Information:
Feast Day: |
August 18 |
Born: |
248, Drepanum, Bithynia, Asia Minor |
Died: |
328, Constantinople, Roman |
Major Shrine: |
The shrine to Saint Helena in
St. Peter's Basilica |
Patron of: |
archeologists, converts,
difficult marriages, divorced people, empresses,
Helena, the capital of Montana |
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The mother of Constantine the Great,
born about the middle of the third century, possibly in
Drepanum (later known as Helenopolis) on the Nicomedian
Gulf; died about 330. She was of humble parentage; St.
Ambrose, in his "Oratio de obitu Theodosii", referred to
her as a stabularia, or inn-keeper. Nevertheless, she
became the lawful wife of Constantius Chlorus. Her first
and only son, Constantine, was born in Naissus in Upper
Moesia, in the year 274. The statement made by English
chroniclers of the Middle Ages, according to which
Helena was supposed to have been the daughter of a
British prince, is entirely without historical
foundation. It may arise from the misinterpretation of a
term used in the fourth chapter of the panegyric on
Constantine's marriage with Fausta, that Constantine,
oriendo (i.e., "by his beginnings," "from the outset")
had honoured Britain, which was taken as an allusion to
his birth, whereas the reference was really to the
beginning of his reign.
In the year 292 Constantius, having become co-Regent of
the West, gave himself up to considerations of a
political nature and forsook Helena in order to marry
Theodora, the step-daughter of Emperor Maximinianus
Herculius, his patron, and well-wisher. But her son
remained faithful and loyal to her. On the death of
Constantius Chlorus, in 308, Constantine, who succeeded
him, summoned his mother to the imperial court,
conferred on her the title of Augusta, ordered that all
honour should be paid her as the mother of the
sovereign, and had coins struck bearing her effigy. Her
son's influence caused her to embrace Christianity after
his victory over Maxentius. This is directly attested by
Eusebius (Vita Constantini, III, xlvii): "She (his
mother) became under his (Constantine's) influence such
a devout servant of God, that one might believe her to
have been from her very childhood a disciple of the
Redeemer of mankind". It is also clear from the
declaration of the contemporary historian of the Church
that Helena, from the time of her conversion had an
earnestly Christian life and by her influence and
liberality favoured the wider spread of Christianity.
Tradition links her name with the building of Christian
churches in the cities of the West, where the imperial
court resided, notably at Rome and Trier, and there is
no reason for rejecting this tradition, for we know
positively through Eusebius that Helena erected churches
on the hallowed spots of Palestine. Despite her advanced
age she undertook a journey to Palestine when
Constantine, through his victory over Licinius, had
become sole master of the Roman Empire, subsequently,
therefore, to the year 324. It was in Palestine, as we
learn from Eusebius (loc. cit., xlii), that she had
resolved to bring to God, the King of kings, the homage
and tribute of her devotion. She lavished on that land
her bounties and good deeds, she "explored it with
remarkable discernment", and "visited it with the care
and solicitude of the emperor himself". Then, when she
"had shown dueveneration to the footsteps of the Saviour",
she had two churches erected for the worship of God: one
was raised in Bethlehem near the Grotto of the Nativity,
the other on the Mount of the Ascension, near Jerusalem.
She also embellished the sacred grotto with rich
ornaments. This sojourn in Jerusalem proved the
starting-point of the legend first recorded by Rufinus
as to the discovery of the Cross of Christ.
Her princely munificence was such that, according to
Eusebius, she assisted not only individuals but entire
communities. The poor and destitute were the special
objects of her charity. She visited the churches
everywhere with pious zeal and made them rich donations.
It was thus that, in fulfilment of the Saviour's
precept, she brought forth abundant fruit in word and
deed. If Helena conducted herself in this manner while
in the Holy Land, which is indeed testified to by
Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, we should not
doubt that she manifested the same piety and benevolence
in those other cities of the empire in which she resided
after her conversion. Her memory in Rome is chiefly
identified with the church of S. Croce in Gerusalemme.
On the present location of this church formerly stood
the Palatium Sessorianum, and near by were the Thermae
Helenianae, which baths derived their name from the
empress. Here two inscriptions were found composed in
honour of Helena. The Sessorium, which was near the site
of the Lateran, probably served as Helena's residence
when she stayed in Rome; so that it is quite possible
for a Christian basilica to have been erected on this
spot by Constantine, at her suggestion and in honour of
the true Cross.
Helena was still living in the year 326, when
Constantine ordered the execution of his son Crispus.
When, according to Socrates' account (Church History
I.17), the emperor in 327 improved Drepanum, his
mother's native town, and decreed that it should be
called Helenopolis, it is probable that the latter
returned from Palestine to her son who was then residing
in the Orient. Constantine was with her when she died,
at the advanced age of eighty years or thereabouts
(Eusebius, Life of Constantine III.46). This must have
been about the year 330, for the last coins which are
known to have been stamped with her name bore this date.
Her body was brought to Constantinople and laid to rest
in the imperial vault of the church of the Apostles. It
is presumed that her remains were transferred in 849 to
the Abbey of Hautvillers, in the French Archdiocese of
Reims, as recorded by the monk Altmann in his "Translatio".
She was revered as a saint, and the veneration spread,
early in the ninth century, even to Western countries.
Her feast falls on 18 August. Regarding the finding of
the Holy Cross by St. Helena, see CROSS AND CRUCIFIX.
- The Catholic Encyclopedia
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