The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-07-29
LEGEND OF LONGINUS
WHAT BECAME OF HIM AFTER
THE cRucIFlxIoN.

Strange, indeed, marvellous, are
some of the stories and legends told
by the "Schennacies," and bards of
ancient Erin, concerning the Cruel.
hxion. One of the most striking of
these is told concerning a Roman SOL
der who took part in the Crucifixion.
and who is said to have been the one
who pierced our Saviour's side with
q spear.
& This soldier, according to one of
the legends which travelled westward
and found Judgment among the warm
hearted and poetic sons of Milesius.
was that this same Longinus was
struck with pity at the terrible suf-
ferings of the Crucified One. and that
it was through this same pity and in
order to end His sufferings that the
soldier plunged his spear into the
heart of Christ.
1t is here that the strange story
links itself with the Evolutionary lore
OF the ancient Irish The story runs
somewhat in this wise:
Lords side it ran down the shaft of
the spear and covered the hand of
Longinus, and from that day forth
that hand remained blood red. Lon
ginus feared that was a token of Gods
wrath, for he had been convinced by
what he saw on that awful day that
Christ, indeed, was God.
So the Roman soldier alternately
marveled at, and bewailed his fate.
He dare not return to kith and kin
on the banks of the Tiber, and to
leave the martial service of Imperial
Rome was sore reflection. Yet it
was the only alternative of being a
prodigy, something set apart, a
thing marked for curiosity and avoid
ance among his people, if he returned
home. He chose the life of wan
derer,. and his long pilgrimage in the
wake of the setting sun began. He
won his way by valor and by suffer
ing through the territory of the Goth
and Vandal, crossed beneath the shad-
oW of the Alps, won his way as a
soldier of fortune through the warlike
regions on both sides of the silvery
Rhine, on through the land of the
Angles (Britain), where he saw all
about him the signs of the conquer
ing power of the legions of his own
masterful nation. At last he crossed
the seas and reached an island of
Wondrous beauty, an emerald set on
the brow of the sea, and here he saw
no sign of the Roman conqueror;
nothing to remind him of his native
land. So here at last Longinus rested
from the dreary journey, and here
among the kindly Gael he made his
home and found happiness. Here, too,
the story runs, he became the founder
of the royal house of Hy-Nial, later,
O'Neil, of which the kindly Neial of
the Nine Hostages, killed by lightning
while leading his armies at the foot
of the Alps, was scion, and whose
crest emblazoned the Red Hand of
Ulster. Tradition also has it that st.
Longinus preached the Gospel in sew
eral places in Europe, thus disproving
the Irish legend.
Another, though in detail widely
differing, touches on the same sub
ject, and this is embalmed in A. NJ
Sullivan's story of Ireland. 1t tells
of one of Ireland's ancient kings, Com
nal Mac Nessa, who in battle had
been struck in the head by a mistle
known as ''the death ball" 1t re-
NAMED embedded in his head, but
did not produce death. A Druid,
however, told him that wine or anger
would cause instant death. One day,
one of Patrick's missionaries told
him the story of Christ, and the fine
old pagan kings ire broke forth like
a torrent. Springing to his feet, he
drew his skien (short sword) and
waving it aloft cried aloud. Had
| been there would have struck thus
for that kindly Cod And with a
blow he smote a limb from a tree
close by. At the same moment the
death ball sprang from his forehead
and kind Connal Mac Mesa was
dead