Helena’s Good Works and Her Death

About this time the emperor, having decided to build a temple in honor of God, instructed the governors to see that the work was carried out in the most magnificent and costly way possible. His mother Helena also built two temples, one at Bethlehem near the cave where Christ was born, the other on the heights of the Mount of Olives, from which he was taken up to heaven. Many other acts show her devotion and piety, and this one is not the least remarkable. While she was living at Jerusalem, it is said, she gathered the holy virgins for a meal, served them at supper, handed them their food, poured water over their hands, and did the other services usual for those who wait on guests. When she visited the cities of the East, she gave fitting gifts to the churches in every town, made rich those who had been stripped of their property, freely supplied the needs of the poor, and set free those who had long been in prison or had been condemned to exile or to the mines. [a]

It seems to me that so many holy deeds called for a reward; and indeed, even in this life she was raised to the height of magnificence and splendor. She was proclaimed Augusta, her portrait was stamped on gold coins, and her son gave her authority over the imperial treasury, to give from it as she judged best. Her death, too, was glorious. When she left this life at the age of eighty, she left her son and her descendants, who were, like her, of the house of Caesar, masters of the Roman world. And if fame like this is of any benefit, for forgetfulness did not hide her even in death, the ages to come hold a pledge that she will always be remembered: two cities are named after her, one in Bithynia and the other in Palestine. Such is the history of Helena.