The Sixteenth Day

Of the Month of October

The Life and passion of the Holy

Martyr Longinus, the Centurion Who

Stood by the Cross of the Lord

In the days when our Lord Jesus Christ, in His ineffable mercy, was pleased to save us from perdition through His voluntary Passion, the Cross, His death and Resurrection, permitting Himself to be wounded so that our sin might suffer wounding, Pilate had under his command a centurion named Longinus, born in Cappadocia. This man, with his soldiers, was sent to keep watch as Christ was crucified and suffered. When he saw the wonders that came to pass at the Crucifixion of Christ, the earthquake, the darkening of the sun, the graves that opened, the rising of the dead, and the rending of the stones, he confessed Christ to be the Son of God, as the blessed Evangelist Matthew says, Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw  the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. Certain authorities attest that it was this Longinus who thrust the lance into the side of the Lord Christ as He hung upon the Cross and that his ailing eyes were healed by the blood and water which poured froth. Also, it was Longinus who commanded the watch set by Pilate to guard Christ’s body as it lay in the Sepulcher.

When the Lord arose in glory, an angel descended from heaven to roll away the stone from the Tomb. For fear of him the other guards trembled and became as dead men, filled with fear by the Lord’s wondrous Resurrection, but Longinus’ faith in Christ was perfected by the angel’s appearance. Two of his soldiers also believed in the Lord, and together they began to proclaim the Resurrection of Christ, telling Pilate and the chief priests everything that had occurred. Then the high priest assembled with the elders and took counsel, and they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, asking them to conceal the Resurrection of Christ and to say, “His disciples stole him away while we slept.” But Longinus would neither take the money, nor would he keep the miracle secret. Instead, he continued to bear witness to it with yet greater fervor. Since they knew that his testimony was true, Pilate and the whole Sanhedrin of the Jews came to despise Longinus, turning upon him all the hatred they felt against Christ. Longinus freely preached Christ to be the true God, proclaiming to all that he was an eyewitness of the lord’s life-bestowing death and Resurrection. Those who hated him looked for a convenient occasion to bring accusation against him and to destroy him, for his witness to Jesus Christ but could find no such opportunity, for Longinus was a soldier of high rank, an honorable man, and was known to Caesar.

When he learned of his enemies’ wicked intention, Longinus thought it better to be an outcast with Christ than to continue to dwell among the Jews. He set aside the emblems of his military rank, his soldier’s garb and belt, and with his two friends, who were likewise zealous for Christ, began to shun the society of men and to labor in solitude for God. He received Baptism from the holy apostles and soon thereafter left Jerusalem and went to Cappadocia with his two friends. He became Christ’s preacher and apostle to that land, converting many from error to God. After he left the city of Caesarea, he made his abode in the village of his father where he lived in silence, fasting, and prayer.

When it became known to all the Jews of Jerusalem that Longinus was spreading his teaching throughout Cappadocia, witnessing openly to the Resurrection of Christ, the high priests and elders were filled with wrath. They went unto Pilate, bearing many gifts, and besought him to send an accusation to the Emperor in Rome, notifying him that Longinus had resigned his military rank, ceased to acknowledge the authority of Rome, and was stirring up the people of Cappadocia, proclaiming to them another King besides Caesar. Pilate accepted their gifts and consented to do as they wished, sending to Tiberius Caesar a letter full of slander against Longinus. This letter was accompanied by much gold, sent to Caesar by the Jews, who purchased with it the death of Saint Longinus. Soon thereafter, Caesar issued a decree ordering that Longinus be executed for having stirred up an insurrection against the imperial authority. Pilate immediately sent soldiers to Cappadocia to behead Longinus, commanding them to bring his head back to Jerusalem so that the Sanhedrin of the Jews could confirm his death. At the request of the wicked Jews, Pilate ordered that the two soldiers also be slain who had forsaken the army with Longinus and who now preached Christ with him in those parts.

When Pilate’s soldiers reached the land of Cappodocia, they began to inquire diligently as to where Longinus could be found. Learning that he lived in the village of his father, they hastened there, pretending that they came not to kill him but to bestow on him some honor. Their intention was to lay hold of him in secret, for they feared lest he escape, thus compelling them to return empty-handed to those who had sent them.

Saint Longinus, who was filled with the Holy Spirit, knew what would come to pass, for it had been revealed to him that the crown of martyrdom was prepared for him, and so he went forth to meet the soldiers sent to take him. When he caught sight of them, he greeted them warmly, but they did not recognize him and asked, “Where is Longinus, who was once a centurion?”

“Why do you seek for him?” Longinus asked them in turn.

“We have heard,” they said, “that he is a good man, and we wish to visit him. We are soldiers, and he was a centurion. This is why we wish to see him.”

Longinus said, “I entreat you, my lords, to turn aside to my house and to rest a little from your journey, and I will tell you what I know of him. For I know where he lives and also that he will himself come to you. He lives not far from here.”

The soldiers followed him, and Longinus set before them a great supper. When evening fell and the solders had drunk their fill, they told Longinus the truth concerning why they had come. They said, “We have been sent to fulfill Caesar’s command to Pilate and to cut off the heads of Longinus and his two friends.” But first they enjoined him to tell no one their secret, for they feared that if Longinus learned the purpose of their coming he would flee from them.

When Longinus heard that the soldiers intended to kill his friends, he sent word to them to come to him, but he did not reveal to the soldiers that he was Longinus until his friends arrived. After the soldiers fell asleep, Longinus arose to pray and made fervent supplication unto God through the night, readying himself for death. As morning dawned, the soldiers quickly prepared to set out on their way and entreated Longinus to fulfill his promise. He answered them, “Wait but a short while, my lords, for I have sent for him, and he will soon arrive. Believe me: he whom you seek will deliver himself into your hands if you but await him.”

When Longinus learned that his friends drew near, he went forth to meet them. Taking them in his arms, he kissed them and said, “Rejoice, servants of Christ, my comrades in arms! Exult with me, for the time of our rejoicing, when we shall be freed from the bonds of the flesh, is at hand, Lo, now we shall stand together before our Lord Jesus Christ! He Whom we beheld suffering, crucified, buried, and resurrected in glory we shall now see seated at the right hand of God; and we shall be sated with the vision of His glory.”

After saying these things to his friends, Longinus told them that soldiers had been sent by Pilate and the Sanhedrin of the Jews to slay them for their testimony concerning the Resurrection of Christ. When they heard this, they rejoiced to learn that they would soon receive the crown of martyrdom and stand in the presence of the Lord, Whom they loved with their whole heart. Longinus then led his friends to the soldiers and said, :Lo here are Longinus and his two friends! I am Longinus, whom you seek, and these are my two friends, who with me beheld Christ’s Resurrection and believed. Do, then, as you have been ordered by them that sent you.”

Hearing this, the soldiers were perplexed and at first did not believe that he was Longinus. But little by little they became convinced that he was in truth him whom they sought and they began to feel ashamed, for they did not wish to slay a man who had shown them such kindness. Longinus, however, besought them to carry out their orders, saying, “There are no means by which you can better thank me for my hospitality than to send me quickly to my Lord, Whom I have ling desired to see.”

Longinus then clothed himself in white funeral clothes and indicated to his household servants with his hand the hill nearby, where he wished them to bury his body and those of his two friends. After they had prayed for a long time and given all present a last kiss, the martyrs bent their necks beneath the sword. The soldiers beheaded them, took the head of Saint Longinus, and departed, leaving the servants to bury the bodies at the place the holy Longinus had pointed out.

The soldiers took Longinus’ honorable and sacred head to Jerusalem to confirm to Pilate and the Jews that the saint had truly been slain. When Pilate and the Jews saw his holy head, they commanded that it be cast out of the city. There it remained lying in filth until finally it was covered over with dirt.

But the Lord, Who keepeth all the bones of those who please Him, preserved the head of Saint Longinus unharmed although it was buried in the dust. Later, when He wished to exalt on earth His servant, who was glorified already by the angels in heaven, He revealed Longinus’ head in the following manner.

There was a widow from Cappadocia who became blind in both eyes. She sought help from physicians for a long time but in vain. Then she thought to go to Jerusalem and to worship at the holy places there and to seek from God the healing of her blind eyes. She set out on her journey with her only son, who led her to Jerusalem. But when she reached the holy places, her son fell ill, and a few days later he died. Because of this the widow was cast into deep sorrow and wept over her twofold blindness; that of her eyes and that caused by the loss of her son, who was, as it were, the light of her eyes and her guide in blindness.

As the widow wept inconsolably, lamenting bitterly, Saint Longinus appeared to her in a vision and comforted her, promising that she would see her son in heavenly glory and that her eyes would be granted sight. Moreover, he told her how he had been present at the Passion, Crucifixion, burial, and Resurrection of Christ and how he preached Christ in Cappadocia and suffered for Him with his friends. He also commanded her to go outside the city walls and told her that she would find his head there covered with filth. “It is your lot,” said he, “to find my head and to receive healing through it.”

Thus consoled in her grief, the woman arose and asked to be led out of the city. She told her guides, “Leave me in the place where you see a great pile of rubbish.”

They told her when they had come upon the great heap of refuse, and she sat on the ground. She then began to push aside the filth and sift through the dirt with her hands, for although she could see nothing with her eyes, she had great faith in the words spoken to her by the saint in the vision. And in accordance with God’s providence, she quickly received that for which she sought: suddenly her eyes beheld the light of the sun. When her eyes were opened, she saw the head of the saint lying in the dirt, and she was filled with gladness, not so much because she could now see the sun’s rays but because she had found the head of the saint, through which she received her sight. In her great joy she both glorified God and magnified His servant saint Longinus.

Then the woman took up the head, kissed it, and bore it home joyfully. She washed it and anointed it with sweet-smelling oils, and such was her hoy at having found this spiritual treasure that she forgot her grief for her dead son. The following night, Saint Longinus again appeared to her amid great light, leading her son arrayed in a splendid garment fit for a wedding. He lovingly embraced the young man like a father and said to the widow, “Behold him for whom you grieve and sorrow! Behold, O woman, your son! See what glory and honor are now his, and be consoled, for God has numbered him among those who are to be found in His heavenly kingdom. I have received him from the Saviour, and he shall never be parted from me. Now take my head and your son’s body, and bury them in a single casket. Weep no more for your son, neither let your heart be troubled, for God has granted him to rejoice forever in great glory and gladness.”

When the woman heard this, she arose quickly and placed the martyr’s head in the same coffin with the body of her reposed son and then returned home, praising and glorifying God. After reaching her homeland, she buried the body of her son with the head of the martyr in a place of honor, thinking as she did so, “Now I know that all things work together for good to them that love God. I sought healing for the eyes of my body and found also healing for my soul. I was held fast by grief because of my son’s death, but now I have him as an intercessor in the heavens before God. There he stands in glory amid the angels, rejoicing with the prophets and the martyrs, and he bears the Cross as a standard of victory in the kingdom of Christ with Longinus. As Longinus’ disciple he joyously chants together with the martyr, saying, “Truly this was and is and ever shall be the Son of God, Whose kingdom is the kingdom of all ages and Whose dominion is over every generation and generation.’” To Him be glory forever!

Amen