their boat came to rest in the south of France, where they converted many souls for God.)

"Happy Lazarus, who had his sisters Martha and Magdalen to pray and weep for him, and to obtain the resurrection of this beloved brother, when he, a lifeless corpse, could no longer do anything for himself!

"And in the Church, the types of Lazarus who are spiritually dead in sin, have the same advantage. These blessed sisters are figures of all the living members of the Church, for all are either innocent or penitent. By the mystery of the Communion of Saints, we are all members of a family beloved by Jesus Christ. Martha and Mary obtained the raising to life of their brother Lazarus, by their tears and supplications...We also, by our faith, our tears and our supplications, can obtain the resurrection of our brethren who are dead in sin and unbelief, so that life may be restored to their souls."

~ Fr. Ventura, quoted in Gleanings for Saints and Sinners about St. Mary Magdalen 

by Fr. Pius Cavanagh, O.P., 1888.

Each of us probably has someone for whom we pray...someone we're worried about...someone who needs our prayers to pray them back to "life". Let us take heart from the story of the two sisters who prayed so hard, so fervently, with so much faith, that Our Lord brought their brother back to life! Lazarus went on to become the first bishop of Marseilles, France.