Christian Men and Women

Saint Helen

Saint Helen was a British princess and she was married to a Roman General, called Constantius Chlorus, and became the mother of Constantine the Great. She became a Christian late in life.

At the age of eighty she made a famous pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and wanted to find the cross that Jesus had been crucified on. Eventually, three crosses were found on Mount Calvary. There was a woman there with an incurable disease yet when the third cross touched her she was healed. This confirmed to Helen that this was the cross that Jesus had died on. After this Helen began to build a great church in which she placed parts of the real cross. Helen also sent pieces of the cross to Rome and Constantinople. She built two other famous churches in Palestine to honour the sacred sites of Our Lord's life, one at the site of His Ascension, and the other, known as the Basilica of the Nativity, in Bethlehem.

Saint Helen returned from Jerusalem to Rome, past the age of 80 and died there in 328.
Some of the virtues that Helen displayed throughout her life were Prudence, Restraint (Temperance), Faith and Love (Charity).