Homily I on Saint Longinus the Centurion · §6 · Hesychius of Jerusalem

Finding the Testimony

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I found the testimony of the cross of Christ, having said 'Truly this was the Son of God', in a scroll, in the library of the Holy Resurrection, and I arranged his confession together also with the hymn. Furthermore those fearing the Lord…

Greek

σταυροῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰπόντος «Ἀληθῶς θεοῦ υἱὸς ἦν οὗτος», τὸ μαρτύριον· εὗρον δὲ αὐτὸ ἐν σχεδαρίῳ, ἐν τῇ βιβλιοθήκῃ τῆς ἁγίας Ἀναστάσεως, καὶ συνέταξα αὐτοῦ τὴν ὁμολογίαν μετὰ καὶ τοῦ ἐγκωμίου. Λοιπὸν οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν κύριον

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About this text

Hesychius tells of Longinus, the centurion who said at the Cross "Truly this was the Son of God," and of how he was later put to death for Christ.

This homily is attributed to Hesychius of Jerusalem (fl. c. 412–450), a priest of Jerusalem. The attribution is not certain, and some scholars hold that the work was not written by the fifth-century Hesychius. This is Homily I, not Homily II on the same saint. It was composed to present the martyrdom and praise of Saint Longinus the centurion, who confessed Christ at the crucifixion, so that believers might be strengthened in faith.

The author says that he found the account of Longinus' martyrdom in a manuscript in the library of the Holy Sepulchre after much searching and labor. The work survives in an abridged form in tenth-century Synaxaria and is transmitted in Patrologia Graeca 93 under the title Martyrium sancti Longini centurionis. It concerns the legend of Longinus, the centurion who attended the crucifixion and believed in Christ, preached Christianity in Cappadocia, and died a martyr.

A reader will meet Longinus as a witness to the crucifixion, as a preacher in Cappadocia, and as a martyr. To follow the work, a reader should know that Longinus is the centurion whose confession appears in Matthew 27:54 and Mark 15:39.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 93 (Greek)

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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