Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion (1st Century) — October 16 / October 29 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, October 16 according to the Julian Calendar (October 29 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion.

The holy martyr Longinus the Centurion served in Judea and was subordinate to the procurator Pontius Pilate. At the time of the Savior’s crucifixion, the detachment commanded by the Roman soldier Longinus stood on guard around Golgotha, right at the foot of the Cross. Together with his soldiers he beheld the last moments of the Lord’s earthly life and the miracles that took place after His death. These events shook the soldier’s soul. He believed in Christ and publicly confessed that “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matt. 27:54). (According to Church tradition, Longinus was the soldier who pierced the Savior’s side with a spear, and from the blood and water that flowed from the wound he was granted the healing of his diseased eye.)

After the burial of the Savior, Longinus and his detachment guarded the Lord’s tomb. There, by God’s will, they became witnesses of Christ’s radiant Resurrection. The Jews bribed the guards and compelled them to say that Christ’s body had been stolen by His disciples, but Longinus and his two companions were not tempted by the gold of ungodliness.

The soldiers were baptized by the hands of the Apostles and left military service. Longinus set out for his homeland, Cappadocia, to preach the Gospel, and the Lord’s chosen soldiers went with him. The fervent preaching of those who had been direct witnesses of the great events in Judea stirred the Cappadocians. In the city and the surrounding villages Christianity spread with astonishing speed. When the Jewish elders learned of this, they persuaded Pilate to send a detachment of soldiers to put Longinus and his companions to death. The former centurion went out to meet the soldiers himself and invited them into his home. During the meal the guests, who did not know whose house they were in, revealed the purpose of their coming. Longinus and his comrades did not hide their identity, and asked the astonished soldiers to carry out their orders. The soldiers wished to set the saints free and offered them a chance to flee, but the Lord’s chosen ones, burning with the desire to suffer for Christ, refused. Then the holy martyrs were beheaded.

The bodies of the martyrs were buried where they themselves had asked, while their severed heads were sent to Pilate. By order of the lawless ruler, the heads were thrown onto a rubbish heap outside the city wall. Some time later a blind woman came to Jerusalem to venerate the holy places. In a dream Longinus the Centurion appeared to her and commanded her to find his head and bury it. The blind woman was led to the rubbish heap, and when she touched the sacred relic her eyes were opened. Filled with gratitude to God, the pious woman reverently carried the honored head to Cappadocia and committed it to the earth.