Constantine was the Roman emperor famous for ending the persecution of Christians. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Churches, but the Roman Catholic Church honors him as an important figure in the history of the faith with the title, Constantine the Great.

Constantine ascended to power in 312 after a famous battle. Before the battle, he had a vision while marching with his army: the cross was rising from the brilliance of the sun, carrying a message that read, “With this sign, you will conquer.” That night, he had a dream in which Christ appeared to him with the same sign of the cross, and told him to make this sign into a standard for his army to follow.The sign is interpreted as two Greek letters: chi (X) and rho (P), the first two letters of the Greek spelling of Christos, transposed on top of one another. His army prevailed.

As ruler, Constantine made Christianity a free religion with the famous Edict of Milan in 312. The decree restored seized property to Christians and ceased persecutions. When the decree was opposed, he enforced it by defeating his opponents in a civil war.

Constantine was a giant during his time, overshadowing even the pope’s role in the Church. He convened the council of Nicea, governed the distribution of land for the Church, established a new capital in the Christian city of Constantinople, and began policies that Christianized the empire.

Constantine and his mother, St. Helena, traveled to Jerusalem and established many of the sites of Christian pilgrimage that Christians still visit today. Constantine is credited with finding the site of Golgotha, initiating the first building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Helena is credited with finding the cross of Christ. The discovery of Christ's cross started an endless stream of pilgrims to Jerusalem, the distribution of pieces of the true cross to churches throughout the empire, and even our contemporary Good Friday liturgy, which is partially based on the ancient liturgies in Jerusalem celebrating Christ's cross, Christ's humble victory over death.

Constantine the Great, you who ended the persecution of Christians and beheld a saving vision of the cross—pray for us!