Hey Everyone, Today we have a guest post about St. Helena from Mandi who blogs at Messy wife, Blessed Life. For more info about Mandi, Check out her mini bio at the bottom of this post and her blog here.
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In the lobby of our church, there are several framed pictures of gorgeous stained glass seemingly from the same cathedral. I have gotten to know these pictures quite well, having spent my share of time in the lobby with a loud, grumpy, or otherwise naughty little toddler. I’ll often walk back and forth in front of these pictures, pointing them out to Lucia and telling her a little bit about the Saints they portray. Most of the Saints are instantly identifiable: The Blessed Mother holding Baby Jesus, St. Anne instructing the young Mary, St. Joseph holding his carpenter’s tools, St. Patrick decked out in green bishop’s garb, St. John the Baptist wearing animal skins. And then there is a lovely, regal woman, wearing a crown upon her head. I only knew her name because, thankfully, it’s written in stained glass: St. Helena. We would pause only briefly to look at this lovely Saint, because I knew nothing of her to tell Lucia. I've always been intrigued by royal Saints, since it seems Christianity and sainthood are usually associated with poverty, so after a few weeks of visiting with her in the lobby, I just had to look her up.
St. Helena lived in the third and fourth centuries, when Christianity was still young. Not much is known about her early life or place of origin, and over the years there have been various stories about them without much backing. Most likely she came from humble origins somewhere in Asia Minor. It is suggested that she met her husband, Constantius, while he served as a soldier there. It is also not known whether Helena was officially or only common-law married to Constantius. Sometime after she gave birth to their son, Constantine, Constantius rose in political power and divorced Helena in order to marry the daughter of Emperor Maximinianus.
When his father died and he became emperor, Constantine, ever loyal to his mother, had her brought to court and later, toward the end of her life, declared Augusta (empress). As empress, she had coins with her image and cities named in her honor. Aside from the early turmoil caused by her divorce, she lived a life quite different than many of the Saints we revere who lived lives of austerity and obscurity. It is even suggested that Helena was involved in Constantine’s executions of both his wife and son. (Some accounts say that Helena herself told Constantine to execute his wife, Fausta.)
Why do we venerate this Saint with a murky past? Helena represents many of the early Saints in the Church. We do not often know much about their lives, what has survived is more likely legend than it is history. In Helena’s case, it’s possibly a bit of propaganda as well, since her son Constantine would have had anything negative about his beloved mother wiped from the records (hence the absence of details about her humble beginnings). Yet, her life and deeds were instrumental to the early Church.
Helena, despite her suggested involvement in her son’s executions, was known as an extremely pious woman. A convert to the faith, she was encouraged to embrace Christianity by her son. Although this was most likely a political move on Constantine’s part, Helena fully accepted her new religion. Her son was known for extending protection to Christians in the Roman Empire, and she was widely regarded for spreading Christianity - founding monasteries and building new churches throughout the West as well as in Palestine. She is also remembered for her great acts of charity to whole communities of poor. In her old age, she made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to pay homage to the places of Christ’s life and death. When Constantine names his mother empress, he gave her unlimited access to the imperial treasury so that she could find relics important to Christianity. According to tradition, Helena had the pagan temple over Christ’s tomb torn down and the site excavated, uncovering three crosses, one of which is said to be the True Cross, and which can still be seen in Rome today. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built on the site by Constantine, and Helena also had churches built in Bethlehem and the Mount of Olives, among other important Christian sites. Helena died a few years after her return from Palestine, at the age of 80.
I identify strongly with Helena, because she valued the history of Christianity and worked to preserve its Holy sites and relics. As a lover of history, I am grateful to this early Christian empress for dedicating her old age to saving the physical remnants of Christ’s life for the future generations.
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Mandi is a young Catholic wife (of almost three years) and mother to a newly walking toddler. When she's not chasing after Lucia, she teaches Spanish, is obsessed with word games, and blogs at Messy Wife, Blessed Life.
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