October 29 – Day of Longin Sotnik: we remember the martyr who did not betray the miracle of the Resurrection

On October 29, 2026, according to the national calendar, Longin Sotnik Day is celebrated. The Orthodox Church on this day remembers the Martyr Longinus, a Roman warrior who, according to legend, guarded the place of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and was the first to publicly confess Him as the Son of God. The main idea of the holiday is loyalty to one’s beliefs, even under threat of life.

According to church tradition, Longinus, a centurion from Cappadocia, served in Judea under the procurator Pontius Pilate. It was his detachment that stood guard at the foot of Calvary during the execution of the Savior. Astonished by the signs—the earthquake, the eclipse of the sun, and the opening of the tombs—Longinus believed in Christ and exclaimed, “He was indeed the Son of God.” According to legend, it was he who pierced the rib of the crucified Lord with a spear and received healing from the blood and water of the sick eyes.

After the burial of the Savior, Longinus and his soldiers stood guard at the Holy Sepulcher and were privileged to see the Resurrection. The Jewish elders tried to bribe the guards to testify that the body of Christ had been stolen by the disciples, but Longinus rejected the gold and did not want to hide the miracle. Having received baptism from the apostles, he left the military rank and went to preach to his homeland in Cappadocia.

When the elders found out, they persuaded Pilate to send a squad to kill Longinus. The former centurion himself went out to meet the soldiers, brought them to his house, called himself and asked to carry out the order. The soldiers did not want to raise their hand against him, but Longinus insisted. The saints were beheaded, and the head of the martyr was thrown outside the walls of Jerusalem. Later, she miraculously found a blind woman who, touching the head, saw.

In folk tradition, the day was called Autumn: by the end of October, cold weather was finally established, and the first snow firmly lay on the ground.