By Fr. George Dorbarakis
It is not surprising that the Holy Hymnographer Joseph refers almost entirely to what happened to Saint Longinus below the Cross of the Lord: his terrible shock that led him from an unbeliever to become a believer, even to the extent of later giving his life for Him. The Crucifixion of the incarnate God, the blood and water that gushed from His spear-pierced side, the darkening of the sun, as well as all the supernatural things that occurred at that time, were those that led him to confess Him as God and Lord, and even, according to the Hymnographer, to understand that His Passion was voluntary and the fruit of His infinite love. "After you saw the Lord become man and ascend the Cross, darken the brightness of the sun and gushed forth from His side the saving forgiveness of sins...you confessed Him as God and Master, who endured the Passion voluntarily because of His immeasurable mercy" (Vespers sticheron). "Seeing the mountains and the earth that shook on the day of the Passion, you were shaken by the stance of unbelief" (Ode 6).
The Saint's conversion to the faith of Christ is interpreted by the Holy Hymnographer both as a fruit of God's grace - for who can, by his own strength, see the Crucified One as the God who suffered in the flesh? - but also as a fruit of his own good disposition and wisdom. With great lyricism, the Hymnographer records this truth, offering us exquisite images: "Seeing, glorious one, the fruitful vine hanging on the wood of the Cross and flowing forth the wine of life and the forgiveness of sins, you placed the lips of your heart beneath it. And after you drank, you were filled with joy, casting out from within you the bitter unbelief like a drunkard, for you rightly preferred the best to the worst" (Vespers sticheron).
However, Joseph the Hymnographer cannot help but compare the Holy Centurion and his conversion with the thief who was crucified with the Lord and repented. And both men, the hard-hearted officer and the fearsome thief, are the closest to the Lord on the Cross. In what is considered the most difficult moment of the incarnate God - "Eli, Eli lama sabachthani?" cries the Lord, feeling abandoned even by God His Father Himself! – His disciples are not there, there are not (besides the Panagia and John, and they are at some distance) His own to comfort Him, but rather “anthropomorphic” beasts! And it is revealed that these “beasts” had a very tender heart. One begs that the Lord remember him in His Kingdom, the other confesses Him as God and man. And finally both enter the Kingdom of God. “After the grateful thief, glorious one, you confessed…” (Vespers sticheron). "O victorious Longinus, together with the grateful thief, you confessed the Lord of all, the Son of God, for whom you were joyfully slain" (Exapostelarion of Matins).
However, the Hymnographer (who in the troparion that interests us, the Doxastikon of the Aposticha of Vespers, is not Saint Joseph but John the Monk) proceeds to a conscious inconsistency: he puts the Saint himself in the place of the thief. He sees Longinus as the thief. The thief's words become his words as well. "As you you stood before the Cross and saw what was happening, seeing the God-man crucified on the tree, you cried out to him: In your Kingdom remember me, O Lord. Therefore the Savior cries out to you: Blessed are you, Longinus, and your memorial will be from generation to generation." We think that in this troparion and the "confusion" of roles between centurion and thief we find ourselves at the highest point of the poetry of the feast: Longinus is already saved from the moment of his confession during the Passion of the Lord and not from the moment of his martyrdom. The Lord Himself confirmed this for the thief, and therefore also for Longinus: "Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." And something else: before the crucified Lord, any role of man disappears, whether one is a representative of the law (the centurion) or the guilty (the thief), what saves is faith and love for Christ. For Christ, every man is the same and He wants each one in His Kingdom. For Christ, every form of this world beyond the "heart" does not exist. It is torn away and lost.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
