St. Helena, Mother of Emperor Constantine – May 21

St. Helena, (Flavia Iulia Helena) the mother of St. Constantine the Great, was probably born at Drepanum (later named as Helenopolis, by her Emperor son) in Asia Minor to Greek/Turkish, Christian parents of humble, low social means. Some tradition says she was born in the city of Raha (Edessa). They brought her up in a Christian manner, taught her the doctrines of the Church and the religious ethics. She was incredibly beautiful. When Emperor Constantius I (Chlorus), emperor of Byzantium, came to the city and heard about her. Constantius saw her as his soulmate sent by God. It is said that upon meeting they were wearing identical silver bracelets. He sought her out and married her. She gave birth to Constantine (the great), in AD 274 who became the first Christian Emperor. She raised him up well, and taught him philosophy, wisdom, and knighthood.

Constantius divorced Helena, in AD 294, for political reasons and married the daughter of a co-emperor, in order to obtain a wife more consonant with his rising status. However, Helena and Constantine were maintained in a regal home, and Constantine stayed close to both his mother and father. Constantine eventually became co-emperor, and when he died, Constantine took his father’s place. He brought his mother Helena to come live with him and his own family in the royal court. Helena must have been a prominent person at the imperial court. Constantine showed his mother great honor and respect, granting her the imperial title ‘Augusta’.

Till the time of Constantine, the great, many of the Roman Emperors and co-emperors had viciously persecuted Christians, and yet the Word of the True God continued to spread throughout the Empire. But what we do know is that she raised her son Constantine to not only accept Christianity and defend it against those who would try to destroy the faith, and that when he became sole emperor, he did declare it to be the official faith of the Roman Empire, through the issued the Edict of Milan in 313 which guaranteed religious tolerance for Christians and he even participated in early Church Councils. After three hundred years of persecution, Christians could finally practice their faith without fear.

Surely some of that came from her influence. And Helena was not only a devoted Christian, but she was driven to do more for the faith, to devote herself to Jesus Christ, and actually work for Christianity, and serve the Church by, taking advantage of her position so that even though she was in her seventies, she set out on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and was led by God to find the places where Jesus was born, where he lived, where he preached, where he was crucified, and where He resurrected from the tomb. She searched for the wood of the Honourable Cross until she found it along with the other two crosses and not far from it, she found a board with the inscription (INRI) ordered by Pilate, and four nails which had pierced the Lord’s Body.

While in Jerusalem, St. Helen performed a variety of good works, including giving money to the poor. St. Helen continued to journey to the holy places connected with the earthly life of the Savior, building more than eighty Churches – at Bethlehem at the birthplace of Christ; on the Mount of Olives where the Lord ascended to Heaven; and at Gethsemane where the Savior prayed before His sufferings and where the Mother of God was buried, before her Assumption to heaven.

King Constantine had funded the immense expedition with his mother Helena leading an entourage of soldiers, priests, bishops, architects, scholars, and advisors. For two years Empress Helena explored the Holy Land, talking with elders about local traditions, studying, and going to where God led her. Some ancient sources credit her with the construction of hundreds of Churches, some marking events in the life of Jesus, other churches marking places of martyrdoms of Christian saints.

St. Helena led a righteous life, and she contributed many endowments for the Churches, monasteries, and the poor. She departed at age of eighty. May her prayers be with us. Amen