Letter to Editor: In the Presence of the Holy Augusta, Empress Helena

Letter to Editor: In the Presence of the Holy Augusta, Empress Helena

Vanessa Chen

It was in the blessed year of our Lord when my duties as a humble servant of the Church brought me to the imperial city of Jerusalem, and into the presence of the Augusta, Helena, for the first time. The occasion was solemn — a gathering of bishops, clergy, and the faithful, to commemorate the completion of a church that Helena herself had commissioned. This house of God, like so many others she had raised across the Empire, was said to have been from her own wealth. She had ordered its creation to be adorned with precious stones and fine tapestries. As I stepped into the hallowed space and beheld the magnificent columns, I was filled with awe. Yet, what moved me most was not the wealth that had gone into these adornments, but the intention behind them. I could feel, in every detail, Helena’s desire to honor God not through words alone but through the beauty she commissioned to surround His people.

As I stood among the gathered clergy, awaiting the arrival of the empress, the atmosphere in the basilica was charged with expectation. The stories of her pilgrimage to Jerusalem were well known. When word spread that Helena, as if led by the very hand of God, had discovered the very cross upon which our Lord was crucified — the True Cross, the holy instrument of salvation and the most sacred relic of our Lord — the faith of the people seemed to transform from belief to certainty. In the church, I witnessed a stirring among the faithful unlike any I had ever seen before. The air was thick with reverence, anticipation, and something even greater — conviction. It was as though the presence of the relic, even in spoken form, had given the people a new sense of assurance. For even though Emperor Constantine had proclaimed tolerance for Christians through the Edict of Milan nearly two decades earlier, many among the populace still practiced their faith in secret or with certain hesitations, still wary of the old persecutions. However, Helena not only gave followers a tangible connection to the divine, but her public display of faith, as both a pilgrim and the Augusta, dispelled any remaining doubt about the Church’s place in the empire.

When Helena finally entered, it was not with the pomp of imperial pride, but with the quiet dignity of a servant of God. She wore the robes of her rank, a deep purple stola adorned with gold embroidery, and upon her brow rested a simple yet radiant diadem. Even with her adornments, however, I was most struck by her humility; For despite her imperial status, Helena moved with divine grace as she passed through the congregation, pausing to greet the clergy and the people, her hand raised in blessing. She spoke to the congregation not as an empress to her subjects but as one Christian to another. I now understood why those closest to her said that she considered herself not above the common faithful, but as one of them, walking in the footsteps of Christ, always seeking to serve rather than to be served.

As I stood in the sacred place, I reflected on how Helena’s background as a woman of modest origins made her story all the more powerful. For it is said that she was born in a humble village, as a simple innkeeper's daughter from the town of Drepanum in Bithynia. Helena’s fortunes changed when she met Constantius Chlorus. Though whispers have circulated among the clergy regarding the true nature of their union, I am convinced that only a woman of Helena’s holiness could have borne Constantine, the great emperor who brought Christianity to the heart of the empire.  Her rise, through divine providence, to become the mother of the emperor and a revered figure in the Christian faith speaks to the very heart of our beliefs — that God exalts the humble and lifts the faithful into His light. When people hear that one so elevated came from a background not unlike their own, they are filled with a sense of hope.

Standing before her, I could not help but feel a deep sense of awe that God had chosen this woman to be the vessel through which He would reshape the destiny of an empire. For although Constantine’s military victories solidified his power, it was Helena’s prayers that allowed him to rise as an emperor and a protector of the Christian faith. It was Helena who instilled in her son values of patience, humility, and faith, urging him to seek divine guidance. When Constantine saw the sign of the cross in the heavens before his victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, many proclaimed it a miracle. But I believe that it was Helena’s lifelong devotion to Christ that opened Constantine’s heart to that vision. In that divine moment, her faith became his, and Constantine marched forward as the first emperor to embrace Christianity. His victories are now seen as not only a triumph of Roman might but also as the will of God. However, I am certain that without Helena’s influence, Constantine’s path would have looked very different.

At the altar, Helena knelt to pray. There was a holiness about her, a deep connection with the divine that filled the very air. Her presence seemed to bridge the mortal and the divine, for here was a queen who knelt before the King of Kings, unashamed to humble herself before Christ in the sight of her people. May her legacy continue to guide us all. Vivat regina!