Editing Longinus

{{Short description|Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus}}
{{About|the Roman soldier|other uses|Longinus (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix = [[Saint]]
|name =Longinus the Centurion
|birth_date = 1st century in Sandiale or [[Sandrales]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/631244|title=Sandrales/Sandiale: A Pleiades place resource|date=23 July 2012}}</ref> of [[Cappadocia]]<ref>"Pago autem nomen est Sandiale" "Σανδιάλη τῇ κώμῃ τό ὃνομα" from «[http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/20vs/103_migne_gm/0950-1050,_Symeon_Metaphrastes,_Vita_Sanctorum_Mensis_03_Martius_(MPG_115_0009_0076),_GM.pdf month March]» ΙΑ' page. 41 (in pdf page 17). [https://web.archive.org/web/20160701180053/http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/20vs/103_migne_gm/0950-1050,_Symeon_Metaphrastes,_Vita_Sanctorum_Mensis_03_Martius_(MPG_115_0009_0076),_GM.pdf Archived] 1 Jul 2016. Retrieved 6 Feb. 2018</ref>
|death_date = 1st century
|feast_day =
* March 15: Roman Catholic Church (pre-1969)
* 16 October: Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches
* 22 October: Armenian Apostolic Church
* 14 November: Coptic Orthodox Church
|venerated_in = [[Anglican Communion]]<br />[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br />[[Oriental Orthodoxy]]<br />[[Catholic Church]]
|image = Bernini Hl. Longinus Petersdom.jpg
|caption = Statue of Saint Longinus by [[Bernini]] in [[Saint Peter's Basilica]]
|birth_place =
|death_place =
|titles =
|beatified_date =
|beatified_place =
|beatified_by =
|canonized_date =
|canonized_place =
|canonized_by =
|attributes = Military attire, lance<ref name="Stracke">{{cite web |last1=Stracke |first1=Richard |title= Saint Longinus | url = http://www.christianiconography.info/longinus.html |website=Christian Iconography | date=2015-10-20}}</ref>
|patronage =
|major_shrine = Inside [[St. Peter's Basilica]], [[Vatican City]]
|suppressed_date =
|issues =
}}
[[File:Meister des Rabula-Evangeliums 002.jpg|thumb|Illustration from the [[Rabbula Gospels]], AD 586: Longinus is labelled "{{lang|el|ΛΟΓΙΝΟϹ}}".]]
'''Longinus''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Λογγίνος) is the name of the Roman soldier who pierced the side of [[Jesus]] with a lance, who in apostolic and some modern [[Christian tradition]]s is described as a [[Conversion to Christianity|convert to Christianity.]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fuhrmann|first1=Christopher|title=Policing the Roman Empire: Soldiers, Administration, and Public Order|date= 11 April 2014|edition= Reprint|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199360017|page=231|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yspXtgPVoJQC&q=Longinus++&pg=PA231}}</ref> His name first appeared in the [[apocryphal]] [[Gospel of Nicodemus#Naming of New Testament figures|Gospel of Nicodemus]].<ref name="Barber">{{cite book |last1=Barber |first1=Richard |author-link1=Richard Barber |title=The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief |date=2004 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674013902 |page=[https://archive.org/details/holygrailimagina00barb/page/118 118] |url=https://archive.org/details/holygrailimagina00barb |url-access=registration |quote=gospel of nicodemus Longinus|access-date=24 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref> The lance is called in Catholic Christianity the "[[Holy Lance]]" (''[[lancea (weapon)|lancea]]'') and the story is related in the [[Gospel of John]] during the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Crucifixion]].<ref>[[Gospel of John|John]] 19:34.</ref> This act is said to have created the last of the [[Five Holy Wounds]] of Christ.

This person, [[unnamed people in the Bible|unnamed]] in the [[Gospel]]s, is further identified in some versions of the story as the [[centurion]] present at the [[Crucifixion]], who said that Jesus was the son of God,<ref name="Baring-Gould"/> so he is considered as one of the first Christians and Roman converts. Longinus's legend grew over the years to the point that he was said to have converted to Christianity after the Crucifixion, and he is traditionally venerated as a [[saint]] in the [[Roman Catholic Church]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], and several other Christian communions.

==Origins==
No name for this soldier is given in the canonical Gospels; the name ''Longinus'' is instead found in the [[apocryphal]] ''[[Gospel of Nicodemus]]''. Longinus was not originally a saint in [[Christian tradition]]. An early tradition, found in a sixth- or seventh-century pseudepigraphal "[[Letter of Herod to Pilate]]", claims that Longinus suffered for having pierced Jesus, and that he was condemned to a cave where every night a lion came and mauled him until dawn, after which his body healed back to normal, in a pattern that would repeat until the end of time.<ref>Ehrman, Bart D, and Zlatko Pleše. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=QzxpAgAAQBAJ The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations]''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 523</ref> Later traditions turned him into a Christian convert, but as [[Sabine Baring-Gould]] observed: "The name of Longinus was not known to the Greeks previous to the [[Germanus I of Constantinople|patriarch Germanus]], in 715. It was introduced among the Westerns from the Apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus. There is no reliable authority for the Acts and martyrdom of this saint."<ref name="Baring-Gould">Baring-Gould, ''The Lives of the Saints'', vol. III (Edinburgh) 1914, ''sub'' "March 15: S[aint] Longinus M[artyr]"; Baring-Gould adds, "The Greek Acts pretend to be by S. [[Hesychius of Jerusalem|Hesychius]] (March 28th), but are an impudent forgery of late date." ([https://web.archive.org/web/20000129143328/http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/9587/bglong.html on-line text]).</ref>

The name is probably Latinized into a common cognomen of the [[Cassia gens]], from the Greek {{lang|grc-Latn|lónchē}} ({{lang|grc|λόγχη}}), the word used for the spear mentioned in [[Gospel of John|John]] {{bibleverse-nb|John|19:34|KJV}}.<ref>See at [[Kontos (weapon)|Kontos]]; "The name cannot be ascribed to any tradition; its obvious derivation from logchē (λόγχη), spear or lance, shows that it was, like that of [[Saint Veronica]], fashioned to suit the event," noted Elizabeth Jameson, ''The History of Our Lord as Exemplified in Works of Art'' 1872:160.</ref> It first appears lettered on an [[Illuminated manuscript|illumination]] of the Crucifixion beside the figure of the soldier holding a spear, written, perhaps contemporaneously, in horizontal Greek letters, <small>''LOGINOS'' (ΛΟΓΙΝΟϹ)</small>, in the Syriac [[Rabula Gospels|gospel manuscript illuminated by a certain Rabulas]] in the year 586, in the [[Laurentian Library]], Florence. The spear used is known as the [[Holy Lance]], and more recently, especially in occult circles, as the "Spear of Destiny", which was revered at [[Jerusalem]] by the sixth century, although neither the centurion nor the name "Longinus" were invoked in any surviving report. As the "Lance of Longinus", the spear figures in the legends of the [[Holy Grail]].{{citation needed|date=September 2014}}

Blindness or other eye problems are not mentioned until after the tenth century.<ref name="Sticca">{{cite book|last1=Sticca|first1=Sandro|title=The Latin Passion Play: Its Origins and Development|date=1970|publisher=State University of New York|isbn=978-0873950459|page=[https://archive.org/details/latinpassionplay00sand/page/159 159]|url=https://archive.org/details/latinpassionplay00sand|url-access=registration|quote=Longinus Jesus Christ blind.|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref> [[Petrus Comestor]] was one of the first to add an eyesight problem to the legend and his text can be translated as "blind", "dim-sighted" or "weak-sighted". The ''[[Golden Legend]]'' says that he saw celestial signs before conversion and that his eye problems might have been caused by illness or age.<ref name="Webber">{{cite book|author1=Ruth House Webber|editor1-last=Caspi|editor1-first=Michael|title=Oral Tradition and Hispanic Literature: Essays in Honor of Samuel G. Armistead|date=1995|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0815320623|page=633|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yej1AwmvO6gC&q=Petrus+Comestor++longinus+blindness&pg=PA633|access-date=27 March 2018|chapter=Jimena's Prayer in the Cantor de Mio Cid and the French Epic Prayer}}</ref> The touch of [[Blood of Christ|Jesus's blood]] cures his eye problem:

{{blockquote|Christian legend has it that Longinus was a blind Roman centurion who thrust the spear into Christ's side at the crucifixion. Some of Jesus's blood fell upon his eyes and he was healed. Upon this miracle Longinus believed in Jesus.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Godwin | first1 = Malcolm | title = The Holy Grail: Its Origins, Secrets & Meaning Revealed | publisher = Viking Penguin | year = 1994 | page = [https://archive.org/details/holygrailitsorig00godw/page/51 51] | isbn = 0-670-85128-0 | url = https://archive.org/details/holygrailitsorig00godw/page/51 }}</ref>}}

The body of Longinus is said to have been lost twice, but discovered at [[Mantua]], together with the Holy Sponge stained with Christ's blood, wherewith it was told—extending Longinus's role—that Longinus had assisted in cleansing Christ's body when it was taken down from the cross. The relic enjoyed a revived cult in the late 13th century under the patronage of the [[Bonacolsi]].<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.diocesidimantova.it/approfondisci/pagine/dettaglio/preziosissimo-sangue-e-sacri-vasi/ | title = Most Precious Blood and Sacred Vessels | language = it | website = Roman Catholic Diocese of Mantua | access-date = Dec 23, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181223202723/https://www.diocesidimantova.it/approfondisci/pagine/dettaglio/preziosissimo-sangue-e-sacri-vasi/ | archive-date = December 23, 2018 | url-status = live}}</ref>

The relics are said to have been divided and then distributed to [[Prague]] (St. Peter and Paul Basilica, Vyšehrad)<ref>{{cite journal|lang=cs|last=Nechvátal|first=Bořivoj|title=Dva raně středověké sarkofágy z Vyšehradu|journal=Archaeologia Historica|year=2001|volume=26|issue=1|page=345-358|issn=0231-5823|url=https://hld.handle.net/11222.digilib/140428|publisher=Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University}}</ref> and elsewhere. Greek sources assert that he suffered martyrdom in [[Cappadocia]]. The [[Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Washington, D.C.)|Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Baptist]], Washington, DC, purports to have a holy relic, a fragment of bone, of Saint Longinus.<ref>[https://stjohndc.org/en/list-of-relics/longinus-cappadociathe-centurion-martyr "Longinus of Cappadociathe, centurion, martyr", Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St.John the Baptist, Washington DC.]</ref>

==Present-day veneration==
[[File:LonginusFyodorZubov.jpg|thumb|upright|Longinus the Centurion. [[Russian icon]] by [[Fyodor Zubov]], 1680]]
Longinus is venerated, generally as a martyr, in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]]. His feast day is kept on 16 October in the [[Roman Martyrology]], which mentions him, without any indication of martyrdom, in the following terms: "At Jerusalem, commemoration of Saint Longinus, who is venerated as the soldier opening the side of the crucified Lord with a lance".<ref>"Hierosolymae, commemoratio sancti Longini, qui miles colitur latus Domini cruci affixi lancea aperiens" – ''Martyrologium Romanum'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2001 {{ISBN|88-209-7210-7}}), Die 16 octobris</ref> The pre-1969 feast day in the [[Roman Rite]] is 15 March. The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] commemorates him on 16 October. In the Armenian Apostolic Church, his feast is commemorated on 22 October.<ref>[[Calendar of Saints (Armenian Apostolic Church)]]</ref>

The statue of ''[[Saint Longinus (Bernini)|Saint Longinus]]'', sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, is one of four in the niches beneath the dome of [[Saint Peter's Basilica]], [[Vatican City]]. A spearpoint fragment said to be from the Holy Lance is also conserved in the Basilica.

Longinus and his legend are the subject of the [[Moriones Festival]] held during [[Holy Week in the Philippines|Holy Week]] on the island of [[Marinduque]], the [[Philippines]].

[[hagiography|Hagiographical]] fragments on St. Longinus from 11th–13th century found in [[Dubrovnik]] indicate his veneration in this area in Middle Ages.<ref>{{cite conference|last=Vojvoda|first=Rozana|lang=hr|title=Fragmenti svetačkih života pisani beneventanom i vezani za Dubrovnik|url=https://www.croris.hr/crosbi/publikacija/prilog-skup/594611|conference=III. Kongres hrvatskih povjesničara|location=Supetar, Split|year=2008}}</ref> There is [[altarpiece]] ''St. Longinus and St. Gaudentius'' by an anonymous author from 17th century in St. Anthony the Great Catholic [[parish church]] in [[Veli Lošinj]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bulić|first=Goran|title=Konzervatorsko-restauratorski radovi na slici sv. Gaudencije i sv. Longin iz župne crkve sv. Antuna Opata Pustinjaka u Velom Lošinju|lang=hr|journal=Godišnjak zaštite spomenika kulture Hrvatske|issn=2459-668X|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/117650|year=2011|volume=35|issue=35|page=233-240}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Majer Jurišić|first=Krasanka|lang=hr|title=Zašto razgovarati o zaštiti spomenika?|journal=Kvartal: Kronika Povijesti Umjetnosti U Hrvatskoj|volume=8|issue=1–2|pages=67–69|year=2011|url=https://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:ZpMM381zFz8J:scholar.google.com/+Sveti+Longin&hl=hr&as_sdt=0,5}}</ref>

The [[Longinus cross]] (German: Longinuskreuz) is a special form of the [[Arma Christi]] cross, which occurs mainly in the [[Black Forest]], but also occasionally in other regions of South Germany.

===Brazil===
====Folkloric role====
In Brazil, Saint Longinus – in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], {{Lang|pt|São Longuinho}} – is attributed the power of finding missing objects. The saint's aid is summoned by the chant:

{{Poem quote|São Longuinho, São Longuinho, se eu achar [missing object], dou três pulinhos!
(O Saint Longinus, Saint Longinus, if I find [missing object], I'll hop three times!)}}

Folk tradition explains the association with missing objects with a tale from the saint's days in Rome. It is said he was of short stature and, as such, had unimpeded view of the underside of tables in crowded parties. Due to this, he would find and return objects dropped on the ground by the other attendants.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pt.aleteia.org/2018/03/15/sao-longuinho-e-a-tradicao-dos-3-pulinhos/ |title=São Longuinho e a tradição dos 3 pulinhos |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2018-03-15 |website=Aleteia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031142425/https://pt.aleteia.org/2018/03/15/sao-longuinho-e-a-tradicao-dos-3-pulinhos/ |archive-date=2020-10-31 |quote=Diz-se que ele era um homem baixinho e que, servindo na corte de Roma, vivia nas festas. Nesses ambientes, por sua pequena estatura, conseguia ver o que se passava por baixo das mesas e sempre encontrava pertences de pessoas. Os objetos achados eram devolvidos aos seus donos. Assim, teria surgido o costume de pedir-lhe ajuda para encontrar o que se perdeu.}}</ref>

Accounts vary regarding the promised offering of three hops, citing either deference to an alleged limping of the saint or a plea to the [[Holy Trinity]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pt.aleteia.org/2018/03/15/sao-longuinho-e-a-tradicao-dos-3-pulinhos/ |title=São Longuinho e a tradição dos 3 pulinhos |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2018-03-15 |website=Aleteia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031142425/https://pt.aleteia.org/2018/03/15/sao-longuinho-e-a-tradicao-dos-3-pulinhos/ |archive-date=2020-10-31 |quote=Diz-se também que essa forma de agradecimento seria pelo fato de o soldado ser manco. Outra explicação afirma que os pulinhos remetem à Santíssima Trindade.}}</ref>

====Brazilian spiritism====
Brazilian [[mediumship|medium]] [[Chico Xavier]] wrote ''Brasil, Coração do Mundo, Pátria do Evangelho'', a [[psychography|psychographic book]] of authorship attributed to the spirit of [[Humberto de Campos (journalist)|Humberto de Campos]]. In the book, Saint Longinus is claimed to have been reincarnated as [[Pedro II of Brazil|Pedro II]], the last Brazilian emperor.<ref>{{cite book |last=Xavier |first=Francisco Cândido |date=1938 |title=Brasil, Coração do Mundo, Pátria do Evangelho |url=http://www.oconsolador.com.br/linkfixo/bibliotecavirtual/chicoxavier/Brasil_Coracao_do_Mundo_Patria_do_Evangelho.pdf |chapter=D. PEDRO II |chapter-url=http://www.oconsolador.com.br/linkfixo/bibliotecavirtual/chicoxavier/Brasil_Coracao_do_Mundo_Patria_do_Evangelho.pdf#page=112 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131065534/http://www.oconsolador.com.br/linkfixo/bibliotecavirtual/chicoxavier/Brasil_Coracao_do_Mundo_Patria_do_Evangelho.pdf |archive-date=2012-01-31|language=Portuguese |location=Brazil |publisher=Federação Espírita Brasileira|isbn=978-8573287967 |quote=Foi assim que Longinus preparou a sua volta à Terra, depois de outras existências tecidas de abnegações edificantes em favor da humanidade, e, no dia 2 de dezembro de 1825, no Rio de Janeiro, nascia de D. Leopoldina, a virtuosa esposa de D. Pedro, aquele que seria no Brasil o grande imperador e que, na expressão dos seus próprios adversários, seria o maior de todos os republicanos de sua pátria.}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="165" heights="165">
Image:Meister_der_Nea-Moni-Kirche_in_Chios_005.jpg|Longinus depicted in the Nea Moni Church, Chios, Greece
Image:Mathis Gothart Grünewald 047.jpg|Christ on the Cross, the three Marys, John the Evangelist, and Saint Longinus
Image:Sao Longuinhos - Bom Jesus.jpg|Saint Longinus in [[Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte|Bom Jesus do Monte]], [[Portugal]]
Image:Longinus.jpg|Fresco in [[Basilica of St Peter and St Paul]] in [[Vyšehrad]] (Prague)
File:First Class Bone Relic of St. Longinus - the centurion who pierced the side of Jesus with the Holy Lance (Spear of Destiny).jpg|First Class Bone Relic of St. Longinus
File:Jan Provoost - crucifixion - huile sur panneau - entre 1501 et 1505 approx - Groeningemuseum de Bruges.jpg|Longinus in The Crucifixion of Jan Provoost (Groeningmuseum of Bruges)
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[List of names for the Biblical nameless]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Saint Longinus}}
{{Wikiquote|Longinus (Bible)}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/19990128191158/http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/9587/rel_lon.html The Reliquary of Saint Longinus]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070213124841/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintl56.htm Catholic Forum: "St. Longinus"]
* [http://www.hullp.demon.co.uk/SacredHeart/saint/StLonginus.htm St. Longinus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090820072046/http://www.hullp.demon.co.uk/SacredHeart/saint/StLonginus.htm |date=2009-08-20 }}
* [https://www.catholic-saints.info/patron-saints/saint-longinus.htm Catholic-Saints "St. Longinus"]
* [https://almoutran.com/2011/10/4339 Martyr Longinus]

{{New Testament people}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longinus}}
[[Category:1st-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:1st-century deaths]]
[[Category:1st-century Romans]]
[[Category:Mythological blind people]]
[[Category:Christian hagiography]]
[[Category:Christian mythology]]
[[Category:Christian saints from the New Testament]]
[[Category:Legendary Romans]]
[[Category:People in the canonical gospels]]
[[Category:Ancient Romans from unknown gentes]]
[[Category:Unnamed people of the Bible]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman soldiers]]
[[Category:Holy Lance]]