Longinus the Centurion
Feast day: March 15
1st century;
feast day in the East is October 16.
According to tradition, the name of the centurion at the Crucifixion who acknowledged Christ as "the son of God" (Matt. 27:54; Mark 15:39; Luke 23:47) was Longinus. This centurion is also identified as the soldier who "pierced His side with a lance" (John 19:34), probably because the name is derived from the Greek word longche, meaning a lance. Untrustworthy legend exemplified by the Golden Legend says that the blood pouring from Christ's side immediately healed him of incipient blindness. Therefore, he was converted, left the army, took instruction from the Apostles, and then became a monk (centuries before there were monasteries) at Caesarea, Cappadocia, allegedly his homeland. The story continues that he was arrested for his faith and tortured. His teeth were knocked out and tongue plucked. He is said to have destroyed idols with a nearby axe in the presence of the governor who was trying him. From the broken idols came evil spirits that possessed, maddened, and blinded the governor. Longinus told his judge that he would be healed only after his own death. So, Longinus was immediately beheaded; whereupon the governor was healed and converted. An earlier cultus of Longinus was revived and strengthened with the discovery of the Holy Lance in a church of Antioch during the First Crusade, which had transformed the morale of the Christian soldiers
Feast day: March 151st century;
feast day in the East is October 16.
According to tradition, the name of the centurion at the Crucifixion who acknowledged Christ as "the son of God" (Matt. 27:54; Mark 15:39; Luke 23:47) was Longinus. This centurion is also identified as the soldier who "pierced His side with a lance" (John 19:34), probably because the name is derived from the Greek word longche, meaning a lance. Untrustworthy legend exemplified by the Golden Legend says that the blood pouring from Christ's side immediately healed him of incipient blindness. Therefore, he was converted, left the army, took instruction from the Apostles, and then became a monk (centuries before there were monasteries) at Caesarea, Cappadocia, allegedly his homeland. The story continues that he was arrested for his faith and tortured. His teeth were knocked out and tongue plucked. He is said to have destroyed idols with a nearby axe in the presence of the governor who was trying him. From the broken idols came evil spirits that possessed, maddened, and blinded the governor. Longinus told his judge that he would be healed only after his own death. So, Longinus was immediately beheaded; whereupon the governor was healed and converted. An earlier cultus of Longinus was revived and strengthened with the discovery of the Holy Lance in a church of Antioch during the First Crusade, which had transformed the morale of the Christian soldiers
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