Atkinson, The Passions and the Homilies from Leabhar Breac (1887) — translated from the Irish.

¹ When Christ was on the cross among the Jews, one of the soldiers who were at the crucifixion came — Centurion was a name for him, Longinus his other name; and he took a great spear in his hand and pierced Christ in the side with it, and it split his heart in two, so that it was then there came out blood and wine, and there came a mighty darkness over the face of all the earth at that time, and the sun was darkened, and the rocks were split, and the graves were open-mouthed. Now when Longinus saw that great miracle, he believed at once in the one God, Jesus Christ, and cried aloud with a great voice, saying: “It is true,” says he, “this is Christ the Son of God; it is he whom the prophets and high fathers promised for the redemption of the seed of Adam, and he is come now to a lowly death for our sakes.” Now Longinus forsook his worldly soldiership thereafter, and turned with bitter sorrow, so that he made earnest repentance to God; and God forgave him his sin fully thereafter. That Longinus was thereafter a merciful, charitable man, given to prayer, and he was deemed wondrous in teaching by the apostles in these cities — in Caesarea and in Cappadocia. Eight and twenty years he lived thereafter in the life of a monk; and his miracles brought many through his teaching to the faith of God.

² Now the fame of Longinus came thereafter through all the world, in charity, in humility, in meekness, in patience. When he was then at the height of these deeds, the prefect named Octavius heard of his fame and his tidings and that great piety. Then he said: “Bring Longinus to us that we may speak with him.” So Longinus was brought to him. The prefect Octavius said to him: “What is your name?” says he. “Longinus I am called,” says he. “Of what land are you?” says he. “Essuria, a land in Asia Minor — from from there am I,” says he. “are you of noble or of base kin?” said the prefect. “A slave of sin was I at first,” said Longinus, “but God freed me through baptism from that sin, and he will free me now, through coming into martyrdom for my soul’s sake.” “Why came you into these lands?” said the prefect. Longinus said: “I was in soldiership from the beginning of my life until the crucifixion of Christ, for it was I that pierced Christ with a soldier’s spear in his right side, so that it split his heart; and I repented of that deed, and God forgave me my sins. I prayed my brethren then that they would let me serve Christ; they let me go from them, and they took all my wealth from me, save a little that I gave to God’s poor. I prayed the Lord there that he would chasten his mind with me, and God freed me from my sins,” says he. “you are an honourable, eloquent man before God in that wise,” said the prefect. Then the king said: “Cease from that teaching,” says he, “and make offering to our gods, or you shall be tortured.” Then Longinus said: “I cannot serve two masters, as God himself said: ‘your service is repugnant to two’,” said the Lord. “For my Gods, firstly, are the God of meekness and of thanksgiving, of lowliness and of mercy; your gods, on the other hand,” said Longinus, “are the cause of every evil, the confounders of every goodness, and the changers of every good thing besides. I cannot,” said Longinus, “serve your false gods and forsake my own God.” “Is this what it is,” said the prefect, “good to your God, and evil to our gods?” “So it has fallen out,” said Longinus. “How does heathenism lift its head in this world over Christianity, if Christianity be better?” said the prefect. “do you not see,” said Longinus, “that heathenism is contrary to Christianity? for heathenism casts out knowledge and upholds ignorance, dissolves moderation, darkens the senses, blinds the eyes, corrupts virginity, hates the poor, conceives evil gifts, begets false tidings, denies the truth; but every man of heathenism is fierce, raging and ignorant,” said Longinus; “and if you will, I will tell you somewhat of the goodness of Christianity,” says he. “Enough is what you have said,” said the prefect, “for it is fierce and impious. Arise quickly, and make offering to the gods,” said the prefect, “and your own God will forgive you, for he knows that it is under compulsion it is brought upon you.” “I had rather,” said Longinus, “that you should believe in Christ than that you should worship the dumb fierce gods that are worshipped; and how can it be said that those are gods who are not gods — blind dumb idols, the handiwork of sinful men?” says he. “Let his teeth be struck out of his head,” said the prefect, “and his tongue cut off, since he will not worship the gods.” Then it was done to Longinus as the prefect said. Now Longinus suffered that manfully for the love of God; and he said with a great voice to the king: “If you believe in the gods that they are true gods, let me break their altars and smash their images, and let them save themselves if they can.” “Why,” said the king, “did not Christ help you from the torments you have found, so that no hurt befell me from it?” “Let me,” said Longinus, “break your gods, and believe you in them if they hurt me, and believe in the one God if they do not.” “A bargain between you,” said the king. Longinus sets about it then, and broke the idols and the altars utterly, and the spectres flee out of their dwelling-places. Now a demon entered into the prefect, and another demon into Aphrodotius, that honourable man; and the demons went from that time forth into the king’s impious attendants; and madness and frenzy filled the king with all his attendants, and the demons would speak through their mouths, so that this is what they would say to the king: “Why did you bring this holy man to us, to cast us out of our own resting-places?” Then the men with the demons came, and bowed down to Longinus, and said: “We confess and understand now that you are God’s own servant, O Longinus,” said they; “have mercy on us, and heal us for the ever-living God.” Longinus said to the demons: “What cause brings you into the spectres?” says he. “We found the stone images,” said the demons, “without the sign of the cross being set in them, and without naming in the name of God,” said they, “and offerings were made in our own names to us by the men,” said they, “and we inhabited those places and shapes thereafter; for where Christ is not worshipped or his cross signed, there is our habitation for ever; and we beseech you,” said the demons, “not to cast us out of our dwelling and our abodes.” Now Longinus said, and the people round about him on every side: “If you will, these gods that you say — I will take them from you, so that they be under my feet in lying down.” The people said with a great voice: “Your god is the one almighty God,” said they, “and we beseech you, O servant of God, not to let the demons into the city, and that you may save us from their evils.” Now when Longinus heard those words that the heathens sang, he lifted his eyes to heaven and said: “O Lord and Master of heaven and earth,” says he, “have mercy on these wretched men, and for your great mercy’s sake on me, cast out the demons from them, and save them as you did save the seed of Adam by your own going to the tree of the cross for them.” “God will do so,” said the people. Then the demons uttered a heavy cry on high, and they go out of the city, so that the people were saved in that wise through the commandment of Longinus. Then great rejoicing was made in the city, and many of them believed in God; and they were with Longinus thereafter for the length of their days — until the devil entered again into the prefect, Octavius, and moved him to make persecution of Longinus. Now the prefect said: “Let Longinus be brought to us,” says he. Longinus was brought to him, and the king said to him:

³ “you have troubled the city,” says he, “and have put it away from the worship of idols; and if the king, Nero Caesar, hears it, he will enslave us all,” says he, “and will cast us off from our riches and our wealth.” Then the mighty man aforementioned came — when the demon was cast up, Aphrodotius his name — to the place where Longinus was, and said to the prefect: “Why has this holy man awakened against us — he has saved the city and all of us from the power of the demons.” “No,” said the prefect, “it was through sorcery he saved our men.” Aphrodotius said to him: “It is true — there is no guile or cunning of sorcery in him, but the worship of the one almighty God.” Then Octavius said: “Let his tongue be struck out of Longinus’s head again, that he speak no more.” “Thanks be to God,” said Longinus, “that another shall contend for the sake of Christ along with us.” And they struck his tongue out of Longinus’s head then, so that Longinus gave a groan and a great sigh on high; and he prayed the Lord to take vengeance upon the prefect for all the wrong he had done. The prefect was blinded thereafter, and his intestines and his bowels were twisted. Then Aphrodotius said: “O Lord, you are righteous, and your judgements are true; deal abundantly with me, and save me from the power of the devil.” The king said to Aphrodotius: “Pray to Longinus for me,” says he, “that he may pray the Lord for me, for I have done wrong against him.” “I say to you,” said Longinus, “look with me upon hell, if you have done evil to God’s servant, for God is not to be flattered — as is manifest today, for my tongue speaks no worse now than when it was cut off.” The king said to Longinus: “It is true — I was blinded and tortured through my bowels.” Longinus said to the king: “Let my beheading be done by you, that the mercy of God may follow after my death; and you shall be whole by the blood of Christ thereafter, for it is not the will of God that health should be restored to you until I am beheaded by you; for Michael with the angels of heaven is round him, over my head awaiting my soul, to bear it into the kingdom of God.” Now Longinus commanded his own beheading then, but he was with them for the space of an hour in prayer, until he was beheaded thereafter by the sword; and he sent his spirit to heaven with the choir-song of angels and archangels round him. The king came at once, being blind, to the body of Longinus, and threw himself down beside the body, and was in heavy grief there, and said: “O Lord,” says he, “great is the evil I have done to you — the slaying of your own servant without guilt”; and he fell to great mourning, and to earnest repentance to God in that wise;

⁴ and his eyes were given back to him then; and he was serving God from that time forth while he lived. Longinus was buried thereafter by all with honour; and he works miracles and great wonders after his death. Finit.