## The Family of Lazarus
Lazarus’ father was named Zarah or Zerah and was of noble lineage originating from Egypt. He had also lived in Syria, on the border with Arabia, and was related to and friends with a king of Syria. For his merits in a war, he was rewarded by the Roman Emperor with lands and possessions near Jerusalem and in Galilee. He was like a prince among his fellow countrymen and very wealthy, and through his marriage to a Jewish woman of the Pharisee class, he had increased his material wealth. His wife was named Jezebel. Lazarus became Jewish and was an observer of the law, pious in the manner of the Pharisees of his time. He held a right over part of the city, near Mount Zion, where the torrent flows through the ravine next to the temple hill. However, he had ceded most of his rights to the temple. Even so, an ancient right remained in the family over the area where I later saw the apostles ascending to the Cenacle, despite it no longer belonging to their possessions. The estate at Bethany was very large, with many gardens, wells, and terraces, and was surrounded by a double moat. Lazarus’ family was aware of the prophecies of Simeon and Anna. They were awaiting the Messiah and, during Jesus' childhood, had a friendship with the Holy Family, in the same way noble families today are seen being friendly with humble ones. Lazarus' parents had fifteen children, six of whom died early, nine reached adulthood, and only four were alive during the time of Christ’s preaching.
These four were: Martha, two years younger; a Mary, called "the Silent One," two years younger than Martha; and Mary Magdalene, five years younger than Mary the Silent One, who was considered somewhat simple-minded. This Mary is not named in Scripture, but she was worth much before God. In the family, she remained somewhat set aside, and for this reason she was unknown. Magdalene, the youngest of all, was very beautiful and from her early years showed a full, vigorous, and slender appearance; she was full of vanity, coquetry, and seductiveness. By the time she turned seven, her parents had already died. She could not stand them due to the strict fasts they practiced in the house. From a young age, she was vain, proud, soft, capricious, and overly fond of treats. She was faithful to no one and only sought out the person who flattered her the most. She was wasteful and generous out of natural compassion, and given to everything brilliant and outward splendor. Her mother was partly to blame for spoiling her; she had also inherited her natural and sensitive compassion from her. Her mother and nurse corrupted Magdalene’s upbringing because they brought her out everywhere to show her off, allowed her coquetry and arts of seduction to be applauded, and used to spend too much time with her at the window and in public. This habit of sitting at the window out of curiosity was the beginning of her moral ruin. I have seen her at the window and on the terrace of her house on a seat of carpets and cushions, so that she could be contemplated from the street in all her beauty and charm. From then on, she stole sweet treats to give to other children in the garden, and from the age of nine, she began to fantasize about affection and love. As the years went by and her talent grew, so did the noise around her and the admiration of the people. She gathered many admirers. She was educated and knew how to write love verses on small rolls of parchment. I noticed that she counted somewhat on her fingers as she wrote. She would then send these writings to her admirers, and so she was known everywhere, and much was spoken about her. But I did not see in her that she truly loved anyone or was loved by another; in everything she acted out of vanity, sensuality, self-love, and coquetry. She was considered a scandal to her sisters. She drifted away from her sisters because of the simple life they led.
When, upon the death of her parents, the paternal inheritance was distributed by lot, Magdalene received the castle of Magdala, which was very beautiful. Since childhood she had been there several times and felt a special preference for the place. She was barely eleven years old when she retired to that castle with a large retinue of maidservants, household servants, and great pomp. Magdala was a place of fortresses and crenellated buildings consisting of castles, fortified houses, public offices, plazas with porticoes, promenades, and gardens. It was eight hours' distance on foot to the east of Nazareth, three from Capernaum, and one and a half from Bethsaida toward the south, one mile from the Lake of Gennesaret, on a hill, and partly in the valley running toward the Sea of Galilee, ending at the road that stretched around the lake. One of the castles belonged to Herod, who owned another larger one in the fertile countryside of Gennesaret. That is why Herod’s soldiers were there, causing greater looseness of morals; many officers had dealings with Magdalene. Apart from these soldiers, there were about one hundred other people in all of Magdala, mostly employees, castle caretakers, servants, and stewards. There was no synagogue there, and the pious people went to the one in Bethsaida.
Magdalene’s castle was the most beautiful and was situated on higher ground than the others in the surrounding area: from its terraces, one could contemplate the plain of the Sea of Galilee all the way to the opposite shore. Five roads converged at Magdala; on each of them, about half an hour away, stood a corresponding castle: a tower over a vault like a guardhouse from which the sentinel could observe the horizon from a great distance. These towers were detached from one another and surrounded by gardens, meadows, and pasture fields. Magdalene had male and female servants because she owned livestock fields there; but the management was defective and everything was falling into decline. Through the valley and the wild ravines, from where the construction of Magdala began toward the height, a stream ran toward the sea, where wild animals took refuge, coming there to hide from three deserted places connected to the valley of Magdala. Herod used to hold large hunts there, in addition to doing so at the castle of Gennesaret, where he possessed an animal park.
The countryside of Gennesaret begins between Tiberias and Tarichea, about four hours from Capernaum, and extends from the sea up to three hours into the region, and south of Tarichea to the mouth of the Jordan. This beautiful valley, like the artificial lake and the bathing area of Bethulia formed by a stream, is part of a splendid system of streams that empty into the sea. This body of water forms several artificial waterfalls and ponds in the beautiful valley, filled with gardens, summer houses, castles, zoological gardens, and estates with forest and fruit trees of every kind. All year round, vegetation and flowers can be seen there. The wealthy of the country, especially from Jerusalem, have their summer residences there with gardens, parks, and promenades. The place is filled with small houses, walkways, bowers with green hedge paths, and tree-lined roads shaped like pyramids, forming hills and mounds of different appearances. Outside of Magdala, no other settlements are seen in the surroundings. The permanent year-round inhabitants are mostly gardeners, castle watchmen, and shepherds who tend the herds of sheep and goats of select breeds. I also saw that they cared for all kinds of rare animals and birds in the gardens. No main road runs through Magdala, but it is encircled by two that come from the sea and the Jordan River.