Helena of Constantinople

1. Helena of Constantinople Also known as Saint Helen, Helena Augusta, Saint Eleanor and Saint Eleanor. Connections? • Mount Saint Helens (Named by George Vancouver a British Explorer) • Helena, Montana (originally called Crab town) (named after Saint Helena, Minnesota. Some miners later changed it to Hell ---ena and dropped the Saint) • There is a Saint Helena Cathedral in Helena Montana

2. Born in 250. • Some historians put her birth in the province of Bithynia (Asia Minor). Her birthplace is not known with certainty. In fact, very little is known about her early years. Most historians think she came from a poor background. • Constantine renamed Bithynia --- “Helenopolis” after her death in 330. • She was the mother of the Emperor Constantine the Great. Constantine was born in 274. • She is traditionally credited with the finding of the relics of the True Cross and the nails.

3. She is venerated (respected, reverenced) by: The Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Churches Oriental Orthodoxy Anglican Communion Lutheran Church

4. Major Shrine The shrine to Saint Helena in St. Peter’s Basilica. Her sarcophagus is in the Vatican Museum. • In pictures you will see her dressed as royalty, holding a large cross.

5. Helena was married to Constantius. Some historians thought that they may have co-habituated, or that she might have been a concubine. Most think that they were married. • She gave birth to Constantine in 272. • In 273 Constantius was ordered by the Emperor to divorce Helena in order to qualify as Caesar of the Western Roman Empire. • Helena never remarried and lived in obscurity for the next fourteen years. • All of her life she gave presents to the poor, ordinary worshippers in modest attire.

6. Feasts: My favorite, “Feasts of the Holy Great Sovereign Constantine and Helena, Equal to the Apostles.” (Orthodox Christian Church)

7. Relics: In 325 Helena journeyed to Jerusalem to gather relics by her son Constantine. They began excavating under a temple that had been built over the site of Jesus tomb near Calvary that had been built by a previous emperor. She refused to be swayed by anything but solid proof. They found three crosses and she wanted to know which was the real one. Her test was to bring a “diseased woman” nigh unto death to come and touch the crosses to find out which one would heal her. Some historians say that the woman had leprosy. Legend has it that it was the third cross that healed her. There is another story that she touched a dead man with the different crosses and the third cross brought him back to life. Legend also has it that they found the nails that were used on the cross. She had one nail put in Constantine’s helmet and one in his horse’s bridle. There is even a story that when they were traveling by boat and the water got really rough and they thought they were going under that she threw one of the nails into the water and it immediately calmed the storm.

8. Helena’s Christianity comes from her son’s conversion. • In 308 Constantine took over for his deceased Father. He also had to divorce his wife. • He immediately brought his mother to the imperial court and named her “Helena Augustus.” He even had coins made with her on them.

9. The poor and destitute were the object of her charity. • She had a real connection with the “cross” because of the visions and dreams of the cross and his military victories. She had linked her mind and soul to the cross on which Jesus died. • The “Day of the Holy Cross” was remembered around the world until 1960 when Pope John XXIII removed it.

10. Relevance to us? The cross was secondary to the effect her example had on Constantine at a time when other youths of noble birth were being raised in pagan spirit to despise Christianity. She worshipped not the wood, but the king who hung on the wood. She represents the best of Christian Life and was an example of that life long before she openly became a Christian.