In 293 Constantius was awarded the title of Caesar and given rulership of Gaul and Britain. However, a condition for his acceptance of these lands and the role of co-regent in the west was that he divorce Helen in order to marry Theodora, Emperor Maximian's daughter-in-law. Yet, despite being abandoned by her husband, her son Constantine, to whom she was so devoted, would never waver in his loyalty to his beloved mother. In 308, when Constantine became Emperor of Rome, he gave his mother the title of Augusta, struck medals bearing her picture and ordered that she was to be given all due respect as the mother of the Emperor of Rome. However, St Helen was always a very humble and kind woman and she did not live lavishly, but dressed simply and gave her wealth to benefit the poor and suffering.
When her son Constantine won the famous battle at the Milvian Bridge, over the Tiber river in 312, after emblazoning the Cross on the shields of his soldiers, Empress Helena became a devout and zealous Christian. Perhaps this also gave her a special early devotion to the Holy Cross. She built churches in Rome and Trier and encouraged the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. Her most famous work came in 324 when she went on her famous pilgrimage to the Holy Land, despite being 80 years old. While in the Holy Land she oversaw the construction of churches to commemorate the site of the birth of Christ in Bethlehem and His ascension into Heaven outside of Jerusalem. She also undertook to find the True Cross and bring it to Rome for the veneration of the faithful in 326.
In order to determine the authenticity of the wood relics she found, she carried the pieces of three crosses to the bedside of woman about to die. One by one she was touched by the pieces of wood until finally the touch of the wood from one cross caused her to be miraculously cured. For further proof, she touched the relic to the body of a dead man who was then instantly restored to life. Thus St Helen discovered the True Cross, which she then brought back to Rome, where pieces of it still reside to this day. Revered as a saint early after her death in 330, devotion to her began to spread more quickly in the 9th Century. Because of her devotion to the Holy Cross, St Helen has become a saint to whom people ask for prayers in bearing their own cross or burden. This drew me to her, as well as the fact that she is also a patroness of converts, and empresses as well, giving her a monarchist connection.
PRAYER TO ST. HELEN
Holy and Blessed Saint Helen, with the anguish and devotion with which you sought the Cross of Christ, I plead that you give me God's grace to suffer in patience the labors of this life, so that through them and through your intercession and protection, I will be able to seek and carry the cross, which God has placed upon me, so that I can serve him in this life and enjoy his glory ever after. AMEN.