Helen

Head of a statue of Helen (Musei Capitolini, Rome)

Helen (c.250 - c.329): name of a Roman empress, wife of Constantius I Chlorus and mother of Constantine I the Great. She is venerated as a saint.

Life

c.250: Born in Drepanon in Bithynia
c.270: Marriage to Constantius, who is about her age
272 Birth of Constantine
289 Separated from Constantius, who is forced to marry Theodora, a stepdaughter of Maximianus
306 Constantine becomes emperor; Helen stays on his court
325 Helen proclaimed Augusta
326 Helen begins her pilgrimage to the Holy Land
329 Death
Helen was buried in the mausoleum in Rome that Constantine had built for himself, the present Santa Costanza; her sarcophagus is now in the Vatican

Coin of Helen (Museum of Antioch)

In the late fourth century, it was said that Helen had found the True Cross during her visit to Jerusalem; this story is not mentioned in the writings of Eusebius, who, as bishop of Caesarea, must have known it when this really happened. As he does not mention it,the story is probably a legend. However, the visit to Jerusalem and the buidling of the church of the Holy Sepulcher, are uncontested facts.

Since the fifth century, Helen has been venerated as a saint in the Byzantine Empire; her saint's day is 21 May. Her cult spread to the west in the second half of the ninth century, where her saint's day is 18 August. Other honors were that her birthplace, Drepanon in Bithynia, was renamed Helenopolis.

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