Two men were crucified at the same time as Jesus, one on his right and one on his left (Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27– 28,32, Luke 23:32-33; 39-43, John 19:18), which the Gospel of Mark interprets as fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 53:12: “And he … was numbered among the transgressors”.
According to tradition, which follows apocryphal literature; the unsubstantiated Arabic Infancy Gospel; the Gospel of Nicodemus, also known as the Acts of Pilate.[i] The Acts of Pilate depicts the Harrowing of Hell episode[ii] which describes Saint Dismas accompanying Christ to Paradise and the deliverance of the righteous Old Testament patriarchs.
The Gospel of Nicodemus names several minor New Testament figures who were not named in the canonical texts; for example, the two criminals crucified beside Jesus are named as Dysmas and Gestas (Chap. 9), and the soldier who thrust a lance into the side of Jesus on the cross is named as Longinus[iii] (Chap. 16).
St. Longinus was identified in the movie The Passion of the Christ as Cassius. St. Longinus pierced the side of the Lord with his lance (John 19:34): “One of the soldiers thrust a lance into His side, and immediately blood and water flowed out”.
The mystic, Anne Catherine Emmerich in her visions recorded this event, adding that when the soldier pierced the heart of our Lord, blood and water covered his face and body. She wrote, “Grace and salvation at once entered his soul. He leaped from his horse, threw himself upon his knees, struck his breast, and confessed loudly before all his firm belief in the divinity of Jesus.” Moreover, he was miraculously cured of failing eyesight.
Further, according to her visions, Mary, St. John, the holy women, and the soldier gathered up the blood and water in flasks, and soaked-up the remainder with linen cloths.
Emmerich noted, “Cassius was baptized by the name Longinus; and was ordained deacon, and preached the faith. He always kept some of the blood of Christ– it dried up, but was found in his coffin in Italy. He was buried near Mantua, and tradition holds that St. Longinus suffered martyrdom there.
Tradition also goes on to say that St. Longinus was martyred by Pontius Pilate, and that a portion of his remains are enshrined at St. Peter’s Basilica, and another part in Rome’s Church of St. Augustine. St. Longinus’ feast day is March 15.
Interestingly, the relic of St. Longinus’ lance is preserved at St. Peter’s in Rome, having been presented to Pope Innocent VIII in 1492 by the Turkish Sultan Bajazet; some of the sacred relics had fallen into the hands of the Moslems when they conquered Jerusalem and Constantinople.
The apocryphal Arabic Infancy Gospel refers to Dismas as Titus and the impenitent thief Gestas as Dumachus:
“And turning away from this place, they came to a desert; and hearing that it was infested by robbers, Joseph and the Lady Mary resolved to cross this region by night. But as they go along, behold, they see two robbers lying in the way, and along with them a great number of robbers, who were their associates, sleeping. Now those two robbers, into whose hands they had fallen, were Titus and Dumachus. Titus therefore said to Dumachus: I beseech thee to let these persons go freely, and so that our comrades may not see them. And as Dumachus refused, Titus said to him again: Take to thyself forty drachmas from me, and hold this as a pledge. At the same time, he held out to him the belt which he had about his waist, to keep him from opening his mouth or speaking. And the Lady Mary, seeing that the robber had done them a kindness, said to him: The Lord God will sustain thee by His right hand, and will grant thee remission of thy sins. And the Lord Jesus answered, and said to His mother: Thirty years hence, O my mother, the Jews will crucify me at Jerusalem, and these two robbers will be raised upon the cross along with me, Titus on my right hand and Dumachus on my left; and after that day Titus shall go before me into Paradise. And she said: God keep this from thee, my son. And they went thence towards a city of idols, which, as they came near it, was changed into sand-hills” (23).[iv]
All four gospels tell us that Christ was crucified between two thieves. According to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, respectively, both of the thieves mocked Jesus (Matthew 27:44, Mark 15:32). In St. Luke’s gospel, we get a more complete story.
Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.…One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingly power.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (23:32-43).
While enduring the excruciating agony of the cross, Jesus had the heart, mind, and will to pray for others. One thief, while in pain, heard the Spirit of God call him to repentance. While most of the disciples were cowering in fear and abandoning the Lord, this “Good Thief” recognized the call of the Holy Spirit, answered, and his sins were forgiven, including his blasphemy against the Son of God.
What we learn from the saved thief on the cross is that we are all sinners in need of a Savior. No matter the number or the heinousness of our sins, it is never too late to repent and accept the free gift of salvation.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— not because of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9);
“The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let him who hears say, “Come.” And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price” (Revelation 22:17).
“And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
Moreover, as long as someone still has a mind and the will to choose life over death it is not too late to repent and accept the gift of God, which is eternal life.
With all who cling to Christ and his Cross, we pray:
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Dismas was a model of perfect contrition and is the patron of those condemned to death and of the dying in general. His relics are venerated at Belgona, Italy. His Feast Day is March 25th.
Note: The Church of St. Dismas, the Good Thief is a historic Roman Catholic church at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York.
Behind the thick, high walls of Dannemora’s prison, there is a Catholic chapel— a small church, really— built, stone by stone, by the inmates there. It is dedicated to the Good Thief; that dying criminal who stole his way into Paradise.
The Church of St. Dismas was built by the prisoners between the years of 1939 and 1941 as a witness to God’s presence within the walls of prison. Its name pays homage to the thief next to Jesus of Nazareth, the convict who was pardoned and promised Paradise.
St. Dismas Church is a large Neogothic inspired stone chapel. It was constructed of fieldstones salvaged from several 19th century stone structures already on the site, including the prison’s first cell block. The rectangular building measures 52 feet (16 m) by 132 feet (40 m). It features a steeply pitched, slate-clad gable roof and two massive oak entrance doors with Medieval inspired metal strapwork. A 106-foot (32 m), engaged tower with corner buttresses and an octagonal spire is located at the rear corner.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Go to: https://youtu.be/WVuftGUjRBE for a nine-minute video documentary on the history of the church.
Below is a Catholic prayer to Saint Dismas: Glorious Saint Dismas, you alone of all the great Penitent Saints were directly canonized by Christ himself; you were assured of a place in heaven with him “this day” because of the sincere confession of your sins to him in the tribunal of Calvary and your true sorrow for them as you hung beside him in that open confessional; you who by the direct sword thrust of your love and repentance did open the heart of Jesus in mercy and forgiveness even before the centurion’s spear tore it asunder; you whose face was closer to that of Jesus in his last agony, to offer him a word of comfort, closer even than that of his beloved mother, Mary; you who knew so well how to pray, teach me the words to say to him to gain pardon and the grace of perseverance; and you who are so close to him now in heaven, as you were during his last moments on earth, pray to him for me that I shall never again desert him, but that at the close of my life I may hear from him the words he addressed to you: “This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.” Amen.
[i] The Gospel of Nicodemus, also known as the Acts of Pilate, is an apocryphal gospel claimed to have been derived from an original Hebrew work written by Nicodemus, who appears in the Gospel of John as an associate of Jesus. The title “Gospel of Nicodemus” is medieval in origin. The dates of its accreted sections are uncertain, but according to the 1907 edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia scholars agree in assigning the resulting work to the middle of the fourth century AD.
[ii] In Christian theology, the Harrowing of Hell is the descent of Christ into Paradise, a period of time between his Crucifixion and his Resurrection.
[iii] Tradition identifies him as the centurion mentioned in St. Matthew’s gospel who at Christ’s death declared, “Truly, this was the Son of the God.” Longinus’ conversion was sudden, dramatic, and unexpected, even unlikely. His story reminds us that there is no telling when God will touch the heart and the change the life of someone who had been an unbeliever.
[iv] From: Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol 8, Alexander Roberts, Sir James Donaldson, Arthur Cleveland Coxe – 1886.