St Helen (c. 250–330) mother of the emperor Constantine
Saint
Helen, also known as Helena of Constantinople (c. 250–330) was the wife
of the Roman Emperor Constantius (250-306), and the mother of Emperor
Constantine I. She is traditionally associated with finding the relics
of the true cross in Jerusalem.
A British princess or a tavern maid from Asia Minor?
An
English legend would claim that Helen was a British princess, the
daughter of Old King Cole, but this is untrue as Constantius her husband
had divorced her long before he ever set foot in Britain.
Birth of Constantine
Flavia Iulia Helena was most
probably born in the city of Drepanum - later renamed Helenopolis - in
Bithynia (modern north-eastern Turkey) in 248/9 AD, the daughter of
innkeepers. St Ambrose of Milan (De obitu Theodosii 42) says she was a stabularia,
a maid in a tavern or inn. Around the year 270 she met Constantius
Chlorus and a few years later gave birth to their son Constantine at
Nish in Serbia.
Constantius divorces Helen
But when in 292
Constantius became Caesar to the Augustus Maximian in the West in the
newly formed tetrarchy, he divorced Helena for political reasons and
married Theodora, Maximian's daughter. From then until Constantine
became emperor, Helena's life was spent into relative obscurity and was
probably deprived of the company of her son. Perhaps because of this she
is seen as a patron of those undergoing divorce.
At Constantine's court in Trier and Rome
Around
306, after the troops of Constantius proclaimed Constantine the
successor of his father at York, Helena joined Constantine's court,
probably first at Trier and later at Rome. There are frescoes in the
imperial palace in Trier, on which Helena is possibly depicted. When in
312 Constantine had defeated his rival Maxentius in the famous battle at
the Milvian Bridge near Rome, Helena probably came to live in Rome.
Perhaps to console her for the years of neglect when she was repudiated
by her husband Constantius, Constantine gave her as her residence the
Sessorian Palace at the south-east corner of the city, part of which
survives today as the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. From this
time onwards she held a prominent position at the imperial court and in
324 Helena received the title of Augusta.
Helen's pilgrimage to Jerusalem
Constantine's
popularity probably suffered severe damage from the murder in 326 of his
son Crispus and his wife Fausta in a palace intrigue. So we find Helen
now almost eighty years of age heading off to the East and to Jerusalem
in the years 327-328, possibly on a goodwill political visit.
Ecclesiastical historian Eusebius, however, describes Helen's journey as
a pilgrimage (Vita Constantini 3.42-47), pointing out its
religious aspects, showing Helen as full of religious enthusiasm,
visiting the places where Christ's had walked, caring for the poor and
needy and generous in endowing churches to be built on the holy places.
Finding the True Cross
The tradition is that
while Helen was in Jerusalem in the years 327-8 she discovered the true
cross. She ordered that the 200 year-old Temple of Venus built in the
time of the emperor Hadrian be torn down and it was here that the tomb
of Jesus and the relics of three crosses were found. Over this she built
the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre.
Veneration of the Cross
The Sermons of Cyril,
bishop of Jerusalem, record that remains of the Cross were already
venerated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at the end of the 340s.
Today within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre there are 29 steps leading
down to the Armenian Chapel of St Helena, where the relics of cross
were said to have been located. The remains of the cross were relocated
to Rome, and are on display in the Basilica of Santa Croce in
Gerusalemme.
Bethlehem and the Eleona
Helen also went to
Bethlehem where she built another church over the cave where Jesus was
born. Also back in Jerusalem, she built a third basilica on the Mount of
Olives where Jesus ascended into heaven. Constantine financed this
building project and called the Ascension church "the Eleona" in honour
of his mother.
Helen's death
Shortly after her journey to the
East, Helen died. She was buried in Rome in a mausoleum Constantine
built for her near the Church of Saints Marcellinus and Peter on the Via
Labicana. The porphyry sarcophagus which contained her remains is now
in the Vatican Museum.