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Home , Carus, Diocletian, Florianus, Galerius, Helena (wife of Julian), Probus (emperor)

Saint of

Empress of the

It is believed that Helena may have been born At some time, Helena’s son was around the year 246 AD in the province of , a transferred to the court of , while throughout the Greek province in Minor. Helena was not born into persecutions the health of began to the upper echelons of society, but came from humble fail. In 305 he abdicated his title, which was bestowed beginnings, possibly as a stable-maid or inn-keeper. upon Helena’s ex-husband Constantius who became the While living in that region, she met Contantius Chlorus. Emperor of the West. Constantius was better disposed Constantius was a soldier with humble beginning like toward Christians than Galerius, and even Diocletian, and Helena, serving under the Emperor and stationed made as little effort as possible to implement the imperial in Asia Minor as part of a campaign against the Syrian decrees against Christians. Queen who was attempting to usurp her position Over the course of the next year Constantius went and rebel against . While the legal nature of their to fight the Picts in Brittania and saw the danger in his son marriage is unknown, the two did become married. remaining in the court of Galerius. He sought permission Helena left with Constantius, and in 272 in the for Constantine to join him in Brittania. Galerius gave his town of Naissus, modern day , she gave birth to a consent, and Constantine fled before he could change his son at the age of 26 and named him Constantine. mind, hamstringing every horse between himself and his Constantius served under Emperor Aurelian until his father before he could be caught. murder in 275. He continued to serve under the short The next year, Constantius died and passed his reigns of the and who authority onto Constantine who became Emperor in the combined only ruled through the years 275 and 276. West. He reigned with Galerius until his death in 311. Under the new emperor , Constantius began to With the hatred of Galerius gone, Emperor Constantine become more successful and renown in the Roman legalized in 313 AD after receiving a sign. Empire. When Emperor Probus died in 282, the Empire After the legalization, Helena began to undertake several suffered through another quick succession of emperors, pilgrimages and search for relics relating to Christ. Her , , and Numeriun, the last two of which ruled son declared her Augusta Imperatrix, giving her unlimited simultaneously, all in the period of less than three years, access to the imperial treasury to this end. before Diocletian became emperor in 284 AD. Helena traveled to Jerusalem, which was still During this time, due to his success and renown, being rebuilt following its destruction in 70 AD. Emperor Constantius divorced Helena by the year 289 AD in order had built a temple to Venus in 130AD over the to marry Theodora, the daughter of under his tomb of Jesus to prevent Christian pilgrimages to that site. command. Helena and her son Constantine were sent to Helena had the temple destroyed, and underneath they the court of Emperor Diocletian, where Constantine found three crosses. To determine with certainty which became a member of Diocletian’s inner circle. cross belonged to Christ, she would expose lepers to the As a member of the court, Helena would have Crosses, but only one of the crosses would heal the lepers, been witness to the events and persecutions which which she accepted as proof that this particular cross followed. After returning from a war with the Sassanian belonged to Christ. After having retrieved the cross, in 299 AD, Diocletian and Galerius took part in a Emperor Constantine ordered the construction of the sacrificial ceremony in an attempt to predict Church of the Holy Sepulchre on that site. Helena would the future. When the diviners could not read the future in go on to build numerous other Catholic Churches in this the entrails of the sacrificed animals, they blamed the area. Christians in the Imperial household. An order was sent Helena remained in Jerusalem for a long time, out ordering the entire army to perform these , discovering artifacts relating to Christ, overseeing the resulting in exposure of Christians and a bitter persecution removal of the steps leading to the praetorium of Pontius which followed. Pilate which Jesus had stepped on during his passion, Although Galerius was the primary instigator of having them transported to Rome where they were the persecution, Diocletian would consent to the torture incorporated into the Lateran Palace which would become and execution of Christian, and forbade Christians from the main Papal residence. the and military. When an in 302 Her health failing, Helena finally returned to informed Diocletian that the impious on the Earth Rome in 327, bringing with her the true Cross and other (Christians) prevented from seeking guidance relics. She died in 330 AD with her son at her side. Her from , he consented to the demand for a universal feast day is August 18th. Later that year, Constantine persecution. renamed her hometown of Bithynia as “Helenopolis.”