A remarkable woman, Helena was a persuasive influence at the court of her son Constantine. She made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in search of the true cross, and is revered as a saint by the Christian Church. Flavia Iulia Helena, also known as Saint Helena, Saint Helen, Helena Augusta, and Helena of Constantinople, (c.248 – c.329) was consort of (though may have been married to) Constantius Chlorus, and the mother of Emperor Constantine I. She is traditionally credited with finding the relics of the True Cross. Many legends surround her. She was allegedly the daughter of an innkeeper. Her son Constantine renamed the city of Drepanum on the Gulf of Nicomedia as 'Helenopolis' in her honour, which led to later interpretations that Drepanum was her birthplace. Constantius Chlorus divorced her (c.292) to marry the step-daughter of Maximian, Flavia Maximiana Theodora. Helena's son, Constantine, became emperor of the Roman Empire, and following his elevation she became a presence at the imperial court, and received the title Augusta.
[edit] Sainthoo She is considered by the Orthodox and Catholic churches as a saint, famed for her piety. Her feast day as a saint of the Orthodox Christian Church is celebrated with her son on May 21, the Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, Equal to the Apostles[1]. Her feast day in the Roman Catholic Church falls on August 18. Eusebius records the details of her pilgrimage to Palestine and other eastern provinces (though not her discovery of the True Cross)). She is the patron saint of archaeologists.
At the age of 80, Helena was said by some accounts to have been placed in charge of a mission to gather Christian relics, by her son Emperor Constantine I, who had recently declared Rome as a Christian city. Helena travelled the 1400-plus miles from Rome to Jerusalem. The city was still rebuilding from the destruction of Hadrian, a previous emperor, who had built a Temple to Venus at the site of the Crucifixion. According to legend, Helena entered the temple with Bishop Macarius, and chose a site to begin excavating, which led to the recovery of three different crosses and the nails of the crucifixion. To use their miraculous power to aid her son, Helena allegedly had one placed in Constantine's helmet, and another in the bridle of his horse. Helena left Jerusalem in 327 to return to Rome, and shortly after her journey to the East Helena died in the presence of her son Constantine (Euseb., VC, 3.46). Some of the relics which she had located were then stored in her palace in Rome, which was later converted into the Abbey of Santa Croce.