Is Constantine a Saint?

[Aramis]

There are certain saints which are uniquely Easter Orthodox; these mostly postdate 1907 (the most recent corporate reunion of an EO partricular church in whole or part, the Russian Greek Catholic Exarchate).

There are a good number that are uniquely Catholic, post-dating 1920 (the most recent Catholic corporate defection to Orthodoxy. There are a number more generally not accepted by the Orthodox, but accepted by a few particular churches (like the ACROD).

The icons of these individuals are, in fact, equally as unique.

Some uniquely Orthodox Saints: St. Peter the Aleut, St German of Alaska, St. Alexis Toth, St Nicholas and St Alexandra of Moscow.

Some uniquely Catholic Saints: St Mary MacKillop, St Damián de Veuster (of Molokai), St Caterina Volpicelli, St Marie de la Croix, St Gertrude Caterina Comensoli…

Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta has an icon; St. Damien of Molokai as well, and Blessed Theodore Romzha, too.

 

[Madaglan]

Yes, but here’s the difference…Constantine himself became convinced of Arian beliefs which is why he became baptized at Eusebius’ hands.

So if a person were to be baptized by a Jehovah’s Witness (who don’t believe in Trinity or the divinity of Jesus), that baptism would not be valid…

UNLESS…

…the person on his deathbed, upon receiving the Baptism from a JW, held the Orthodox faith, because with this sacrament, what matters is the faith of the recipient.

But Constantine became convinced of Arianism on this deathbed.

Or maybe I’m wrong… What were the circumstances of Constantine’s deathbed baptism?

If he was too feeble to speak, maybe we don’t know what his real convictions were. Or maybe Eusebius, upon learning of his imminent death, rushed to his bedside to baptize him, thereby making a statement that his Arian views are correct…after all, Constantine was baptized by an Arian!

According to the historical sources, he showed a genuine desire to be baptized. He wanted to be baptized in the River Jordan, but evidently due to illness this was not possible. Note that he received imposition of hands in Helenopolis before proceeding to Nicomedia, where he was baptized.

CHAPTER LXI: His Sickness at Helenopolis, and Prayers respecting his Baptism.

AT first he experienced some slight bodily indisposition, which was soon followed by positive disease. In consequence of this he visited the hot baths of his own city; and thence proceeded to that which bore the name of his mother. Here he passed some time in the church of the martyrs, and offered up supplications and prayers to God. Being at length convinced that his life was drawing to a close, he felt the time was come at which he should seek purification from sins of his past career, firmly believing that whatever errors he had committed as a mortal man, his soul would be purified from them through the efficacy of the mystical words and the salutary waters of baptism. (1) Impressed with these thoughts, he poured forth his supplications and confessions to God, kneeling on the pavement in the church itself, in which he also now for the first time received the imposition of hands with prayer. (2) After this he proceeded as far as the suburbs of Nicomedia, and there, having summoned the bishops to meet him, addressed them in the following words.

CHAPTER LXII: Constantine’s Appeal to the Bishops, requesting them to confer upon him the Rite of Baptism.

“THE time is arrived which I have long hoped for, with an earnest desire and prayer that I might obtain the salvation of God. The hour is come in which I too may have the blessing of that seal which confers immortality; the hour in which I may receive the seal of salvation. I had thought to do this in the waters of the river Jordan, wherein our Saviour, for our example, is recorded to have been baptized: but God, who knows what is expedient for us, is pleased that I should receive this blessing here. Be it so, then, without delay: (1) for should it be his will who is Lord of life and death, that my existence here should be prolonged, and should I be destined henceforth to associate with the people of God, and unite with them in prayer as a member of his. Church, I will prescribe to myself from this time such a course of life as befits his service.” After he had thus spoken, the prelates performed the sacred ceremonies in the usual manner, and, having given him the necessary instructions, made him a partaker of the mystic ordinance. Thus was Constantine the first of all sovereigns who was regenerated and perfected in a church dedicated to the martyrs of Christ; thus gifted with the Divine seal of baptism, he rejoiced in spirit, was renewed, and filled with heavenly light: his soul was gladdened by reason of the fervency of his faith, and astonished at the manifestation of the power of God. At the conclusion of the ceremony he arrayed himself in shining imperial vestments, brilliant as the light, (2) and reclined on a couch of the purest white, refusing to clothe himself with the purple any more.

Source:fordham.edu/halsall/basis/vita-constantine.html

• The Life of Blessed Emperor Constantine, written by Eusebius of Caesarea

 

[Cecilianus]

I’m confused by the criticisms directed at St. Constantine the Great by the Roman Catholics here. He is a Catholic saint; my home parish (on the rare occasions when I am actually blessed to be home) is St. Constantine’s Ukrainian Catholic Church. Diak has already pointed the existence of this parish for us. I find it difficult to see how a Catholic can be in communion with the Church while impugning the sanctity of our patron saint. The Church has spoken by blessing a parish church in his honor; any questions regarding the circumstances of his baptism are subsequently irrelevant.

 

[ciero]

I’m confused by the criticisms directed at St. Constantine the Great by the Roman Catholics here. He is a Catholic saint; my home parish (on the rare occasions when I am actually blessed to be home) is St. Constantine’s Ukrainian Catholic Church. Diak has already pointed the existence of this parish for us. I find it difficult to see how a Catholic can be in communion with the Church while impugning the sanctity of our patron saint. The Church has spoken by blessing a parish church in his honor; any questions regarding the circumstances of his baptism are subsequently irrelevant.

There are also plenty of Latin rite churches dedicated to St. Constantine. These folks crack me up.

 

[Cecilianus]

Where do you get this? He is merely not canonized by Rome as such, that doesn’t mean we reject the idea that he could be in heaven.

Mickey, the Latin Church does not consider canonization to be the qualification for being a saint - just a formal declaration of such. A saint is someone in Heaven, venerated or known about or not. Everyone on the calendar is a saint, but not the saints could possibly be on the calendar. For example, someone is a saint in the fullest sense the moment he enters Heaven, and in a partial sense whenever he is deified or sanctified, but he would not be on the calendar until the canonization process is completed. But nobody would have thought of denying the sanctity of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, for example, even though she has not been canonized yet.

 

[Austere]

I am a Roman Catholic and consider Constantine a saint; when one looks at it, the Chi Rho is used aboundingly in various ways, which became his military standard in later life, known as the labarum. For those that would blemish the man’s sanctity or reputation, would you have preferred Constantine or an emperor like Diocletian? Not only did Constantine halt the persecutions of Christians in the empire, he convened the first ecumenical council at Nicaea, giving a creed that we pronounce at every Mass. From being bloodily persecuted to becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire; do you think the Christians at the time would be sceptical of this, or would they be rejoicing?

I would consider the man to be my own personal, favourite saint. The things he has done for Christendom, East and West, are invaluable and they reverberate to this very day. St. Constantine the Great truly did change history. Also, if your looking for a good read on St. Constantine, I would recommend a book called “The Life and Times of Constantine the Great” by D. G. Kousoulas, who unfortunately passed away a few years ago (RIP).

God bless!