The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. - documenta ...

The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.Anne Catherine EmmerichAPPENDIX.Detached Account of LonginusON the 15th of March 1821, Sister Emmerich gave the following detached, account of parts of avision which she had had the previous night concerning St. Longinus, whose festival happened tofall upon that very day, although she did not know it.‘Longinus, who had, I think, another name, held an office, partly civil and partly military, in thehousehold of Pilate, who intrusted him with the duty of superintending all that passed, and makinga report of it to him. He was trustworthy and ready to do a service, but previous to his conversionwas greatly wanting in firmness and strength of character. He was excessively impetuous in all thathe did, and anxious to be thought a person of great importance, and as he squinted and had weakeyes, he was often jeered at and made the laughing-stock of his companions. I have seen himfrequently during the course of this night, and in connection with him I have at the same time seenall the Passion, I do not know in what manner; I only remember that it was in connection with him.‘Longinus was only in a subordinate position, and had to give an account to Pilate of all that hesaw. On the night that Jesus was led before the tribunal of Caiphas he was in the outer court amongthe soldiers, and unceasingly going backwards and forwards. When Peter was alarmed at the wordsof the maid-servant standing near the fire, it was he who said once,. “ Art thou not also one, of thisman’s disciples?”348‘When Jesus was being led to Calvary, Longinus, by Pilate’s orders, followed him closely, and ourDivine Lord gave him a look which touched his heart. Afterwards I saw him on Golgotha with thesoldiers. He was. on horseback, and carried a lance; I saw him at Pilate’s house, after the death ofour Lord, saying that the legs of Jesus ought not to be broken. He returned at once to Calvary. Hislance was made of several pieces which fitted one into the other, so that by drawing them out, thelance could be made three times its original length. He had just done this when he came to thesudden determination of piercing the side of our Saviour. He was converted upon Mount Calvary,and a short time afterwards expressed to Pilate his conviction that Jesus was the Son of God.Nicodemus prevailed upon Pilate to let him have Longinus’s lance, and I have seen many thingsconcerning the subsequent history of this lance. Longinus, after his conversion, left the army, andjoined the disciples. He and two other soldiers, who were converted at the foot of the Cross, wereamong the first baptised after Pentecost.‘I saw Longinus and these two men, clothed in long white garments, return to their native land.They lived there in the country, in a barren and marshy locality. Here it was that the forty martyrsdied. Longinus was not a priest, but a deacon, and travelled here and there in that capacity, preachingthe name of Christ, and giving, as an eye-witness, a history of his Passion and Resurrection. Heconverted a large number of persons, and cured many of the sick, by allowing them to touch a pieceof the sacred lance which he carried with him. The Jews were much enraged at him and his twocompanions because they made known in all parts the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus, and the201