A Brief History
On October 27, 312, Emperor Constantine the Great of the Roman Empire on the eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridge is reported to have had a vision or dream of the Christian Cross, leading to his men fighting under the protection of the cross. Sure enough, Constantine beat his rival as Roman Emperor, Maxentius and won the battle, eventually turning the Roman Empire Christian. The date and whether or not the vision really happened has been argued.
Digging Deeper
Some other notable historic visions include:
Visions of the Virgin Mary are numerous in Christian lore, most notably to a 14-year-old St. Bernadette in France in 1858 at Lourdes. Of course, many religious figures such as Martin Luther and Joseph Smith reported major visions.
Russian Dmitri Mendeleev claimed his inspiration for the Periodic Table of the Elements came to him in a dream in 1869. Another dream inspired theory is that of Niel Bohr who had a vision of the structure of atoms sometime before 1913, and Albert Einstein relied on dreams and visions!
Elias Howe, inventor of the practical sewing machine, got his design from a dream in the mid-19th Century.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Have you had visions?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Daughters of St. Paul. Saint Bernadette of Lourdes: The Girl Who Saw Mary. Pauline Books & Media, 2021.
Grant, Michael. Constantine the Great: The Man and His Times. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1994.
