Saints Constantine and Helen share a feast day, which is widely known on the twenty firstSt of Might.
Saint Helena
Saint Helen of Constantinople approx. 250-328 AD, stated to have been a Christian from beginning and believed to have been born in Depranum (fashionable Trapani) in Bithynia, was the mom of the Roman Emperor Constantine I, (c. 272 - 337).
After Helen was divorced from her husband, Constantius I Chlorus, father of Constantine I, she shouldn’t be talked about once more in historical past till AD 306, the yr Constantine grew to become emperor, when she went to reside with him in Byzantium, which he had made his new. capital and renamed Constantinople after himself (present-day Istanbul).
After Constantine had his son Crispus and spouse, Fausta, executed on fees of alleged immoral crimes, Helen made her well-known pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Legend has it that Helen discovered the true cross of Christ whereas in Jerusalem and constructed the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher.
Helen’s Pilgrimage to Jerusalem
In Jerusalem, the story tells that Helen discovered three crosses, certainly one of which was the cross of Christ together with the nails. (The cross of Christ is a topic of controversy within the church).
Apparently, three sick folks touched the crosses, one touched the primary cross, however nothing occurred, once more, when the second individual touched the second cross, nothing, however when the third individual touched the cross of Christ, he was miraculously healed .
Right here, on the spot the place this miraculous cross was found, Helen is alleged to have established the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Helen can also be thought-about the founding father of the Church of the Nativity.
Helen’s demise
Helen died on the age of 80 round 328 AD. and was buried within the newly constructed basilica on By way of Labicana in Rome.
Right this moment her sarcophagus is within the Museo Pio-Clementino within the Vatican.
On the time of her demise, she was already related to many monuments in Rome, Bethlehem and Jerusalem, and was additionally depicted on many cash.
Relics of Saint Helen
What is alleged to be Helen’s cranium is displayed within the cathedral in Trier, Germany.
There are additionally relics on the Basilica of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli in Rome, the Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles in Paris and on the Abbaye Saint-Pierre d’Hautvillers.
Helen is the patron saint of archaeologists, converts, troublesome marriages, divorced folks, empresses, Saint Helena Island and new discoveries.
Saint Constantine
Constantine I (c. 272 – 337), son of Saint Helen, the primary emperor to transform to Christianity, also called Constantine the Nice, was Roman emperor from 306 to 337 AD.
Constantine I, or Constantine the Nice, is understood for his conversion to Christianity in 312 AD. and the next Christianization of the Roman Empire.
The Conversion of Constantine
Constantine is alleged to have turn out to be a Christian when in AD 312, earlier than getting ready for the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in Rome, he’s stated to have had a imaginative and prescient of the phrases “By this you shall prevail” on a pillar that types a cross within the sky below the solar.
The next night time Christ appeared to him in a dream and bestowed upon him the ability of the cross.
The following morning, Constantine ordered a victory banner to be made, depicting the cross and the identify of Jesus Christ.
Constantine and his males went on to win the battle and entered Rome in triumph.
Council of Nicaea
In 325, Constantine known as the primary ecumenical council at Nicaea, the place the creed that types the Christian perception system was created.
Loss of life and Relics of Constantine
In 324, within the historic metropolis of Byzantium, Constantine laid the muse for the brand new capital of his empire and named it on 11 Might 330 after himself, Constantinople.
Constantine died on Might 21St in 33, on the age of sixty-five; his relics had been transferred to Constantinople, the place they had been buried within the Church of the Holy Apostles.
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