LAZARUS, the Beggar. — He is mentioned by Jesus in the parable of Lk. 16:19-31. Tertullian, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Irenaeus, St. Bonaventure, C. a Lapide, and others consider Lazarus and the narrative to be historical. St. Cyril of Alexandria believes that the person of Lazarus is historical, but not the narrative; so too Theophylact, Euthymius, Maldonato, and L. Fonck. The majority of modern scholars, following L.-C. Fillion, J. Knabenbauer, M. Sales, M.-J. Lagrange, D. Buzy, and J.-M. Vosté, regard both the name and the narrative as fictitious.
As for the doctrine taught in the parable, opinions are not unanimous. Buzy, followed by Marchal (in La Sainte Bible, ed. L. Pirot, Paris 1948), holds that the parable deals only with the possible different fate of the rich and the poor, without reference to the moral use of wealth; most commentators, however, with Vosté, see here the sanction for the misuse of wealth and the reward for poverty patiently endured.
ICONOGRAPHY. — In the pictorial cycle of S. Angelo in Formis, the banquet of the rich man is depicted, while to the right a dog licks the sores of the beggar Lazarus, who lies on the ground; in the following scene, from the furnace of hell the rich man stretches out his arms toward Abraham, who, seated to the right, high above, holds a small child (the soul of the poor Lazarus) on his lap.