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Longinus is a legendary figure of Christian history〔Bunson, M., ''Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire'', p. 244, Facts on File, 1994 ISBN 0-8160-2135-X〕 as the name given in medieval and some modern Christian traditions to the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus in his side with a lance, the "Holy Lance" (''lancea'', as related in the Latin Vulgate Bible) while he was on the stake.〔John 19:34.〕 This act created the last of the Five Holy Wounds of Christ. The figure is unnamed in the gospels. The Longinus legend further identifies this soldier as the centurion present at the Crucifixion of Jesus, who testified "This man certainly was the Son of God."〔Matthew 27:54, International Standard Version〕〔Mark 15:39, International Standard Version〕 Longinus' legend grew over the years to the point that he was said to have converted to Christianity after the Crucifixion, and he is traditionally venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and several other Christian communions. ==Origins of the legend== No name for this soldier is given in the Gospels; the name ''Longinus'' is found in the pseudepigraphal ''Gospel of Nicodemus'' that was appended to the apocryphal ''Acts of Pilate''. Longinus did not start out as a saint. An early tradition, found in the 4th-century pseudepigraphal "Letter of Herod to Pilate", claims that Longinus suffered for having pierced Jesus, and that he was condemned to a cave where every night a lion came and mauled him until dawn, after which his body healed back to normal, in a pattern that would repeat till the end of time.〔Ehrman, Bart, "Forged: Writing in the Name of God", Chapter 5.〕 Later traditions turned him into a Christian convert, but as Sabine Baring-Gould observed: "The name of Longinus was not known to the Greeks previous to the patriarch Germanus, in 715. It was introduced amongst the Westerns from the Apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus. There is no reliable authority for the Acts and martyrdom of this saint."〔Baring-Gould, ''The Lives of the Saints'', vol. III (Edinburgh) 1914, ''sub'' "March 15: S() Longinus M()"; Baring-Gould adds, "The Greek Acts pretend to be by S. Hesychius (March 28th), but are an impudent forgery of late date." ((on-line text )).〕 However, an old tradition does link the birthplace of Longinus with the small village of Lanciano, Samnite territory, in today's Abruzzo region of Central Italy.〔Torretto, Richard. (''A Divine Mercy Resource: How to Understand the Devotion to Divine Mercy.'' ) iUniverse, 2010. p. 148. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.〕〔Sniadach, Keith. (''Relics of God: A Supernatural Guide to Religious Artifacts, Sacred Locations & Holy Souls.'' ) Keith Sniadach, 2010. p. 73. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.〕 The name is probably Latinized from the Greek ''lonche'' (λόγχη), the word used for the lance mentioned in John 19:34.〔See at Kontos; "The name cannot be ascribed to any tradition; its obvious derivation from longchē (λόγχη), spear or lance, shows that it was, like that of Saint Veronica, fashioned to suit the event," noted Elizabeth Jameson, ''The History of Our Lord as Exemplified in Works of Art'' 1872:160.〕 It first appears lettered on an illumination of the Crucifixion beside the figure of the soldier holding a spear, written, perhaps contemporaneously, in horizontal Greek letters, ''LOGINOS'' (ΛΟΓΙΝΟC), in the Syriac gospel manuscript illuminated by a certain Rabulas in the year 586, in the Laurentian Library, Florence. The spear used is known as the Holy Lance, and more recently, especially in occult circles, as the "Spear of Destiny", which was revered at Jerusalem by the sixth century, although neither the centurion nor the name "Longinus" were invoked in any surviving report. As the "Lance of Longinus", the spear figures in the legends of the Holy Grail. In some medieval folklore, such as the ''Golden Legend'',〔(Golden Legend: Longinus )〕 the touch of Jesus's blood cures his blindness: Christian legend has it that Longinus was a blind Roman centurion who thrust the spear into Christ’s side at the crucifixion. Some of Jesus’s blood fell upon his eyes and he was healed. Upon this miracle Longinus believed in Jesus. The body of Longinus is said to have been lost twice, and that its second recovery was at Mantua in 1304, together with the Holy Sponge stained with Christ's blood, wherewith it was told—extending Longinus' role—that Longinus had assisted in cleansing Christ's body when it was taken down from the cross. The relic, corpules of alleged blood taken from the Holy Lance, enjoyed a revived cult in late 13th century Bologna under the combined impetus of the Grail romances, the local tradition of eucharistic miracles, the chapel consecrated to Longinus, the Holy Blood in the Benedictine monastery church of Sant'Andrea, and the patronage of the Bonacolsi. The relics are said to have been divided and then distributed to Prague and elsewhere, with the body taken to the Basilica of Sant’Agostino in Rome. However, official guides of the Basilica do not mention the presence of any tomb associated with Saint Longinus. It is also said that the body of Longinus was found in Sardinia; Greek sources assert that he suffered martyrdom in Gabala, Cappadocia. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Saint Longinus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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