March 15 + Saint Longinus

Longinus is the Roman soldier (the centurion) who pierced the side of Our Lord while He was hanging on the Cross. Longinus, who was nearly blind, was healed when some of the blood and water from Jesus fell into his eyes. It was then he exclaimed, "Indeed this man was the son of God.” (St. Mark 15:39)

Longinus then converted, left the army, took instruction from the apostles and became a monk in Cappadocia. There he was arrested for his faith, his teeth forced out and tongue cut off. However, Longinus miraculously continued to speak clearly and managed to destroy several idols in the presence of the governor. The governor, who was made blind by the demons that came from the idols, had his sight restored when Longinus was being beheaded, because his blood came in contact with the governors' eyes.

Longinus' relics are now in the church of Saint Augustine in Rome. His lance is contained in one of the four pillars over the altar in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

In the book The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774 - 1824) explained: "I have always thought that by the wounds of Jesus there were opened anew in the human body portals closed by Adam's sin. I have been given to understand that Longinus opened in Jesus' side the gate of regeneration to eternal life, therefore no one entered Heaven while that gate was closed."