Martyr Longinus the Centurion; Our Venerable Father Gall, Enlightener of Switzerland (640); The Two Soldiers martyred with Saint Longinus

For God is my witness, how I long after all of you in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus.

⁹This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰so that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ, ¹¹being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

¹²Now I desire to have you know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have turned out rather to the progress of the Good News, ¹³so that it became evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my bonds are in Christ, ¹⁴and that most of the brothers in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear.

When they came to a place called “Golgotha”, that is to say, “The place of a skull,” ³⁴they gave him sour wine to drink mixed with gall. When he had tasted it, he would not drink. ³⁵When they had crucified him, they divided his clothing among them, casting lots, ³⁶and they sat and watched him there. ³⁷They set up over his head the accusation against him written, “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁸Then there were two robbers crucified with him, one on his right hand and one on the left.

³⁹Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

⁴¹Likewise the chief priests also mocking with the scribes, the Pharisees, and the elders, said, ⁴²“He saved others, but he can’t save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. ⁴³He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴The robbers also who were crucified with him cast on him the same reproach.

⁴⁵Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. ⁴⁶About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

⁴⁷Some of them who stood there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”

⁴⁸Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave him a drink. ⁴⁹The rest said, “Let him be. Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”

⁵⁰Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit.

⁵¹Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. ⁵²The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; ⁵³and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many.

⁵⁴Now the centurion and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were done, were terrified, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”