Constantine's Army Prayer

Emperor Constantine ca 320

We know Thou art God alone;

we recognize in Thee our king.

We call on Thee for aid.

From thee we receive victory,

through thee we are made greater than our enemies.


We recognize thy grace in present blessings

and hope on Thee for the future.

We all beseech Thee, we implore Thee

to preserve our king Constantine

and his pious sons safe and victorious to the end or our days.

Constantine, the first Christian ruler - emperor of the Roman Empire, encouraged his troops to adopt Christianity. He made Sunday a day of rest and requested his soldiers to say this prayer. Whenever in the field with his legions, Constantine set up a portable chapel. He prayed regularly, and before major engagements. He had 50 chosen legionaries as the color guard around the Labarum (a golden spear with a crosspiece forming a cross, from which hung a purple cloth with the images of himself and his sons, surmounted with a golden wreath and the chi-rho). Constantine's military brilliance and devotion to God inspired his legions to victory after victory over pagan forces beginning at Milvian Bridge outside of Rome in October 312 until his death.
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source MacMullen, Ramsey; Contantine, 1969

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