ST. COSTANTINO
Son of Costanzo Cloro and the future Saint Elena, Costantino is considered the first Christian Emperor.
According to the legend, the night before the battle against Massenzio, Jesus appeared to him in dream and asked him to write the first two letters of his name (in Greek XP) on the shields of his soldiers.
During the battle, Costantino had the vision of the cross with the words: “In hoc signo vinces” (“In this sign thou shall win”).
This episode marked the beginning of his conversion to Christianity: in 313 A.D., Costantino enacted an edict that granted freedom of worship to Christians.
Although his canonization never took place, in Sardinia he is worshipped like a saint: his cult goes back, with no doubt, to the Byzantine domination in the island.
In dialect he is called Santu Antine.
photo: G. Villani