Helena of Constantinople

Saint Helena
Mother of Constantine the Great
Born	250
Died	330
Venerated in	Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches
Feast	August 18
Attributes	Cross
Patronage	archeologists; converts; difficult marriages; divorced people; empresses; Helena, Montana

Flavia Iulia Helena, also known as Saint Helena, Saint Helen, Helena Augusta, and Helena of Constantinople, (c.248 – c.329) was consort (though may have been married to) of Constantius Chlorus, and the mother of Emperor Constantine I. She is traditionally credited with finding the relics of the True Cross.

Family life

Many legends surround her. She was allegedly the daughter of an innkeeper. Her son Constantine renamed the city of Drepanum on the Gulf of Nicomedia as 'Helenopolis' in her honour, which led to later interpretions that Drepanum was her birthplace.

Constantius Chlorus divorced her (c.292) to marry the step-daughter of Maximian, Flavia Maximiana Theodora. Helena's son, Constantine, became emperor of the Roman Empire, and following his elevation she became a presence at the imperial court, and received the title Augusta.

Sainthood

She is considered by the Orthodox and Catholic churches as a saint, famed for her piety. Her feast day as a saint of the Orthodox Christian Church is celebrated with her son on May 21, the Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, Equal to the Apostles^*. Her feast day in the Roman Catholic Church falls on August 18. Eusebius records the details of her pilgrimage to Palestine and other eastern provinces (though not her discovery of the True Cross)). She is the patron saint of archaeologists.

Relic Discoveries

At the age of 80, Helena was said by some accounts to have been placed in charge of a mission to gather Christian relics, by her son Emperor Constantine I, who had recently declared Rome as a Christian city. Helena travelled the 1400-plus miles from Rome to Jerusalem. The city was still rebuilding from the destruction of Hadrian, the previous emperor, who had built a Temple to Venus at the site of the Crucifixion. According to legend, Helena entered the temple with Bishop Macarius, and chose a site to begin excavating, which led to the recovery of three different crosses and the nails of the crucifixion. To use their miraculous power to aid her son, Helena allegedly had one placed in Constantine's helmet, and another in the bridle of his horse. She is also traditionally credited with finding the remains of the Three Wise Men, which currently reside in the Shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne Cathedral. Helena left Jerusalem in 327 to return to Rome, and shortly after her journey to the East Helena died in the presence of her son Constantine (Euseb., VC, 3.46). Some of the relics which she had located were then stored in her palace in Rome, which was later converted into the Abbey of Santa Croce.

Depictions in English folklore

In Great Britain, later legend, mentioned by Henry of Huntingdon but made popular by Geoffrey of Monmouth, claimed that Helena was a daughter of the King of Britain, Cole of Colchester, who allied with Constantius to avoid more war between the Britons and Rome. Geoffrey further states that she was brought up in the manner of a queen, as she had no brothers to inherit the throne of Britain. There is no evidence to support this legendGibbon, Edward (1776). The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, which may be due to confusion with St. Elen, wife of the later Emperor, Magnus Maximus.

At least twenty-five holy wells currently exist in the United Kingdom that are dedicated to a Saint Helen or Elen. ^* She is also the patron saint of Colchester and Abingdon.

Depictions in fiction

Helena is the main character of "Priestess of Avalon" (2000), a fantasy novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson. She is given the name Eilan and depicted as a trained priestess of Avalon.

Helena is also the protagonist of Evelyn Waugh's novel Helena.

References

"Decoding the Past - Relics of the Passion", 2005 History Channel documentary

External links