Sunday, May 21, 1989
Liturgical Color: White/Gold
Trinity Sunday
Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Trinity Sunday
Who, with your co-eternal Son and Holy Spirit, are one God, one Lord, in Trinity of Persons and in Unity of Substance. For that which we believe of your glory, O Father, we believe the same of your Son, and of the Holy Spirit, without any difference or inequality.
Most liturgical texts are from the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America.
The New Coverdale Psalter, © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.
Mother of Constantine and Protector of the Holy Places
Ecumenical Commemoration
Helena was the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great and, according to tradition, the discoverer of the True Cross in Jerusalem. A woman of humble origins elevated by her son's rise to imperial power, she undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land around 326-328. She founded churches at Bethlehem and on the Mount of Olives and reportedly identified the site of Christ's crucifixion. Whether she actually discovered the Cross is debated — Eusebius, the near-contemporary source, does not mention it — but her pilgrimage and church-building are historically attested, and her patronage of the Holy Places shaped Christian devotion for centuries.
Helena was born around 250 in Drepanum in Bithynia (later renamed Helenopolis in her honor). Her social origins were modest — Ambrose calls her a stabularia, possibly 'innkeeper' — and she became the consort (possibly wife, possibly concubine — sources are ambiguous) of Constantius Chlorus, by whom she bore Constantine around 272.
When Constantius was elevated to Caesar in 293, he was required to set Helena aside in favor of a more politically advantageous match. Helena apparently lived in obscurity until her son gained power. After Constantine's victory at the Milvian Bridge (312) and his support for Christianity, Helena was elevated to the rank of Augusta — empress — and became a prominent figure at court.
She converted to Christianity (timing unclear) and was known for piety and charitable work. Around 326-328, in her late seventies, she undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Eusebius of Caesarea, writing within a few years, records that she founded the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Eleona (Ascension) on the Mount of Olives, and distributed alms generously to the poor, freed prisoners, and recalled exiles.
Helena died around 330 in her son's presence. Her body was brought to Rome, where her sarcophagus — an enormous red porphyry monument — survives in the Vatican Museums.
Traditionally, Helena discovered the True Cross during her Jerusalem pilgrimage. According to accounts that developed from the late fourth century onward (first clearly in Ambrose and Rufinus), Helena directed excavations at Calvary and uncovered three crosses. The True Cross was identified when a sick woman (or, in some versions, a corpse) was healed upon touching it. However, Eusebius, who is nearest to the events, does not mention the Cross discovery at all — a significant silence.