Constantine was proclaimed Emperor in York and his mother was Saint Helena, the original patron saint of Cockshutt Church.
St. Constantine was the one who brought humanity to the Roman Empire. He, for the first time, put an end to state brutality, and fought to make the world politically, socially and economically the way Christ wants it to be.
For example:
• He banned the duels, which until then were the daily entertainment of the Romans.
• Very strictly forbade the killing of children by parents, as well as exposing infants to death. At first these were allowed.
• Banned slave owners from killing or torturing their slaves. He also encouraged and promoted the emancipation of slaves.
• Protect the inviolability of the human face by prohibiting the marking of convicts on the face (until then it was so).
• Establish the right of convicts to see light, have a healthy cell and go for a walk every day.
• He urged that trials and interrogations be conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
• His priority ( almost … “obsession”! ) was the protection of the weakest (children, women, orphans, widows, the poor, the bankrupt), and with the various unprecedented and groundbreaking laws he issued and with his incessant material philanthropic actions that reached the point of excess. He was the first governor in the world to introduce Social Security, and to a great extent.
• He paid his soldiers for every enemy they caught and did not kill, to save the lives of as many prisoners as possible.
• Stopped the persecution against Christians, restoring all those who had been damaged during their duration (the survivors of course), and established the right to non-religion. In addition, he imposed a Sunday public holiday.
It is no coincidence that his enemies (Julian the Violator, Sextos Avrilius Victor, Zosimos) also accused him of his excessive generosity with his charitable “spandals”!
The Twelfth ancient historian Eutropian writes: “After ending the civil war, he overthrew the Goths on various occasions, providing them peace at last, and leaving in the consciences of the barbarians a strong memory of his goodness”. Constantine’s death was foretold by a star with an exceptionally sized tail, which the Greeks call a comet. He was duly written among the gods. » (Historiae Romanae Breviarium ab urbe condita », 7-8). And it is remarkable that, while praising St. Constantine, he speaks badly of his sons who succeeded him (X, 9).
He was remembered by all the people as truly “Great”, while for those who were Christians, also as a saint. The only ones who hated him and had, forcibly, something to say against him, were the sick nostalgic of the inhuman pagan status quo, which he finally overturned.
St. Constantine was “the apostle reigning”, as he is described by one of his feast tropics. He is the perfect model ruler and great teacher for all ages.
(† p. George Metallinos)
Feature Image: Statue of Constantine, Wikicommons (PD).
Post contributed, with our thanks, by Christopher Jobson.