Constantine’s Cross: A Service of Lament

Christian tradition places Constantine’s vision of a cross in the sky on October 27, 312, the eve of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. After his victory, Constantine and his fellow emperor Licinius affirmed religious freedom for Christians in 313. Christianity eventually became the empire’s official religion, beginning a long and complicated relationship between the Church and political power. That history includes extraordinary gifts: hospitals and universities, expanded education, and a vision of dignity for every human being. It also carries profound wounds: the Crusades, pogroms against Jewish communities, colonialism, the Doctrine of Discovery, and the defense of slavery. Too often, the cross has been used to justify domination, and the Church has blessed the very oppression it was called to resist.
On October 27 at 5pm, St. Luke’s will host “Constantine’s Cross: A Service of Lament” in the chapel. Through Psalms, silence, and prayers, this brief service will offer space to grieve these harms, confess the ways Christianity has served state power and oppression, and renew our commitment to the way of Jesus: love, humility, justice, and peace.