Saint Who?
Saints Who Served in the Military
Saint Longinus the Centurion
Layman (1st century)Feast: October 16
Although the Gospels do not give him a name, Catholic tradition calls him Longinus. It is sometimes said that Longinus became a preacher and died a martyr. But that may be only a legend.
The Gospels, on the other hand, tell us emphatically that there was a centurion—a man who commanded one hundred soldiers—present at the crucifixion on Good Friday. He was apparently the leader of the group of soldiers who were told to execute three men, including our Lord. The soldiers accompanied the condemned prisoners outside the city, nailed them to wooden crosses, and stood guard until the prisoners died, an unpleasant duty they had probably performed many times before.
The centurion whom we call Longinus watched Jesus die on the cross. He saw our Lord behave completely unlike every other victim he had seen. Instead of cursing and screaming, our Lord prayed, forgave his enemies, and died in peaceful surrender. Longinus observed the sky grow dark and felt a great earthquake. He then made the first proclamation of Jesus’ divinity after the crucifixion: “Truly this man was the Son of God!” The soldier who pierced Christ’s side with his spear—we imagine it was Longinus again—saw blood and water flow out of our Savior’s heart, flooding Longinus’ heart and the whole world with graces.
Lord Jesus Christ, we too acknowledge you
as the Son of God.
