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The Gospel of Nicodemus and the Cult of St Longinus
The cult of St. Longinus is significantly different between Western and Eastern Christianity. The Eastern Christian tradition has portrayed Longinus as a centurion present at the Crucifixion and converted after Christ’s death. In the Christian West, Longinus is identified with the soldier who pierced Christ’s side with a lance.The present paper traces the identification of both characters bearing this name to the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, where the name Longinus (Λογγῖνος) first appears. Longinus the Soldier was perceived by the Greeks as a negative character (the one who crucified Christ). By contrast, Western Christianity elaborated the cult of Longinus the Soldier linked with the cult of the Holy Blood and therefore with the Eucharist. In the late period of the Byzantine Empire Western theology began to influence the Byzantine tradition, which is reflected in the ceremony of the prothesis rite, when the priest pierces the Eucharistic bread with the liturgical "lance", thus emulating the soldier who had pierced the body of Christ.