Helena of Constantinople, Protector of the Holy Places, 330
Most Merciful God, who blessed your servant Helena with such
grace and devotion to you that she venerated the very footsteps of our Savior;
Grant unto us the same grace that, aided by her prayers and example, we also
may always behold your glory in the cross of your Son. Through the same Jesus
Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Helena, or Saint Helena (Greek: 'Aγία 'Eλένη, Hagía
Helénē, was born the lowest of commoners, possibly in Drepana, Bithynia in Asia
Minor, she became the consort of the future Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus
and the mother of the future Emperor Constantine the Great.
Helena ranks as an important figure in the history of
Christianity and of the world due to her influence on her son. In her final
years, she made a religious tour of Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem, during
which she allegedly discovered the True Cross. According to Eusebius of
Caesarea, who records the details of her pilgrimage to Palestine and other
eastern provinces, she was responsible for the construction or beautification
of two churches, the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, and the Church of
Eleona on the Mount of Olives, sites of Christ's birth and ascension,
respectively.
