August 18

St. Helena, Empress

Preparation. - This saint is celebrated on account of the service she rendered the Church in finding the sacred wood of the true Cross. Wherefore we shall consider, first, her remarkable virtues, and secondly, her devotion to the instrument of our salvation. And then we shall often and most respectfully make over ourselves the august sign of our Redemption, which St. John Damascene considered as a pledge of Christ’s presence within us. “Where the sign of the cross is, there also is Christ.”

I. Virtues Of St. Helena

The worthy mother of Constantine shares with him the glory of establishing the Christian religion all over the Roman empire after three centuries of bloody persecutions. Her faith and her zeal, says Rufinus, were beyond comparison. Forgetful of her dignity, she mingled among the people in church, when assisting at the divine services. Her whole happiness consisted in joining with the other faithful in the prayers and ceremonies, and in enkindling in the hearts of the new Christians the fire that burned in hers. Having the wealth of the empire at her disposal, she made use of it to relieve the unfortunate, to build and adorn churches.

Inflamed with the zeal to discover the wood of the true Cross, which she considered as a precious treasure, she undertook at an advanced age this difficult task. We may imagine her joy when, after a long and difficult search, the holy Cross of the Redeemer was found buried deep under ground near the holy Sepulcher. Her happiness was at its height at witnessing two striking miracles wrought by the simple contact of that sacred wood, the instantaneous cure of a sick woman and the resurrection of a dead person. O holy Cross, hope of Christians, thou recallest to us the ineffable mysteries of our spiritual restoration, which gave back life and health to our souls, and opened to us the gates of eternal bliss.

Do we, like St. Helena, possess a lively faith and the “zeal of the house of God”? To us, as to her, faith should ever remind us of the majesty of our august religion, its important truths, the necessity of saving our souls, if we wish to escape the punishments of the reprobate. Zeal, which is the offspring of faith and charity, should inspire our heart with a tender compassion for so many who are straying away to their ruin. We would be ready to assist those who are in danger of losing their life; let us, then, not allow those souls to perish that are exposed to eternal death.

O my divine Redeemer, through St. Helena’s intercession, enable me to meditate day and night on what Thou hast done and suffered for the souls of mankind, and especially for mine. Grant me the desire to sanctify myself, and the will to lead to salvation, at least by my prayers, all those that divine Providence has entrusted to my care.

II. St. Helena’s Devotion To The True Cross

From the time Constantine had seen the miraculous cross in the sky and by this sign had vanquished the foes of the Christian name, his mother Helena conceived a special devotion to the Saviour’s Cross, the pledge of our salvation. When, after much labor, she had found the sacred wood, she caused a magnificent church to be built over the Holy Sepulcher, and placed therein a portion of the true Cross, and sent the rest to Rome and Constantinople. These events aroused, most wonderfully, among the faithful the remembrance of the mysteries of our Redemption. Thanks to this devotion, St. Helena practiced heroic virtue. She ceased not, during the remainder of her life, multiplying her good works and sacrificing herself in memory of Him who, for our sake, spared not Himself.

The thought of the Cross, the instrument of our Redemption, should inspire us with generous sentiments. By the cross the early Christians triumphed over the devils, affronted tyrants and underwent the most cruel torments without complaint. “At every step,” says Tertullian, “in coming in and going out, in sitting down to meals; in rising and retiring, before every action, we make the sign of the cross.” “Let us,” says St. Ephrem, “engrave it over our doors; let us mark with it our forehead, our mouth, our breast; let us clothe ourselves with that impenetrable armor.” “The cross,” observes St. John Damascene, “is our defense against the prince of darkness; it raises us up, supports and fortifies us, and all goods of grace are granted to our prayers.”

O Jesus, under the auspices of Thy holy Mother and St. Helena, I am resolved, first, often to meditate with gratitude and love on the great mystery of Thy Cross, of our Redemption, and to engrave it in my mind and heart and in my dearest affections; secondly, to make over myself this sacred sign, in order to obtain strength in sufferings, difficulties and temptations, and to mark with it the objects destined for my use, and to bless with it my table and my bed; and thirdly, in beginning the day, to make this holy sign on my forehead, mouth and breast, being convinced, like St. John Damascene, that where is found the mark, the remembrance of our Redemption, there also is found the Redeemer Himself, or His powerful protection over the souls imploring His help. “Where the sign of the cross is, there also is Christ.”