47. SAINT LONGINUS his white garment and set it afire, and he was seen to be totally black. "We have blackened him enough," Peter said to Saint Gregory, who replied: "We haven't blackened him. We showed that he really is black!" And so they departed, leav­ ing much light behind them. This is the Hope, and after Saint ~ 4 7. Saint Longinus Saint So] fmt daught came to R many worr Longinus was the centurion who with other soldiers stood by the Lord's cross, before Em] and who by Pilate's order pierced Christ's side with a spear. Seeing the signs that wanted to. accompanied his death, the darkness and the earthquake, Longinus believed in Faith wa Christ. Yet according to some accounts, what did most to convince him was having her that, age and infirmity having left him almost blind, the blood that ran down the from these shaft of the spear touched his eyes and at once he saw clearly. but the yo Longinus then quit the military career and received instruction from the apos­ on a red-h tles at Caesarea ofCappadocia. He devoted the next twenty-eight years to living full of oil< the monastic life, and by word and example made many converts to the faith. Her sist( When the governor ordered him to worship the idols and Longinus refused, the to the ido governor commanded that all his teeth be pulled out and his tongue be cut off, resin, drop but Longinus did not lose the power of speech. Moreover, he took an ax and was killed with it smashed all the idols, saying: "We shall see whether they are gods!" The Charity demons came out of the idols and infested the bodies of the governor and his her motht attendants, and all of them began to rage and rant and bark like dogs, then emperor fi collapsed at the feet of Longinus. He asked the demons: "Why do you live in her joints idols?" They answered: "We can live anyplace where Christ's name is not heard with lash< and the sign ofhis cross is absent!" flames lea The governor was still in a rage and had lost his sight, and Longinus told him: walked l1l "Know that you cannot be cured unless you have me put to death. As soon as stabbed " I am dead, I will pray for you and ask God to restore you to health of body and gladly by soul." So the governor ordered the beheading ofLonginus, after which he went Now,' to the martyr's body, prostrated himself, and with tears did penance, whereupon remains c his sight and health came back and he spent the rest of his life in good works. "Dearest 1 Graessc 184 53. THE PASSION OF THE LOI<..D the name of which Saint Timothy's body might be laid to rest near the tomb of Saint Paul. vhy you arc This was done, and the Christians were pleased because a martyr by the name of ;t my will to Timothy lay close to Paul the apostle, who had had a disciple of that name. 1 have stayed watch dili- s falling into 1ile engaged .d no power ,,/ /i' 10ut praying !e prostrated 53. The Passion of the Lord ;, and there­ '! command [ infest some the glorious The passion of Christ was bitter in its pains, scornful in the mockery it laid upon nd gratefully him, and fruitful in its manifold benefits. The pain of the passion was of five kinds. The first was its shamefulness. It was shameful because it happened in a place of shame, namely, on Calvary, where malefactors were punished. The mode was shameful, because he was con­ demned to a most ignominious death, the cross being the instrument of punish­ ment for thieves. Yet, shameful as it then was, the cross is now a sign of un­ bounded glory, as Augustine says: "The cross, which was the shame and torture of criminals, now adorns the forehead of emperors. If God has conferred such great honor on an instrument of punishment, how greatly will he honor his servant?" The Lord's passion was shameful because of the company in which he suf­ fered. He was reckoned with thieves and robbers who were criminals to begin with; but later one of them, Dismas, who was crucified at Christ's right side, was mothy came converted, as we read in the Gospel of Nicodemus, and the other, Gcsmas, on the ·inted by the left side, was condemned. Thus to one the kingdom was given, to the other, :m functions torment. Ambrose says: "The author of mercy, hanging on the cross, divided the Silvester not gifts and obligations of mercy among different recipients. He left persecution to is way of life the apostles, peace to the disciples, his body to the Jews, his garments to those ar and three who crucified him, his spirit to his Father, a guardian to his mother the blessed tyrdom, was Virgin, paradise to the good thief, hell to sinners, the cross to penitent Chris­ rban prefect. tians. That is the testament which Christ made as he hung on the cross." > the idols, as The passion was painful, secondly, because it was unjust. Christ had done headed with no wrong, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Therefore what was done to him was done unjustly and caused him grievous pain. The principal charges j Pope Saint unjustly brought against him were three: that he forbade the payment of tribute, praising and ne asked the 1 Graesse notes that this legend is lacking " in recent (or more recent) books," and that it differs 1 expense, m markedly from the legend with the same titl e, numbered 121 both here and in Gracsse's edition. 203 53. THE PASSION OF THE LORD that he called himself a king, and that he claimed to be the Son of God. In He suffere answer to these three acccusations we, speaking for the Savior, make three re­ These were; sponses on Good Friday when we sing: "0 my people, what have I done to you, inent nobilit etc.?" in which verse Christ brings up three benefits he conferred on them­ and in his ht delivering them from Egypt, guiding them in the desert, planting them as his ofkings and fairest vine in a very good land-as if to say: "You accuse me regarding the the truth, an payment of tribute; rather you ought to thank me for freeing you of tribute. You 17:17), the~ accuse me because I called myself a king; you ought to thank me for the royal because all tl fare I provided for you in the desert. You accuse me of calling myself God's Son; his was a un you should rather thank me for choosing you as my vine and planting you in a Christ he very good place." Against his n Thirdly, Christ's passion was painful because it was his friends who brought called Mary: it upon him. The pain would have been more bearable if it had been caused by the prince o people who had some reason to be his enemies, or by strangers or foreigners, or saved others by people to whom he had been in some way troublesome. On the contrary he though he s suffered at the hands of friends-i.e., of men who should have been his friends­ sound of his and ofhis kinsmen-i.e., people of the same stock from which he was born. Of of Nazareth both of these Psalm 37: r 2 says: "My friends and companions stand aloof from ground at 01 my plague, and my kinsmen stand afar off," and Job says (19:13): "My acquain­ with no we; tances like strangers have departed from me, my kinsmen have forsaken me." his hidden c Then there were those upon whom he had conferred many good things, as we when he co1 read in John ro:p: "Many good works I have showed you from my Father. For he assumes I which of these works do you stone me?" Bernard: "0 good Jesus, how kindly His truth you have dealt with men, what great and superabundant gifts you have lavished not true" 0 upon them, what keen, bitter sufferings you have borne for them-harsh words, truth, and d harsher blows, most harsh torments!" was notjud! The fourth pain resulted from the tenderness of his body, as David says (2 basis of trutt Kings 23 :23) in a figure of speech: "He was like the most tender little worm of the questior. the wood." Bernard: "0 Jews, you are stones! You strike a softer stone, out of reason to ex which the chime of mercy resounds and the oil of love gushes." Similarly Je­ to him that rome: "Jesus was handed over to the soldiers to be scourged, and the scourges went out al tore that most sacred body and the breast in which God dwelt." reason, nam The fifth pain sprang from the overall effect: it penetrated every part of his discussion "' body, it smote all his senses. This pain was first of all in his eyes, because he wept, hurried out as Heb. 5:7 says, "with a strong cry and tears." Bernard: "He was lifted on high asked Jesus: so that he might be heard over a greater distance, he spoke more loudly so that heaven." "I no one could have an excuse for not hearing, to his outcry he joined tears to stir truth on ear men's compassion." He also wept at other times and places-at the resurrection on earth?" of Lazarus and over Jerusalem.