Background
Helena was born of humble parentage in Drepanum (later Helenopolis) on the Nicomedian Gulf in Bithynia (now Yalova Province,Turkey). Her father seems to have been an innkeeper. Little is known of her early life.
Constantine and Helena. Mosaic in Saint Isaac's Cathedral, Peterburg, Russia
Statue of Saint Helena in St. Peter's Basilica
Helena finding the True Cross, Italian manuscript c. 825
Saint Helena with the Cross, Lucas Cranach the Elder
Helena's sarcophagus in the Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican Museum, Rome
Helena's skull relic in the crypt of Trier Cathedral
So-called "cup of Saint Helena" in the Treasury of Trier Cathedral
Orthodox Bulgarian icon of Saint Constantine and Saint Helena
Baroque statue of "Santa Liena" in the 2011 village festa procession of Birkirkara, Malta
Helena was born of humble parentage in Drepanum (later Helenopolis) on the Nicomedian Gulf in Bithynia (now Yalova Province,Turkey). Her father seems to have been an innkeeper. Little is known of her early life.
Constantine was proclaimed Augustus of the Roman Empire 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 received the title of Augusta in 325. According to Eusebius, her conversion to Christianity followed her son becoming emperor.
Constantine appointed his mother Helena as Augusta Imperatrix, and gave her unlimited access to the imperial treasury in order to locate the relics of Judeo-Christian tradition. In 326-28 Helena undertook a trip to the Holy Places in Palestine. According to Eusebius of Caesarea (260/265 - 339/340), who records the details of her pilgrimage to Palestine and other eastern provinces, she was responsible for the construction or beautification of two churches, the Church of the Nativity, 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 AD 330.
Helena died around 330, with her son at her side. She was buried in the Mausoleum of Helena, outside Rome on the Via Labicana. Her sarcophagus is on display in the Pio-Clementine Vatican Museum, although the connection is often questioned. Next to her is the sarcophagus of her granddaughter Saint Constantina (Saint Constance). Her skull is displayed in the Cathedral of Trier, in Germany.
It is unknown where she first met Constantius. It is said that upon meeting they were wearing identical silver bracelets; Constantius saw her as his soulmate sent by God. 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".
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, but the Latin panegyric of 289 refers to the 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.