St. Longinus is a saint everyone knows the actions of but not the name. Longinus was born in the 1st century, and he was a Roman centurion which means he commanded 100 Roman soldiers which means he was very respected by the nobles at the time and was very disciplined in the army. He was serving as a Roman soldier in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus.
Longinus was believed to be the soldier that pierced the side of Jesus when blood and water started gushing out. The moment is only ever described in the Gospel of John saying, “One of the soldiers thrust a lance into his side, and immediately a flow of blood and water came forth.” At the time, a spear to the side would confirm if the person being crucified has died or not and Jesus was officially dead.
Tradition says that Longinus witnessed the storm covering the land and the earthquake at the time of Jesus’ death. In Matthew 27:54 and Mark 15:39, a centurion said after these miracles, “Truly this man was the Son of Man.” and Christians believe that Longinus was the centurion and that moment led to his conversion.
After converting, Longinus left the Roman army. He moved to Cappadocia which is modern day Turkey and he preached about Jesus. He was known for his deep Christianity and his significant and early part in bringing the Christian religion to where Turkey is today.
Roman officials eventually found out he was preaching Christianity and he was captured and was ordered to deny his faith, but he refused, knowing that Jesus was the Son of God and Jesus would be his way to Heaven. So, the Roman officials ordered his beheading, and he became a martyr in the Catholic faith and he is a saint.
The lance that St. Longinus is called The Holy Lance or the Spear of Destiny. Many churches have claimed to possess this famous and Holy relic though the one that is believed to be the actual one is kept in one of the four pillars supporting the famous dome of St. Peter’s Basilica but for one day in Lent (the service this year was yesterday) it comes out of the pilar and is shown to the public. A replicate that can be seen all year round is in kept in the 11th room of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria.
This now concludes the story of St. Longinus on this Second Sunday of Lent, I hope everyone will have an amazing rest of their day.