August 18th is the traditional feast of St Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, the Empress who found the Cross of Christ. In Malta we celebrate her feast at the parish Church of Birkirkara.
When thinking about the life of St Helen what spontaneously comes into my heart and mind is the her role as a model for women today. Notwithstanding the fact that she lived sixteen centuries ago, her life still inspires and touches the lives of many women, even in the fact that man share her name or derivations thereof. Personally speaking I find Pope St John Paul II’s Letter to Women remarkable since this letter throws a great light and insight into the life of St Helen herself.
Written on the eve of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing from 4 till 15 September 1995, Pope John Paul II writes: Thank you, women who are mothers! You have sheltered human beings within yourselves in a unique experience of joy and travail. This experience makes you become God’s own smile upon the newborn child, the one who guides your child’s first steps, who helps it to grow, and who is the anchor as the child makes its way along the journey of life (no.2).
Was this not the experience of St Helen when she bore her son Constantine and, with much love, she nurtured him in difficult situations, particularly when her husband, Costantius Clorus, divorced her to marry Theodora? With how much joy and travail she trailed with her little Constantine! As one can see from reading her life, St Helena was a strong light of God who guided the little Constantine on the path of truth and righteousness.
In that outstanding letter, St John Paul II also says: Thank you, women who are wives! You irrevocably join your future to that of your husbands, in a relationship of mutual giving, at the service of love and life (no.2). Although she ended up being divorced against her will, St Helen kept being faithful to her husband Constantius. Her committed dedication to her son Constantine and the fact that she never married after her husband divorced her amply shows that her heart was full of love, life and service in the covenant of marriage.
Furthermore, Pope John Paul II manifested great appreciation and gratitude for women who contribute so much for society. He told them: Thank you, women who work! You are present and active in every area of life-social, economic, cultural, artistic and political. In this way you make an indispensable contribution to the growth of a culture which unites reason and feeling, to a model of life ever open to the sense of “mystery”, to the establishment of economic and political structures ever more worthy of humanity (no.2). When St Helen was made Empress when her son Constantine ascended the throne she started to improve the situations of people who were poor and destitute. The imperial treasure started being divided with those whose economic and social situation was practically flat. Thus, Helen started to translate the Gospel into solid initiatives of solidarity and fraternal sharing with the poor.
Finally, Pope St John Paul II had a powerful word for those women who gave their life for Christ in consecrated life. He said:
Thank you, consecrated women! Following the example of the greatest of women, the Mother of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, you open yourselves with obedience and fidelity to the gift of God’s love. You help the Church and all mankind to experience a “spousal” relationship to God, one which magnificently expresses the fellowship which God wishes to establish with his creatures (no.2). Here is St Helen who gave her life for Christ in his Church. She promoted consecrated life, built churches and basilicas around the holy places in the Holy Land as well as helped in the Church’s organization. St Helen remains a beacon of hope for every initiative in the Church aimed at finding the singular vocation within the Body of Christ.
Holy and blessed Saint Helen, With the anguish and devotion with which you sought the Cross of Christ, I plead that You give me God’s grace to suffer in patience and labours of this life, So that through them and through Your intercession and protection, I will be able to seek and carry the Cross, which God has placed upon me, so that I can serve Him in this life and enjoy His Glory ever after. Amen.