Chapter 10

Concerning Helen, the Emperor’s Mother, and Her Zeal for the Building of the Holy Temple

These letters were carried out by none other than the emperor’s own mother, that woman of noble children, hymned by all the pious, who bore this great luminary and provided him with the nourishment of piety. She endured the labors of the journey and did not reckon the sufferings of old age; For she made this journey shortly before her death, and reached the end of her life at the age of eighty. When she saw that place which had received the sufferings of our common salvation, she immediately ordered that foul temple to be demolished and the earth to be carried away. When the hidden tomb was revealed, three crosses were seen buried beside the Lord’s tomb. And that one of these was the Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, while the other two belonged to the robbers crucified with Him, everyone believed without question. Yet they did not know which one had touched the Lord’s body and received the stream of His precious blood. But that most wise and truly divine Macarius, the bishop of the city, resolved the difficulty by the following means. For when a distinguished woman was held by a long illness, he eagerly brought each of those crosses to her with prayer, and he recognized the power of the saving Cross. For immediately, when he brought it near to the woman, he drove out that terrible illness and restored the woman to health. So when the emperor’s mother learned what she desired, she set some of the nails into the imperial helmet, providing for her son’s head, so that it might ward off the missiles of enemies. And she mixed the others into the horse’s bridle, both devising security for the emperor and fulfilling an ancient prophecy. For from afar the prophet Zechariah cried out, And what is on the bridle of the horse shall be holy to the Lord Almighty. And she assigned a portion of the saving Cross to the imperial palace. As for the rest, she made a reliquary of silver and gave it to the bishop of the city, commanding him to preserve for future generations these memorials of salvation. Gathering together craftsmen of every kind of material from all quarters, she built those magnificent and most splendid churches. I have considered it quite superfluous to describe their beauty and size, since practically all who love God flock there and behold

the magnificence of the works. That most renowned and unforgettable empress also did another thing worthy of remembrance. For she gathered together all those who were reputed to have preserved their virginity throughout life and had them recline on many couches, while she herself fulfilled the role of a servant, waiting on them and setting out food and offering cups and drying a basin over a cauldron and pouring water over their hands. Having done these things and others like them, she returned to her son. With joy she departed to the other life, having given her son many instructions concerning the godly way of life and having poured out upon him her final blessings. “She, then, has received even after her death such honor as it is fitting for one who so diligently and fervently served the God of all to receive.”