The Gospel accounts of the Crucifixion tell of an unnamed Roman Centurion, so moved by what he witnessed at the foot of the Cross he proclaimed the dying Christ to be “the Son of God" (Matthew 27:54). Later apocryphal narratives identify him as Longinus, a name probably derived from the Greek word for the lance he thrust into the side of Christ, drawing forth water and blood. Longinus entered the hagiography of the Eastern and Western Churches as a convert to the faith who became a monk in Cappadocia and suffered a martyr’s death ordered, variously, by Pontius Pilate for his refusal to deny the Resurrection of Christ or by a pagan regional governor, when he would not offer sacrifices to idols. Longinus is the patron saint of the blind and people with poor vision, since his own failing eyesight was said to have been cured by the blood of Christ at Golgotha. Egyptian Coptic Artist Rania Kuhn created this week’s featured icon of the Roman soldier turned saint, depicting him as a man of heroic stature in full military regalia holding a scroll with his words affirming the divinity of Christ. (John Kohan)