If the Benedictine motto is Ora et labora – “Prayer and work,” – and that of the Dominicans Veritas “Truth” – then the Constantinian Order’s is surely In hoc Signo vinces – “In this Sign you shall conquer.” Heard by the Emperor Constantine the Great, the Order’s namesake, before his Battle at the Milvian Bridge in the year 312 A.D., the Sign it references is the Holy Cross. 

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The focal point of the spirituality of the Constantinian Order, and the first component of the Order’s threefold charism, is the glorification of the Cross. The Cross has enjoyed the singular pride and deep veneration of the Constantinian Order since the very beginning. 

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The Order’s members were charged with not only the safety of the sacred Labarum, or Constantinian banner featuring the Cross, but honoring the Cross and following Its Divine Victim in their daily lives. Besides the usual expectations of all Christians, this has entailed special prayers and customs for Constantinians throughout the centuries.

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Upon rising, the ancient practice of the Constantinian knights, was to recite their first prayer of the day, which made mention of the Cross, while their first action was to take up the Cross, probably referring to the daily wearing of the Constantinian Cross; as the old Statutes of the Order urged the knight to “venerate the holiest sign of the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, just as the pious emperor Constantine always venerated It, he who not only affixed It to his clothing, his weapons, his emperor’s crown, but used to humbly carry It in his triumphant right [hand], publicly stating that his glory and that of his army consisted in It. The knights must follow such an example of the glorious prince, continually carrying (wearing) the Cross, in a way that It is seen by all.”

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The daily prayers of the Constantinians consisted primarily in either the recitation of a series of prayers modeled on the Divine Office, called the Little Office of the Holy Cross, or if it were not possible, other prayers recited while meditating on the Holy Wounds suffered by Christ during His Passion and Death on the Cross. The titular (or main) feast of the Order was, and is, September 14th – the feast of the Exaltation or Triumph of the Cross, also celebrated was the feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross, on May 3. 

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The main symbol of the Order has always been the Constantinian Cross. The Constantinian Cross, colored in red, with its lettering and border in gold, includes not only the Cross (✝), the Instrument of Christ’s Passion and Death, with flowering ends, but also the Chi Rho (☧), also called the Christogram. This superimposes the first two capital Greek letters Χ (Chi) and Ρ (Rho) in Χρίστος (Christos) or Christ. 

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Imposed on it are the Greek letters Α (Alpha) and Ω (Omega) the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, which Christ used to refer to Himself: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Revelation 22:13). 

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Also on the Cross are the Latin letters IHSV, the acronym for “In hoc signo vinces.”  

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The Constantinian Cross is often depicted surrounded by two branches, one of olive (symbolizing peace) and the other of oak (symbolizing strength). 

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Centuries after its foundation, Constantinians continue to especially glorify and reverence the Cross, in our ongoing spiritual battle. As the Introit or Entrance Antiphon of the Mass of September 14 sums up, referencing Galatians 6:14: “But it behooves us to glory in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ: in Whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection; by Whom we are saved and delivered.”