{"id":178923,"date":"2022-10-16T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2022-10-15T21:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=178923\/"},"modified":"2022-10-15T21:20:58","modified_gmt":"2022-10-15T18:20:58","slug":"martyr-longinus-the-centurion-who-stood-at-the-cross-of-the-lord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/martyr-longinus-the-centurion-who-stood-at-the-cross-of-the-lord\/","title":{"rendered":"Martyr Longinus the Centurion; 21st Sunday after Pentecost (Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Martyr Longinus the Centurion<\/h3>\n

The Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion, a Roman soldier, served in Judea under the command of the Governor, Pontius Pilate.<\/p>\n

When our Savior Jesus Christ was crucified, it was the detachment of soldiers under the command of Longinus which stood watch on Golgotha, at the very foot of the holy Cross.<\/p>\n

Longinus and his soldiers were eyewitnesses of the final moments of the earthly life of the Lord, and of the great and awesome portents that appeared at His death. These events shook the centurion\u2019s soul. Longinus believed in Christ and confessed before everyone, \u201cTruly this was the Son of God\u201d (Mt. 27:54).<\/p>\n

According to Church Tradition, Longinus was the soldier who pierced the side of the Crucified Savior with a spear, and received healing from an eye affliction when blood and water poured forth from the wound.<\/p>\n

After the Crucifixion and Burial of the Savior, Longinus stood watch with his company at the Sepulchre of the Lord.<\/p>\n

These soldiers were present at the All-Radiant Resurrection of Christ. The Jews bribed them to lie and say that His disciples had stolen away the Body of Christ, but Longinus and two of his comrades refused to be seduced by the Jewish gold. They also refused to remain silent about the miracle of the Resurrection.<\/p>\n

Having come to believe in the Savior, the soldiers received Baptism from the apostles and decided to leave military service. Saint Longinus left Judea to preach about Jesus Christ the Son of God in his native land (Cappadocia), and his two comrades followed him.<\/p>\n

The fiery words of those who had actually participated in the great events in Judea swayed the hearts and minds of the Cappadocians; Christianity began quickly to spread throughout the city and the surrounding villages.<\/p>\n

When they learned of this, the Jewish elders persuaded Pilate to send a company of soldiers to Cappadocia to kill Longinus and his comrades.<\/p>\n

When the soldiers arrived at Longinus\u2019s village, the former centurion himself came out to meet the soldiers and took them to his home.<\/p>\n

After a meal, the soldiers revealed the purpose of their visit, not knowing that the master of the house was the very man whom they were seeking. Then Longinus and his friends identified themselves and told the startled soldiers to carry out their duty.<\/p>\n

The soldiers wanted to let the saints go and advised them to flee, but they refused to do this, showing their firm intention to suffer for Christ.<\/p>\n

The holy martyrs were beheaded, and their bodies were buried at the place where the saints were martyred. The head of Saint Longinus, however, was sent to Pilate.<\/p>\n

Pilate gave orders to cast the martyr\u2019s head on a trash-heap outside the city walls. After a while a certain blind widow from Cappadocia arrived in Jerusalem with her son to pray at the holy places, and to ask that her sight be restored. After becoming blind, she had sought the help of physicians to cure her, but all their efforts were in vain.<\/p>\n

The woman\u2019s son became ill shortly after reaching Jerusalem, and he died a few days later. The widow grieved for the loss of her son, who had served as her guide.<\/p>\n

Saint Longinus appeared to her in a dream and comforted her. He told her that she would see her son in heavenly glory, and also receive her sight. He told her to go outside the city walls and there she would find his head in a great pile of refuse.<\/p>\n

Guides led the blind woman to the rubbish heap, and she began to dig with her hands. As soon as she touched the martyr\u2019s head, the woman received her sight, and she glorified God and Saint Longinus.<\/p>\n

Taking up the head, she brought it to the place she was staying and washed it. The next night, Saint Longinus appeared to her again, this time with her son.<\/p>\n

They were surrounded by a bright light, and Saint Longinus said, \u201cWoman, 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.<\/p>\n

Now take my head and your son\u2019s body, and bury them in the same casket. Do not weep for your son, for he will rejoice forever in great glory and happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman carried out the saint\u2019s instructions and returned to her home in Cappadocia. There she buried her son and the head of Saint Longinus.<\/p>\n

Once, she had been overcome by grief for her son, but her weeping was transformed into joy when she saw him with Saint Longinus. She had sought healing for her eyes, and also received healing of her soul.<\/p>\n

Troparion \u2014 Tone 1<\/h4>\n

Longinus, you beheld the King of Glory \/ who was nailed to the Cross, yet shone on those in darkness. \/ You were enlightened by His rays and became a martyr \/ and save those who cry: \/ Glory to Him who gave you strength! \/ Glory to Him who granted you a crown! \/ Glory to Him who through you grants healing to all!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

21st Sunday after Pentecost (Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council)<\/h3>\n

Gospel (Luke 8:5-15)<\/p>\n

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A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.\u201d When He had said these things He cried, \u201cHe who has ears to hear, let him hear!\u201d Then His disciples asked Him, saying, \u201cWhat does this parable mean?\u201d And He said, \u201cTo you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that \u2018Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.\u2019 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Martyr Longinus the Centurion The Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion, a Roman soldier, served in Judea under the command of the Governor, Pontius Pilate. When our Savior Jesus Christ was crucified, it was the detachment of soldiers under the command of Longinus which stood watch on Golgotha, at the very foot of the holy Cross.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":395810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[12081,10012,10011,12082,10010,2104,6568],"class_list":["post-178923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feasts-and-saints","tag-16-october","tag-daily-saints","tag-life-of-saints","tag-martyr-longinus-the-centurion","tag-orthodox-saints","tag-saints","tag-saints-of-the-day"],"better_featured_image":{"id":395810,"alt_text":"","caption":"","description":"","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":533,"height":739,"file":"2021\/10\/Pilda-Semanatorului.jpg","filesize":46549,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"Pilda-Semanatorului-360x360.jpg","width":360,"height":360,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":30986,"source_url":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Pilda-Semanatorului-360x360.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"post":178923,"source_url":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Pilda-Semanatorului.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178923\/"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post\/"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6\/"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments\/?post=178923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178923\/revisions\/"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395810\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/?parent=178923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/?post=178923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/?post=178923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}