Ecumenical Commemoration
First Gentile Convert
February 4
also known as Cornelius, Centurion Cornelius, St. Cornelius
Cornelius was a Roman centurion of the Italian Cohort stationed at Caesarea who became the first Gentile convert to Christianity. According to Acts 10, he was baptized by Peter after a dramatic series of visions convinced the apostle that God shows no partiality and that the gospel was intended for all peoples. The episode is one of the most theologically decisive moments in Acts, establishing the principle that Gentiles could receive the Holy Spirit without first becoming Jewish.
Traditionally, Cornelius continued as a leader of the Christian community after his baptism. Various later traditions make him the first bishop of Caesarea, though this is not attested in any reliable early source. The Orthodox Church venerates him as one of the Seventy Disciples, though this identification has no New Testament basis. Post-biblical tradition is sparse and largely speculative regarding Cornelius's subsequent ministry.
Cornelius is described in Acts 10 as a centurion of the Italian Cohort—a unit of the Roman army stationed at Caesarea Maritima, the administrative capital of Roman Judaea. Luke describes him as 'a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God'—the language of a 'God-fearer,' a Gentile who worshipped Israel's God and observed certain Jewish practices without undergoing full conversion to Judaism.
While praying, Cornelius received a vision of an angel who told him to send for Peter at Joppa. Simultaneously, Peter received his own vision: a sheet descending from heaven filled with animals that Jewish law declared unclean, and a voice commanding him to 'kill and eat.' When Peter protested, the voice replied, 'What God has made clean, do not call common.' The vision came three times.
When Cornelius's messengers arrived at Joppa, the Spirit told Peter to go with them without hesitation. At Cornelius's house, Peter preached the gospel: 'I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.' While he was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard, and the Jewish Christians who had accompanied Peter were astonished that the gift of the Spirit had been poured out on Gentiles. Peter commanded them baptized.
The event provoked significant controversy in the Jerusalem church. Jewish believers questioned why Peter had eaten with uncircumcised Gentiles. But Peter's testimony—confirmed by the visible evidence of the Spirit's gift and the occurrence of pentecostal signs—carried the day. The Cornelius episode, together with Paul's subsequent mission, established the fundamental character of Christianity as a faith that transcends ethnic and cultural boundaries.
Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses: Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servant Cornelius the Centurion, may persevere in running the race that is set before us, until at last, with him, we attain to your eternal joy; through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.