Official feasts used to be an important part of the human community. People would gather together to remember something sacred, express their faith and hope for the future, and / or just be together formally, recognizing each other as being part of a shared community. Few things express a desire for shared companionship and social intimacy more than dining together. Sadly, the gathering together for feasting is increasingly a relic of the past – at least here in the West.
It need not be so! Today we will remember the ancient feasts.
The Feast Day of St. Helena
The Feast Day of St. Helena is a Christian religious celebration of Helena, a 3rd century Christian convert who was the mother of Constantine I, Emperor of the Roman Empire. She is most know historically for playing a role in the discovery of several Holy Land Christian discoveries, including the True Cross – the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. She is a patron saint of archaeologists, converts, difficult marriages, divorced people, empresses, and new discoveries.
Flavia Julia Helena (/ˈhɛlənə/; Greek: Ἑλένη, Helénē; c. AD 246/248–330), also known as Helena of Constantinople and in Christianity as Saint Helena, was an Augusta of the Roman Empire and mother of Emperor Constantine the Great. She was born in the lower classes traditionally in the Greek city of Drepanon, Bithynia, in Asia Minor, which was renamed Helenopolis in her honor, although several locations have been proposed for her birthplace and origin.
A fresco from Trier, Germany, possibly depicting Helena, c. 310
Sources agree that Helena was a Greek, probably from Asia Minor in modern Turkey. Her birthplace is not known with certainty, but Helenopolis, then Drepanum, in Bithynia is, following Procopius, “generally assumed” to be the place. Her name is attested on coins as Flavia Helena, Flavia Julia Helena and sometimes Aelena. Joseph Vogt suggested that the name Helena was typical for the Greek-speaking part of the Roman Empire and that therefore her place of origin should be looked for in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. The 6th-century historian Procopius is the earliest authority for the statement that Helena was a native of Drepanum, in the province of Bithynia in Asia Minor. The name Helena appears in all areas of the Empire, but is not epigraphically attested in inscriptions of Bithynia (Helena’s proposed region of origin) and it was also common in Latin-speaking areas. Procopius lived much later than the era he was describing and his description may have been actually intended as an etymological explanation about the toponym Helenopolis. On the other hand, her son Constantine renamed the city “Helenopolis” after her death around AD 330, which supports the belief that the city was indeed her birthplace. The Byzantinist Cyril Mango has, however, argued that Helenopolis was refounded to strengthen the communication network around Constantine’s new capital in Constantinople, and was renamed simply to honor Helena, not to necessarily mark her birthplace. There was also a Helenopolis in Palestine and a Helenopolis in Lydia. These cities, and the province of Helenopontus in the Pontus, were probably all named after Constantine’s mother. Two other locations in France and the Pyrenees have been named after Helena. Equally uncertain to Drepanum and without strong documentation suggestions about her birthplace are: Naissus (central Balkans), Caphar or Edessa (Mesopotamia), Trier.
The bishop and historian Eusebius of Caesarea states that Helena was about 80 on her return from Palestine. Since that journey has been dated to 326–28, she was probably born around 246 to 249. Information about her social background universally suggests that she came from the lower classes. Fourth-century sources, following Eutropius‘ Breviarium, record that she came from a humble background. Bishop Ambrose of Milan, writing in the late 4th century was the first to call her a stabularia, a term translated as “stable-maid” or “inn-keeper”. He makes this comment a virtue, calling Helena a bona stabularia, a “good stable-maid”, probably to contrast her with the general suggestion of sexual laxness considered typical of that group. Other sources, especially those written after Constantine’s proclamation as emperor, gloss over or ignore her background.
Both Geoffrey of Monmouth and Henry of Huntingdon promoted a popular tradition that Helena was a British princess and the daughter of “Old King Cole” from the area of Colchester. This led to the later dedication of 135 churches in England to her, many in around the area of Yorkshire, and revived as a suggestion in the 20th century in the novel by Evelyn Waugh.
Marriage to Emperor Constantius
It is unknown where she first met Constantius. The historian Timothy Barnes has suggested that Constantius, while serving under Emperor Aurelian, could have met her while stationed in Asia Minor for the campaign against Zenobia. It is said that upon meeting they were wearing identical silver bracelets; Constantius saw her as his divinely-sent soulmate. Barnes calls attention to an epitaph at Nicomedia of one of Aurelian’s protectors, which could indicate the emperor’s presence in the Bithynian region soon after AD 270. The precise legal nature of the relationship between Helena and Constantius is also unknown. The sources are equivocal on the point, sometimes calling Helena Constantius’ “wife”, and sometimes, following the dismissive propaganda of Constantine’s rival Maxentius, calling her his “concubine“. Jerome, perhaps confused by the vague terminology of his own sources, manages to do both.
Some scholars, such as the historian Jan Drijvers, assert that Constantius and Helena were joined in a common-law marriage, a cohabitation recognized in fact but not in law. Others, like Timothy Barnes, assert that Constantius and Helena were joined in an official marriage, on the grounds that the sources claiming an official marriage are more reliable.
Helena gave birth to the future emperor Constantine I on 27 February of an uncertain year soon after 270 (probably around 272). At the time, she was in Naissus (Niš, Serbia). In order to obtain a wife more consonant with his rising status, Constantius divorced Helena some time before 289, when he married Theodora, Maximian‘s daughter under his command. The narrative sources date the marriage to 293, when Constantius was appointed caesar (heir-apparent) of Maximian, but the Latin panegyric of 289 refers to the new couple as already married. Helena and her son were dispatched to the court of Diocletian at Nicomedia, where Constantine grew to be a member of the inner circle. Helena never remarried and lived for a time in obscurity, though close to her only son, who had a deep regard and affection for her.
After Constantine’s ascension to the throne
Constantine was proclaimed augustus (emperor) in 306 by Constantius’ troops after the latter had died, and following his elevation his mother was brought back to the public life in 312, returning to the imperial court. She appears in the Eagle Cameo portraying Constantine’s family, probably commemorating the birth of Constantine’s son Constantine II in the summer of 316.
She lived in the Horti Spei Veteris in Rome which she converted into an even more luxurious palace.
Pilgrimage and relic discoveries
The church of the Archangel Michael founded by St. Helen in Sille, Konya in Asia Minor in 327Helena finding the True Cross, Italian manuscript, c. 825St Helena in the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493
According to Eusebius, Helena was converted to Christianity by Constantine. He appointed her as Augusta, and gave her unlimited access to the imperial treasury in order to locate the relics of the Christian tradition. In AD 326–28 Helena undertook a trip to Palestine. According to Eusebius of Caesarea, who records the details of her pilgrimage to Palestine and other eastern provinces, and Socrates Scholasticus, she was responsible for the construction or beautification of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and the Church of Eleona on the Mount of Olives; sites of Christ’s birth and ascension, respectively. Local founding legend attributes to Helena’s orders the construction of a church in Egypt to identify the Burning Bush of Sinai. The chapel at Saint Catherine’s Monastery—often referred to as the Chapel of Saint Helen—is dated to the year 330.
The True Cross and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Jerusalem was still being rebuilt following the destruction caused by Titus in AD 70. Emperor Hadrian had built during the 130s a temple to Venus over the supposed site of Jesus‘ tomb near Calvary, and renamed the city Aelia Capitolina. Accounts differ concerning whether the temple was dedicated to Venus or Jupiter. According to Eusebius, “[t]here was a temple of Venus on the spot. This the queen (Helena) had destroyed.” According to tradition, Helena ordered the temple torn down and, according to the legend that arose at the end of the 4th century, chose a site to begin excavating, which led to the recovery of three different crosses. The legend is recounted in Ambrose, On the Death of Theodosius (died 395) and at length in Rufinus‘ chapters appended to his translation into Latin of Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History, the main body of which does not mention the event. Then, Rufinus relates, the empress refused to be swayed by anything short of solid proof and performed a test. Possibly through Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem, she had a woman who was near death brought from the city. When the woman touched the first and second crosses, her condition did not change, but when she touched the third and final cross she suddenly recovered, and Helena declared the cross with which the woman had been touched to be the True Cross.
On the site of discovery, Constantine ordered the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Churches were also built on other sites detected by Helena.
The “Letter From Constantine to Macarius of Jerusalem”, as presented in Eusebius’ Life of Constantine, states:
Such is our Saviour’s grace, that no power of language seems adequate to describe the wondrous circumstance to which I am about to refer. For, that the monument of his [Christ’s] most holy Passion, so long ago buried beneath the ground, should have remained unknown for so long a series of years, until its reappearance to his servants now set free through the removal of him who was the common enemy of all, is a fact which truly surpasses all admiration. I have no greater care than how I may best adorn with a splendid structure that sacred spot, which, under Divine direction, I have disencumbered as it were of the heavy weight of foul idol worship [the Roman temple]; a spot which has been accounted holy from the beginning in God’s judgment, but which now appears holier still, since it has brought to light a clear assurance of our Saviour’s passion.
Sozomen and Theodoret claim that Helena also found 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. According to one tradition, Helena acquired the Holy Tunic on her trip to Jerusalem and sent it to Trier.
Cyprus
Several relics purportedly discovered by Helena are now in Cyprus, where she spent some time. Among them are items believed to be part of Jesus Christ’s tunic, pieces of the holy cross, and pieces of the rope with which Jesus was tied on the Cross. The rope, considered to be the only relic of its kind, has been held at the Stavrovouni Monastery, which was also said to have been founded by Helena. According to tradition, Helena is responsible for the large population of cats in Cyprus. Local tradition holds that she imported hundreds of cats from Egypt or Palestine in the fourth century to rid a monastery of snakes. The monastery is today known as “St. Nicholas of the Cats” (Greek Άγιος Νικόλαος των Γατών) and is located near Limassol.
Rome
Helena left Jerusalem and the eastern provinces in 327 to return to Rome, bringing with her large parts of the True Cross and other relics, which were then stored in her palace’s private chapel, now the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, where they can be still seen today. This has been maintained by Cistercian monks in the monastery which has been attached to the church for centuries.
Saint Helena retrieving the true cross, miniature from the 9th century Paris Gregory.
In the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Churches, the feast of Meskel, which commemorates her discovery of the cross, is celebrated on 17 Meskerem in the Ethiopian calendar (September 27, Gregorian calendar, or on 28 September in leap years). The holiday is usually celebrated with the lighting of a large bonfire, or Demera, based on the belief that she had a revelation in a dream. She was told that she should make a bonfire and that the smoke would show her where the true cross was buried. So she ordered the people of Jerusalem to bring wood and make a huge pile. After adding frankincense to it, the bonfire was lit and the smoke rose high up to the sky and returned to the ground, exactly to the spot where the Cross had been buried.
The church of Sant’Elena in Venice claims to have the complete body of the saint enshrined under the main altar. In 1517, the English priest, Richard Torkington, having seen the relics during a visit to Venice described them as follows: “She lith in a ffayr place of religion, of white monks, ye may see her face perfythly, her body ys covered with a cloth of whith sylke … Also there lyes upon her breast a lytell crosse made of the holy crosse …” In an ecumenical gesture, these relics visited the Orthodox Church of Greece and were displayed in the church of Agia Varvara (Saint Barbara) in Athens from 14 May to 15 June 2017.
For a very interesting biography (David Keith narrates!) of St. Helena, I recommend the following video:
What does one eat for the Feast Day of St. Helena?
For this feast day, I will take a cue from feastwiththesaints.com and recommend the following:
Panna cotta means ‘cooked cream’ in Italian. This is an eggless custard dessert. It includes very few ingredients consisting of a simple mixture of cream, sugar, and vanilla. Gelatin is added to set the mixture and create a dreamy, custard-like consistency. The final product is rich and silky smooth.
Ingredients
¼ cup (60 ml) cold water or milk
1 ¼ teaspoons (4g) unflavored powdered gelatin*
2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean, scraped and seeded
Instructions
Place water in a small mixing bowl and sprinkle gelatin over the surface in a single layer. Be sure not to pile it as that will prevent the crystals from dissolving properly. Let stand for 5-10 minutes to soften.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat cream, sugar, vanilla extract or vanilla pod, sliced in half and with the seeds scraped out, on medium heat and bring just to a boil until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and discard vanilla bean. Stir in gelatin and immediately whisk until smooth and dissolved. If the gelatin hasn’t fully dissolved, return the saucepan to the stove and heat gently over low heat. Stir constantly and don’t let the mixture boil.
Pour cream into 4 individual serving dishes. Refrigerate for at least 2-4 hours, or until completely set.
Panna cotta can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
* If using sheet gelatin, substitute 2 ½ sheets of gelatin for powdered. Add the sheets to a bowl filled with 2 cups cold water. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, then remove the sheets once they are completely soft and whisk them into the hot panna cotta as directed in the recipe (you don’t need to add it along with the water, such as in powdered gelatin – add the sheets only).
What is a prayer you might say for the Feast Day of St. Helena?
Prayer of Intercession to St. Helena of Constantinople
O Lord Jesus Christ, you revealed the hiding place of your cross to blessed Helena, in order to enrich the Church with this priceless treasure. Crank that the ransom you paid on the tree of life may win for us the reward of everlasting happiness, through the intercession of this saint, who lives and rules with God the Father. (From the Mass of St. Helena, August 18, Daily Missal of the Mystical Body.)
Daily Prayer to St. Helena of Constantinople
Pray for us as we give thanks to Jesus for giving his life on a Cross so that we could be saved. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
St. Helena Prayer of Thanksgiving
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.
When is the Feast Day of St. Helena celebrated?
This feast is celebrated on 18 August (Catholic Church), 21 May (Orthodox and most Anglican and Lutheran Churches), 19 May (some Lutheran Churches), 22 May (Episcopal Church), Tuesday after third Sunday of Pentecost (Armenian Apostolic Church), and 9 Pashons (Coptic Orthodox Church).
I hope everyone who celebrates has a wonderful day!
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