After all, who is São Longuinho, the Saint of lost objects?

Surely you've heard the prayer: “São Longuinho, São Longuinho, if you help me find such an object, I'll jump three times”, but maybe you don't really know who São Longuinho was. Despite its popularity, there is still a lot of ignorance about the history of this Saint. Therefore, we have selected some important details that you need to know.

The History of Sao Longuinho

A detail that few know is that the name of the Saint is not Longinus, origin of the nickname “Longuinho”. In fact, that was the title of the office he held in the 1st-century Roman Empire. In this context, the Longinus were soldiers in charge of carrying spears during martyrdoms, such as what happened to Jesus.

Therefore, history relates that his name was likely Cassius and that he may have been one of the soldiers responsible for piercing Jesus' body with a spear. However, little is actually known or has historical records about the life of Longinus. In fact, much of the information about him is rather dubious.

For example, Longinus is believed to have been the first Roman soldier to recognize that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. This is due to the fact that, according to the biblical passage, the soldier who pierced the body of Jesus received a gush of blood in his eyes, curing his vision problem. Thus, Catholic tradition links him to this anonymous biblical character.

But what about the “three jumps”?

Another mystery about Longinus is related to the popular tradition of associating it with lost objects and the ritual of the three little jumps in gratitude. There are two versions of this story. In the first, it is stated that Longinus was short and loved to party; due to his small stature, he always found lost objects and returned them to their owners.

The second version seeks to portray Longinus as a soldier with one leg amputated, so that he was always jumping on one leg. Thus, people would honor him by jumping when he helped them find an object. However, there is still uncertainty regarding the two narratives.