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Homilia i in sanctum Longinum centurionem (homilia 19) [Dub.]

The Martyrdom of the holy Longinus the centurion, who was at the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the two soldiers with him,

written by Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem.

1 Many are the accounts of the martyrs; for just as the images of painters, imitating certain views of cities, and the sizes of towers, and the forms of men and women, are shown sometimes young, sometimes old, sometimes royal, sometimes bridal, sometimes sullen, sometimes exceedingly joyful, so also those who have chronicled the accounts of the martyrs' contests make manifest to the ears the firmness of their soul, and the manliness of their character, and their fearless and bold and undaunted presence in terrors, and the alliance from God descending to them, acknowledged sometimes by the multitude of signs, sometimes by the richness of grace in their words. But how could I worthily narrate the account of Longinus, both wise and brave, especially of the martyrdom for Christ which he began by confessing Him?

2 For when the whole band of the apostles, confounded by fear, denied him, and the lame whom he raised up, and the blind whom he enlightened, and the lepers along with them whom he freed from their mottled skin and the blemishes of the flesh, and others whose misfortunes he ended and whose diseases he consumed and whose nature he transformed to the better, all these, astonished at the drama of the cross, endured a shipwreck full of winter storm, the confession of the God-fearing centurion Longinus came to the ears of the wolf-minded synagogue of the Jews, when he said: "Truly this was the Son of God." For he was not ashamed of Pilate who had been hired against Christ, nor did he revere the fear of so many peoples or become numb before the multitude of those countless myriads. Therefore let his most beautiful contest be told and written, which the eyewitnesses from the beginning narrated and handed down to the generation after them; and from that one to the next and so coming down to us, the accounts of the martyrdom of Longinus have been preserved like some blameless pearls adorning the sacred bridal chamber of Christ.

3 When, therefore, Pilate, having been asked for a guard, gave one for the guarding of the tomb of the only-begotten Son of God, Longinus was their leader; for it was he who had also guarded the cross of Christ with the soldiers under him. But when the resurrection of Christ took place, as the writings of the divine gospels have handed down to us, and the soldiers announced to the chief priests and elders of the Jewish faction the wonders that had happened, they, ashamed before the people and wishing to extinguish the wonder, gave sufficient silver to the soldiers, so that they might slander the resurrection of Christ; and so also they persuaded Pilate with much money to accept the slander. But Longinus did not prefer deceit to the truth, nor did he receive gold against Christ, nor did he endure to prefer mammon to God, nor, enslaved by greed, did he slip into its deadly abyss, nor did he tolerate the slanders of falsehood against Christ, the one who raised Adam and slew death and made mortals live.

4 At this, Pilate and the rulers of the Jews, being spurred on, sought a plot against the blessed Longinus and had no opportunity; for Longinus was the most distinguished of the whole military phalanx. But when he wished entirely of Christ

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Homilia i in sanctum Longinum centurionem (homilia 19) [Dub.]

Μαρτύριον τοῦ ἁγίου Λογγίνου τοῦ ἑκατοντάρχου, τοῦ ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ δύο στρατιωτῶν,

συγγραφὲν παρὰ Ἡσυχίου πρεσβυτέρου Ἱεροσολύμων.

1 Πολλαὶ τῶν μαρτύρων αἱ γραφαί· καθάπερ γὰρ αἱ τῶν ζωγράφων εἰκόνες τινὰς μιμούμεναι τῶν πόλεων ὄψεις, καὶ μεγέθη πύργων, καὶ μορφὰς ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν, ποτὲ μὲν νέας, ποτὲ δὲ πρεσβυτικάς, ποτὲ δὲ βασιλικάς, ποτὲ δὲ νυμφικάς, ποτὲ δὲ σκυθρωπάς, ποτὲ δὲ περιχαρεῖς δεικνύ ονται, οὕτω καὶ οἱ τῶν μαρτυρικῶν ἀγώνων τοὺς λόγους ἱστο ρήσαντες τὸ στερρὸν τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ τῶν τρόπων τὸ ἀνδρεῖον, καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς δεινοῖς παράστασιν ἄφοβον καὶ εὔτολμον καὶ ἀκατάπληκτον, καὶ τὴν ἐκ θεοῦ συμμαχίαν πρὸς αὐτοὺς κα ταβαίνουσαν, ποτὲ μὲν τῷ πλήθει τῶν σημείων, ποτὲ δὲ τῷ πλού τῳ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τῆς χάριτος ὁμολογουμένην, ταῖς ἀκοαῖς ἐμ φανίζουσιν. Λογγίνου δὲ ἄρα γραφὴν σοφοῦ τε καὶ ἀνδρείου, ἐξαι ρέτως τῆς ὑπὲρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαρτυρίας ἧς ἤρξατο ὁμολογήσας αὐτόν, πῶς ἐπαξίως ἱστορήσαιμι;

2 Ὅτε γὰρ τῷ φόβῳ συγχυθεὶς ἐξηρνήσατο αὐτὸν ὅλος ὁ χο ρὸς τῶν ἀποστόλων, χωλοὶ δὲ οὓς ἤγειρεν, τυφλοί τε οὓς ἐφώ τισεν, λεπροί τε μετὰ τούτων οὓς τῆς πολυστίκτου δορᾶς καὶ τῆς σαρκὸς τῶν μωμημάτων ἠλευθέρωσεν, καὶ ἄλλοι ὧν τὰς συμφορὰς ἔπαυσεν καὶ τὰς νόσους ἐχώνευσεν καὶ πρὸς τὸ κρεῖτ τον τὴν φύσιν μετεσκεύασεν, οὗτοι πάντες πρὸς τὸ δρᾶμα τοῦ σταυροῦ καταπλαγέντες χειμῶνος μεστὸν ναυάγιον ὑπέμειναν, ἡ ὁμολογία τοῦ θεοσεβοῦς ἑκατοντάρχου Λογγίνου ὑπῆρχεν εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς τῆς λυκόφρονος συναγωγῆς τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ὅτε ἔλεγεν· «Ἀληθῶς θεοῦ υἱὸς ἦν οὗτος». Οὔτε γὰρ Πιλᾶτον κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μεμισθωμένον ᾐσχύνετο, οὔτε μὴν φόβον τοσούτων δήμων ᾐδεῖτο ἢ ἐνάρκησε τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀπεί ρων μυριάδων ἐκείνων. Λεγέσθω τοιγαροῦν καὶ γραφέσθω ἡ καλλίστη ἄθλησις αὐτοῦ ἣν οἱ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς αὐτόπται διη γήσαντο καὶ τῇ μετὰ ταύτην γενεᾷ παρέδωκαν· ἀπ' ἐκείνης δὲ εἰς τὴν ἑξῆς καὶ οὕτω μέχρις ἡμῶν καταβάντες, οἱ τῆς Λογγί νου μαρτυρίας λόγοι ὡς μαργαρῖταί τινες ἄμωμοι τὸν ἱερὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ νυμφῶνα κοσμοῦντες διεφυλάχθησαν.

3 Ὅτε τοίνυν κουστωδίαν αἰτηθεὶς ὁ Πιλᾶτος εἰς φυλακὴν τοῦ τάφου τοῦ μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ ἔδωκεν, Λογγῖνος ἦν αὐ τῶν ἔξαρχος· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἦν καὶ τὸν σταυρὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ φυλά ξας μετὰ τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ στρατιωτῶν. Ἀλλὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ πρα χθείσης τῆς ἀναστάσεως, ὥσπερ ἡμῖν αἱ τῶν θείων εὐαγγελί ων γραφαὶ παρέδωκαν, καὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἀπαγγειλάντων τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσιν καὶ πρεσβυτέροις τῆς ἰουδαϊκῆς συμμορίας τὰ γενόμενα θαύματα, ἐκεῖνοι μὲν αἰσχυνθέντες τὸν λαὸν καὶ σβέ σαι τὸ θαῦμα βουλόμενοι ἀργύρια ἱκανὰ τοῖς στρατιώταις ἔ δωκαν, ὥστε συκοφαντῆσαι τὴν ἀνάστασιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ· οὕ τω δὲ καὶ τὸν Πιλᾶτον δέξασθαι τὴν συκοφαντίαν χρήμασι πολ λοῖς ἔπεισαν. Οὐ μὴν ὁ Λογγῖνος προκρίνει τὸν δόλον τῆς ἀλη θείας, οὐδὲ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ λαμβάνει χρυσόν, οὐδὲ τὸν μα μωνᾶν τοῦ θεοῦ προτιμῆσαι ὑπέμεινεν, οὐδὲ τῇ πλεονεξίᾳ δου λωθεὶς εἰς τὸν ταύτης βυθὸν τὸν πολυθάνατον ὤλισθεν, οὐ κατὰ Χριστοῦ συκοφαντίας τοῦ ψεύδους ἠνέσχετο, τοῦ τὸν Ἀδὰμ ἐγείραντος καὶ τὸν θάνατον σφάξαντος καὶ τοὺς θνητοὺς ζωώ σαντος.

4 Πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ Πιλᾶτος καὶ οἱ δυνάσται τῶν Ἰουδαίων κεν τούμενοι ἐζήτουν ἐπιβουλὴν κατὰ τοῦ μακαρίου Λογγίνου καὶ καιρὸν οὐκ εἶχον· ἦν γὰρ ὁ Λογγῖνος ὅλης τῆς στρατιωτικῆς φάλαγγος ἐπισημότερος. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐβουλήθη ὅλως Χριστοῦ