Saint Longinus, A Soldier for Christ

Today I wish to share the story of St. Longinus, and how the witness of Christ can change the life of any man. There is much that we do not know for certain about this man, much that is simply the communication of tradition in our Church, but the stories we do have of this man are inspiring. We do not have original documents telling of his story, but then again we do not have the original documents of our Scripture, so I do not think his story is untrustworthy. If you wish to go through your life not believing his story then so be it, but if you open up your heart to his tale, you will find an inspiring man, worth aspiring to.

We first encounter Longinus in John chapter 19. The soldier is not named in the Gospel, but he is identified by tradition as the one who pierces the side of Christ, and he is the one who is attributed in Mark 15:39 as saying "Truly this man was the Son of God!" This man, witnessing the suffering and death of the Son of God, is our focus today. And here we truly begin his story.

Longinus had seen many die in battle in his years serving the empire, and he had killed many a man himself. To see a crucifixion - a word shameful for a Roman citizen to even speak of because of its disgrace - was not an unfamiliar sight to him. Just as many centurions before him, he had been tasked to oversee the execution of criminals through this torturous method. This was not his first time overseeing the death of such men.

It was not a surprise to him that he'd been given such a task, since his ability to be an effective soldier had been degrading these last few years. Tradition says he suffered from a malady of the eyes, which limited his sight. In order for him to continue serving the empire, which he so longed to do, they gave him simpler, easier tasks to oversee, such as the execution of criminals. Not, of course, because he was dumb or weak, but though he was a good soldier his body was giving out on him. And so, he today is tasked with overseeing another execution.

But, as darkness fell at noon, the sun disappeared, he realized something greater than man was unfolding before him. His task today was to oversee three men as they hung upon crosses, named Dismas, Jesus, and Gestas. Crucifixion is already a horrifying spectacle, but the man hung on the middle cross named Jesus had been subject to torturous treatment before his slow execution being witnessed now. Much of his flesh was stripped from his body after the soldiers beat him with the flagrum, which some call the cat-o'-nine-tails, a beating which the soldiers called "the half death" since half the men who received this beating would die from it. In addition to this the man Jesus was forced to carry his cross to the place of his execution, and sometime before he arrived a laurel of sorts made from a thorny branch was placed upon his head - no, on his head is not accurate, the thorns pierced into his head and drawing even more blood from him.

All of this, such suffering, the centurion witnessed before him, yet this man before him did not scream, did not curse, did not deride anyone. Instead he told the man to his right that he would join him in his kingdom this day. And he comforts - he comforts those looking on, giving away a woman he calls mother to a man who must be his follower, that she may be cared for and looked after when he dies, which must be sometime soon.

And he must be some sort of king, though a dishonored one, since the plaque above him marked him as "the king of the Jews". What a terrible throne he hangs from, what a kingdom he has before him - but somehow he is regal, he is calm, he is... divine. Somehow. This man, stripped naked, hung up for everyone to see, blood draining down his cross, was still somehow regal.

And then this man cries out, saying he gives up his spirit. Then the earth shook beneath his feet, all those in the region were thrown to the ground, rocks split asunder, the walls of the city cracked, and some structures collapsed. The decorum with which this man conducted himself among all this suffering, and all these signs around him drew from the lips of Longinus the words, "Truly, this was the Son of God."

Those Jews looking on, seemingly waiting for the death of this Jesus, came forth and spoke to the centurions, demanding the bodies of the men be taken down as they were about to enter into a holy day and needed to bury the bodies of any executed Jews before the day's end. Crucifixions could last many days, depending on their states before being hung upon a cross, and so to speed things up the criminals would often have their legs broken, causing a faster onset of death. And so hammers were taken to the legs of Dismas and Gestas, which caused them to die within a few minutes. But when Longinus brought his hammer to Jesus, he saw that the man had already died. It truly was a wonder he had lived as long as he had after the half death beating. But the onlooking Jews from the Pharisee sect of teachers looked on expectantly, and so he had to do something.

Longinus dropped his hammer and took up his lance, and pierced the heart of Jesus. When the weapon entered into the dead man blood and water flowed from the wound and splashed upon the face of the centurion, causing him to drop the lance and fall to the ground. His eyes burned.

He wiped the blood and water from his eyes, then looked up at the man he had pierced. His eyesight was restored. He now saw better than any time in the past. And now he saw even more clearly the terrible state of the man hung dead before him, and he wept.

The other soldiers had to do the work of bringing Jesus down from the cross as Longinus cried. The body of this holy man was taken away, and placed into a tomb. Longinus could not help with putting things away since he wept bitterly, contemplating at what man he had just had killed.

There are different traditions which tell of the next parts of the story of Longinus. One telling is that he was then placed as a guard over the tomb of Christ, or perhaps he volunteered for the position, and was a witness of the stone being rolled away and had the opportunity to speak with our resurrected Lord. Another telling is that he stripped himself of his soldier's armor at the foot of the cross, and after Christ's resurrection he sought out the Apostles. Either way, he came to know the disciples of the Lord and began preaching the good news of the resurrection. He was, as the tradition goes, the first Roman convert to Christianity.

Longinus took up the life of piety, of poverty, of preaching, and travelled the land spreading the Good News of Christ. This was at a time where Christianity was not a recognized religion and so persecution was rampant, and it was when the Jewish authorities felt most bold with suppressing the followers of Jesus. Longinus took up preaching in Cappadocia and resided among the people there, and when the Pharisees heard of this they persuaded Pilate to send a regiment out to find this man. When Longinus saw a regiment of soldiers approaching the town he went out to greet them, and offered that they come into his home, and they did. He fed them, sat with them, conversed with these soldiers, and then asked these men what was the purpose of their visit. When the soldiers told of the man they were looking for, a monk named Longinus, a follower of Jesus, and that their orders were from Pilate to put an end to his preaching, Longinus revealed himself and told the men that he, their host, was the one they were sent to look for.

The soldiers urged Longinus to flee, for they saw he was a good man. But the monk refused, and he told the soldiers to carry on with their duty. No matter how much they tried to persuade him the monk would not flee and hide, for he knew that what was about to take place was for the glory of his savior. And so, the soldiers carried out their duty.

Here we have a divergence in tradition. In the East it is said that Longinus was taken outside with his compatriots who refused to leave his side and all were beheaded, and then the head of Longinus was sent to Pilate. In the West, however, the story goes that the monk was taken by the soldiers back to the governor to stand before him. We shall continue with the story of the West, and speak of the miracles after this.

When Longinus was brought before Pilate in a temple filled with idols he was told to renounce his faith in Jesus and to abstain from his preaching, as it looked bad for a Roman soldier to abandon his station and to speak against their gods. It has been alleged that he said "I have served kings, but none greater than the one who reigns above all. No blade nor fire can undo what he has done!" This did not go over well with Pilate.

It is said that Longinus once again lost his eyesight, this time removed by the very man he served as a soldier. But he then said "I have seen the truth, and no man can blind me now." When they saw he was unphased, the Romans then cut out his tongue, and ripped his teeth from his mouth, believing this would finally silence the zealot. It did not.

Without a tongue, with no teeth, a booming voice coming from as if from Heaven itself emanated from his mouth and he said "Now we shall see whether they are truly gods!” He seized upon an unattended weapon, a sword or an axe, and swung wide, destroying, beheading the idols within this temple.

The demons which had possessed the vessels of these false gods were then homeless, and they fled into the governor, possessing Pilate, who is said to then become blinded. Longinus, filled with the Spirit, knew of the presence of these spirits, and asked them, "Why take ye up your abode in idols?” The demons responded, "Where the name of Christ is not heard and the sign of His Cross not imposed, there is our dwelling-place.”

Regaining some control again, Pilate cried out for the monk to be killed. A soldier stepped forward and with a swing of his weapon lopped off the head of Longinus, and so made him a martyr. The blood which sprayed from the execution landed upon the governor's face and caused the demons to flee from being touched at all by the holy martyr, and the governor regained his sight immediately. Pilate then ordered that the monk's head be thrown onto a trash heap outside the city's walls.

There is a story of a blind widow who arrives at Jerusalem with her son as her guide, and she is seeking healing that she might see again. Not long after arriving at the holy city her son fell ill and died. She then wandered the city, seeking after physicians and holy men to cure her, but she received no such healing.

Then Saint Longinus appeared to her in a dream to bring her comfort. He told her that the Lord wanted to restore her sight. To receive her sight again she was to go find his head in the rubbish heap outside the city. She found her way to the heap, and dug through it. The moment that she touched the martyr's head, her eyesight was restored.

She took the saint's head back to where she was staying, and Longinus along with her son appeared to her in a heavenly vision. The holy martyr said, "Woman, behold the son for whom you grieve. See what glory and honor are his now, and be consoled. God has numbered him with those in His heavenly Kingdom. Now take my head and your son’s body, and bury them in the same casket. Do not weep for your son, for he will rejoice forever in great glory and happiness.” She did as she was told, and told of the blessings which she received.

If you wish to question the story of Saint Longinus you may do so. Just as it is for many Christians in the first century, we have very little evidence that such a man as has been spoken of truly existed. There is also question regarding his name, since Longinus is a name similar to the Latin lonche, which is the word for lance, or loginos which is Greek for spearman. So, the name is perhaps not what he was truly called, but is instead a title which denotes who he was in the story of Christ. And as for backing the stories of him, and the statements said to be spoken by him, good luck finding the originals. But I, rather, choose to take solace in this story, since it does no harm to believe in it, and I think it communicates well the mercy and gentleness of God, and how He can turn even the fiercest of men to become gentle and humble.

Written for VME Catholic, by Ethan Hall