Elena Equal to the Apostles: biography, ecclesiastical veneration. Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Elena

Among the vast pantheon of Christian saints, one of the most revered are the Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen. Their role in spreading true faith is invaluable. That is why they were awarded such a great honor for being placed on a par with the apostles - the closest disciples and followers of Christ.

The maid who gave birth to the emperor

The full name of Queen Elena - Flavia Julia Elena Augusta. It is known that she was born in the middle of the III century in the city of Drepan, in Asia Minor, but the exact date of her birth was not established. The childhood of the future tsarina passed very modestly - she served on the horse station belonging to the father. There, among other travelers, she met her future husband Constantius Chlorus, who later became a Roman emperor.

The fruit of their love was a son who was born on February 27, 272 and received at birth a rather long name - Flavius Valery Aurelius Constantine. In the world history, this child entered as Emperor Constantine the Great, the commandment of which Christianity became the official religion of the Roman state.

Imperial crown, which brought Rome freedom of religion

When the son was barely fifteen, Elena's family life was upset. Constantius was a rather windy spouse and broke up with her, preferring the young stepdaughter who ruled at that time the Emperor Maximian. However, as it often happens, being a bad husband, he turned out to be a good father and, having ascended the Roman throne, secured the future of his son, making him the ruler of a large part of the country. His residence was the city of Treviere (modern German city of Trier), and Elena Ravnoapostolnaya moved to live closer to her son.

In 306, an important event occurred - the emperor died, and Constantine became his successor, proclaimed by many thousands of Roman armies. It is known that one of his first acts was the establishment in Rome and the countries subject to him of freedom of religion and the cessation of all persecutions on religious grounds. Thanks to this, after three centuries of persecution, Christianity finally emerged from the catacombs.

The golden hour of Helena

Historical materials indicate that Elena Ravnoapostolnaya throughout her life treated with great respect those who, despite the mortal danger, professed Christ, but she herself was baptized when she was already over sixty. By this time she was proclaimed "august", that is, a reigning person, and settled in a vast Roman estate located next to the Lateran Palace, which later became the residence of the popes.

Already at the end of her days St. Elena Equal-to-the-Apostles accomplished the main work of her life-a pilgrimage trip to Jerusalem, where she made excavations directly on Golgotha itself. Its goal was, if possible, to find material evidence of the events that took place there three centuries ago.

The answer to the question that prompted a woman at such a venerable age to go in search of the Cross of the Lord and other shrines, tells the Sacred tradition. It tells how in the night vision St. Helena heard a voice commanding her to go to Jerusalem, and there, having cleansed the place of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ from the earth, to reveal to the world the priceless treasures found on it. In the morning of the following day, Saint Constantine and Elena prayed for a long time that the Lord sent down His Grace to fulfill such an important mission.

An Uneasy Task

As the legend tells, in the capital of ancient Judea pious queen expected great difficulties. The fact is that for such a long time, the place of execution and the subsequent resurrection of Christ was hidden under a thick layer of earth and debris deliberately brought there by the wicked, and it was impossible to find it. Finally, after long inquiries of local residents, one old Jew managed to know the exact location of Golgotha. After that, St. Helena, the Equal-to-the-Apostles, ordered the excavation.

When the top layers of the earth were removed and the top of the mountain was exposed, not one cross appeared before the eyes of those present, as, as is known, two robbers were crucified together with Christ on the day of the execution. There was an uneasy task - to determine which of them Jesus accepted the suffering.

Checking the shrine for truth

What followed later became yet another confirmation of the wisdom that Queen Helen possessed. When everyone in full bewilderment expected her decision, a mourning process passed before the excavation site, in front of which a coffin carrying the body of a deceased woman was carried. Knowing that only one of the three crosses possesses Divine power, Helen asked her relatives to stop and told the servants to alternately touch the dead body with each of the three crosses. As soon as the turn came to the one that was the true shrine, and the deceased's hand was assigned to him, she immediately resurrected, causing universal joy and rejoicing.

Acquisition of the Holy Sepulcher

In addition to the life-giving Cross of the Lord, Saint Elena the Equal-to-the-Apostles, as the legend says, found four nails with which the body of the Savior was nailed and the same tablet - titlo on which Pontius Pilate personally inscribed "Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews". She also discovered a cave in which the body of Jesus, taken from the cross, was laid. It is thanks to the works of St. Helen that Christians around the world can today witness firsthand how the light of the Holy Fire that descends on the occasion of Easter appears on the window of the kouvaklia erected above the Holy Sepulcher.

In commemoration of this great event, a holiday was established, named "The Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord." Every year on September 27, the Orthodox Church celebrates the anniversary of the day when, in 326, Queen Elena Ravnoapostolnaya opened the world to the greatest shrines of Christianity.

Completion of a great mission

Having found the Life-giving Cross, the Empress ordered her to be divided into two equal parts, one of which, placed in silver cancers, she left in Jerusalem the local bishop Makarios I, who rendered her substantial assistance during the excavations. Another part of the Cross, and with it nails, sent to Rome her son. There, this fragment of the Cross was mounted in the sculpture of Emperor Constantine, installed on one of the squares of the capital.

Having completed her mission, the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles queen Elena returned to Rome, having founded several monasteries that still exist today. The most famous of them is Stavrovouni in Cyprus. As a gift to these monasteries, she left the particles of the holy things she had found in Jerusalem.

The fate of the relics of Saint Helena

Having thus performed the main work of her life, the queen Elena Ravnoapostolnaya returned to Rome, where she soon peacefully departed to the Lord. The exact date of her death, as well as the burial place is not established. According to some reports, she was buried in Trier, where she owned a rich estate, on the other - in Rome. Some historians claim that her remains were transported to Palestine.

In general, the story associated with her relics is quite long and confusing. According to a number of sources, Emperor Constantine placed her body in a tomb made for himself, giving way to his mother and his own sarcophagus. Then there is evidence that the relics were transported to France, where for several centuries they were kept in Champagne, and from there they got to Paris in the times of the Paris Commune , where they are still kept in the Saint-Le-Saint-Gilles church.

Saints Equal to the Apostles

For outstanding services in the spread of Christianity, Konstantin and Elena were ranked among the Equal of the Apostles. It should be noted that only five women were awarded this honor in the whole world history of Christianity. Her veneration in the East began soon after her death, but in the Western church it was established no earlier than the IX century. Today, the Orthodox Church pays tribute to the memory of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord on March 19. In addition, on June 3 in churches, the Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Elena are remembered.

Posthumous veneration of the mother and son

These saints, who acquired their unfading glory, became one of the most revered in the Christian world. The name of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Helen is one of the limits of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, erected by the Crusaders in the middle of the 12th century, where she excavated in 326. In addition, on different continents built in her honor, and in honor of her son, many temples. One of them - the temple of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen was erected in Kokand, but after the October Revolution, and the establishment of Soviet power in the republics of Central Asia, was forever closed. Now in its place is a mosque.

There is also the newly established parish of these Equal-to-the-Apostles saints in Moscow, in the Mitino district. Despite the fact that he was consecrated only in 2004, he already earned a good reputation as one of the newly formed spiritual centers of the capital. His shrine is the icon "Elena Ravnoapostolnaya", before which one can always see those who, in prayers, believe her most intimate.