Helena Augusta 4 of 4

In this part 119, Helena Augusta    4 of 4                                    Ill.Kt. H Ruperti-Campbell / Wikipedia

 

Baroque statue of “Santa Liena” in the 2011 village festa procession of Birkirkara, Malta

 Relics

Her alleged skull is displayed in the Cathedral of Trier, in Germany. Portions of her relics are found at the basilica of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli in Rome, the Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles in Paris, and at the Abbaye Saint-Pierre d’Hautvillers.

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.

   

 Helena’s skull relic                                                So-called “cup of Saint Helena”

The crypt of Trier Cathedral                                        The Treasury of Trier Cathedral

 Later cultural traditions

In British folklore

In Great Britain, later legend, mentioned by Henry of Huntingdon but made popular by Geoffrey of Monmouth, claimed that Helena was a daughter of the King of Britain,  Cole of Colchester, who allied with Constantius to avoid more war between the Britons and Rome.

This purely legendary British connection is traced by A. Harbus, Helen of Britain in Medieval Legend, 2002.

Geoffrey further states that she was brought up in the manner of a queen, as she had no brothers to inherit the throne of Britain. The source for this may have been Sozomen’s Historia Ecclesiastica, which however does not claim Helena was British but only that her son Constantine picked up his Christianity there.

Constantine was with his father when he died in York, but neither had spent much time in Britain.

The statement made by English chroniclers of the Middle Ages, according to which Helena was supposed to have been the daughter of a British prince, is entirely without historical foundation. It may arise from the similarly named Welsh princess Saint Elen (alleged to have married Magnus Maximus and to have borne a son named Constantine) or from the misinterpretation of a term used in the fourth chapter of the panegyric on Constantine’s marriage with Fausta.

The description of Constantine honoring Britain oriendo (lit. “from the outset”, “from the beginning”) may have been taken as an allusion to his birth (“from his beginning”) although it was actually discussing the beginning of his reign.

At least twenty-five holy wells currently exist in the United Kingdom dedicated to a Saint Helen. She is also the patron saint of Abingdon and ColchesterSt Helen’s Chapel in Colchester was believed to have been founded by Helena herself, and since the 15th century, the town’s coat of arms has shown a representation of the True Cross and three crowned nails in her honour.

Colchester Town Hall has a Victorian statue of the saint on top of its 50-metre-high (160 ft) tower. The arms of Nottingham are almost identical because of the city’s connection with Cole, her supposed father.

Filipino legend and tradition

 Flores de Mayo honors her and her son Constantine for finding the True Cross with a parade with floral and fluvial themed parade showcasing her, Constantine and other people who followed her journey to find the True Cross. Filipinos named the parade sagala.

Medieval legend and fiction

 In medieval legend and chivalric romance, Helena appears as a persecuted heroine, in the vein of such women as Emaré and Constance; separated from her husband, she lives a quiet life, supporting herself on her embroidery, until such time as her son’s charm and grace wins her husband’s attention and so the revelation of their identities.

Modern fiction

Helena is the protagonist of Evelyn Waugh‘s 1950 novel Helena. She is also the main character of Priestess of Avalon (2000), a fantasy novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson. She is given the name Eilan and depicted as a trained priestess of Avalon.

Helena is also the protagonist of Louis de Wohl‘s novel The Living Wood (1947) in which she is again the daughter of King Cole of Colchester.

In the 2021 novel Eagle Ascending by Dan Whitfield, she is depicted as having lived to age 118 as result of the powers of the True Cross.

Statue of Saint Helena in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Italy

 

panorama of St Catherine’s Monastery in front of Mount Horeb

(See Pilgrimage in Helena Augusta 2 of 4)