Helen Equal to the Apostles. Queen Helen Equal to the Apostles Finding of the Holy Sepulcher

While the pagan world, arming itself against Christianity with fire and sword, thought at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th centuries to completely wipe out the very name of Christians from the face of the earth 1, the Providence of God prepared for the Church of Christ, among the Caesars themselves, the persecutors of Christianity, its royal patron in in the person of Constantine - the king, who during his lifetime received the name that was forever established for him in Christian history, Equal to the Apostles, and in world history the Great.

Born in 274 to parents who, although not Christians, were familiar with Christianity and patronized it, from childhood Constantine shunned pagan superstitions and drew closer to Christ the true God. The Right Hand of the Lord itself gradually prepared him and in many different ways purified him, as a chosen vessel of the glory of God.

Constantine's father Constantius Chlorus, Caesar in the Western half of the empire 2, being in appearance - officially - an idolater, in his soul was far from pagan superstition; internally, he renounced serving many false gods and recognized the One True God - He worshiped Him alone and dedicated his entire house, together with his children and household, to one King-God 3 . How far Constantius was from superstitious worship of idols is evidenced by the following remarkable incident from his life. Constantius, who refused to serve idols with sacrifices and incense, wished one day to test the true dispositions of his courtiers; he pretended that he wanted to perform superstitious pagan rituals, and said to his courtiers:

Whoever wants to enjoy my favor and love and remain in honor must make sacrifices to idols, and whoever refuses this, let him remove himself from my sight and no longer count on my favor, for I cannot remain in communion with those who are not of the same faith.

Having accepted the words of Caesar as true, the courtiers immediately divided into two parties: some, hypocritical people, without real religious convictions, with a flexible conscience that can bend to the right and to the left, immediately expressed consent to the king’s proposal, although until that time, according to base calculations and followed his good example in denying idolatry; others, who from a sincere heart neglected pagan superstition and now remained true to their convictions, as true servants of Christ, renouncing earthly and perishable honors, began to leave the royal retinue. Seeing this, Constantius brought back the true Christians who had left the royal palace and said to them:

Since I see you faithfully serving your God, I want to have you as my servants, friends and advisers, for I hope that you will be faithful to me just as you are faithful to your God.

Addressing those who were inclined to excommunicate Christianity and worship idols, the king said:

I cannot tolerate you at my court - if you are not faithful to your God, then how faithful will you be to me!

And having thus shamed them, he removed these hypocrites from his presence; and he brought God’s faithful servants closer to himself and made them leaders in his area 4 . And thus, at a time when in all other parts of the vast Roman Empire the Diocletian persecution was raging, in the region of Constantia Christians lived in peace and prosperity 5 . However, not being able to disobey the will of Diocletian, the eldest of the emperors, Constantius allowed one thing - to destroy some of the Christian churches 6.

Such was the father of Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine, Constantius Chlorus. - His disposition towards Christians and preference for their pagans; the conversion to Christ of his wife, Saint Helena, Constantine's mother, and daughter Constantine 7, Constantine's sister, from an early age instilled in the latter's soul true love for God and His law and laid a solid foundation for the education and strengthening of his moral character. And this small seed sown in the child’s soul subsequently grew into a great tree.

Constantine was to spend the years of his youth not among his own family, but at the court of Diocletian in Nicomedia, where he was taken almost as a hostage, albeit an honorable one, to ensure the loyalty of his father Constantius to the elder emperor Diocletian. Court life in the capital then represented in a small form all the moral and religious corruption to which humanity can reach, enslaved by unclean, passionate lusts of the heart and falling into a “perverse mind” (Rom. 1:28). Vain pomp and luxury, drunkenness and gluttony, unbridled depravity of thought and life, intrigue and sedition, embitterment against true worship of God and hypocritical, deceitful respect for imaginary gods - this is the gloomy picture in which Providence presented Constantine with all the insignificance and ignominy of paganism. For this reason, immediately, at the same time, and therefore all the more strikingly, the life of another society loomed before the gaze of Constantine - a Christian community, where elders and elders, young men and maidens, simpletons and learned sages, even children proved the truth of their faith, the purity and height of it content not only with words, but also with your deeds, confessing it with your virtuous life, suffering for it even to the point of death. For at that time a most terrible persecution flared up against the Church of Christ, surpassing all other persecutions in the anger of the persecutors, in the variety of torments, in the number of martyrs, and in the triumph, the victorious triumph of the faith of Christ over all pagan intrigues. Constantine, placed by Providence at the very hearth of pagan malice, could not help but see the futility of all its efforts to overcome the insurmountable; directly, with his own eyes, he contemplated the power of God in weaknesses, perfecting and subjugating everything to itself. In every Christian confessor, in every feat of martyrdom, the gaze of Constantine was an indisputable witness to the correctness of the faith of Christ, its superiority over paganism, its Divine origin. And Constantine retained in his soul the guarantee of the good sown in childhood - he retained the purity and innocence of his heart and respect for the law of God, although he moved in a morally corrupt environment. But this internal alienation of Constantine from the corrupt court life, his inquisitive mind and spiritual well-being, covered by modesty, naturally aroused the anger of the courtiers around him against him; and his majestic, beautiful posture coupled with his tall stature and outstanding physical strength, which attracted the eyes of the people to him and won the love of the entire army in his favor, was the cause of the envy of many, especially Caesar Galerius. The latter plotted to destroy him and even conspired to prevent Constantine from achieving the royal dignity to which he was entitled by birth.

Constantine's life was in danger, but the hand of Providence saved its chosen one and gave him what unbridled, insidious envy wanted to take away from him. Constantine retired to Gaul to his father, whom he found on his deathbed and who soon died.

After the death of Constantius Chlorus, the army that was with him proclaimed (in 806) Constantine, who was then thirty-second year old, emperor of Gaul and Britain, as the beloved son of the respected Caesar. Under the vivid impression of seeing the terrible persecution of Christians in the East, Constantine, having inherited power from his father, considered his first task to be to confirm all his orders for the benefit of Christians - he declared freedom to profess Christianity in his regions. Thus the hour of victory of the faith of Christ over pagan superstition has approached! But the onset of better times for the Church was preceded by the time of God's judgment over its persecutors. - The Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, tired of their own malice against the unshakable sufferers for the holy truth, decided to seek peace in removing themselves from the royal thrones; but their refusal of power, not giving peace to the fierce persecutors themselves, also served as a reason for social unrest. Galerius, who reigned in the East instead of Diocletian and was dissatisfied with the reign of Constantine in the north-west, did not recognize him as emperor, but recognized Severus, who ruled Italy and Africa; Meanwhile, in Italy, Maxentius, the son of Maximian, was proclaimed emperor. Supporting Severus, Galerius went to war against Maxentius, who asked for protection from his father - the latter again took control. Severus surrendered to Maximian and was killed. Then Galerius proclaimed his commander Licinius emperor, and the army - Caesar Maximinus. It turned out that six emperors reigned in the Roman Empire at once and they were all at enmity with each other. Peace and prosperity were enjoyed only by the subjects of Constantine, who was content with the lot inherited from his father and did not want to take part in the mutual struggle of other co-rulers, who completely devoted himself to governing the country according to the desire of his pure heart and sound mind in submission to Divine Providence.

“I alienated myself,” Konstantin said about himself, “from the hitherto rulers, because I saw the savagery of their morals 8 .

In relation to Christians, he adhered, following the example of his father, to a policy of peace, for he valued them as zealous and faithful subjects. Constantine understood that Christianity is a great force that can recreate the world. However, he was not yet a Christian; with all his deep respect for the servants of Christ, he could not easily, without internal struggle, renounce the old pagan covenants. And only the formidable and difficult circumstances that arose prompted him to openly bow before the greatness of the “Crucified God,” who miraculously brought him out of his wavering state and confirmed him in his decision to become a Christian.

After Galerius, who died (in 311) from a terrible and severe illness, and Maximin - the ruler of Syria - who died (in 313) a shameful death - suicide, in the Eastern half of the empire Licinius remained the sole ruler, who later married Constantine's sister. In the western half, in the Italian region, after the second reign of Maximian, Maxentius reigned again, contrary to the wishes of the Roman people. Constantine recognized him as king in Rome and even sent a peace embassy to him. But Maxentius not only did not want to have peaceful relations with Constantine, but did not even want to call him king, wanting to be the sole autocrat of all the lands and countries of the Roman region. Having established himself on the throne, he showed in its entirety his inherent insidious cruelty and greed, not only in relation to Christians, but also in relation to his pagan co-religionists. Having seduced, upon his accession, the people he needed with gifts and promises, he began to pursue and torture honorary senators, plundering their property, kidnapping their wives and daughters to satisfy his animal passions, as well as the passions of his favorites. And he was very difficult and disgusting for all of Rome in his cruelty and bad life. The Romans, suffering under his heavy yoke, decided to secretly seek protection from Constantine, asking him to come and deliver them from this tormentor. Constantine first of all sent a letter to Maxentius on this occasion, amicably urging him to stop his violent actions. But Maxentius not only did not heed his good advice and did not correct himself, but became even more embittered. He extended his bitterness to the point that he began to prepare for war against Constantine.

Hearing about this, Constantine in 312 decided to undertake a military campaign against the Roman Emperor: he wanted to snatch Rome from the hands of the evil tyrant. But this campaign presented insurmountable difficulties. - It was not easy for the most courageous commander, beloved by the troops, to force the army to enter with a sword into the heart of Italy, to bring war to the soil of great Rome, sacred to the peoples of that time: such an enterprise should have had a stunning effect on the imperial army and a deep murmur of displeasure. And Constantine himself could not be free from a feeling of involuntary fear when undertaking this campaign, especially since he himself had never seen Rome, which could seem to him a formidable giant. At the same time, Constantine knew that the army of his enemy was more numerous than his army and that Maxentius firmly hoped for the help of his national gods, whom he tried to appease with generous sacrifices, even by slaughtering boys and girls - that Maxentius protected himself and his troops with all sorts of charms and magic and has great demonic power on his side. Relying on human strength and resources alone was not enough for Constantine, and he had a sincere desire to have help from above. Reflecting on the unfortunate state of the empire, vainly seeking protection from soulless idols, on the help of God, repeatedly shown to his father and to him, on those political revolutions that took place before his eyes, on the shameful death in a short time of three persons who shared the supreme power with him in the empire, he recognized it as madness to vainly hold on to non-existent gods and, after so much evidence, to remain in error 9 .

In the midst of such anxious thoughts, Constantine began to offer a prayer to the God of his father, began to ask Him to enlighten him about Himself, give him courage and stretch out his right hand in the task ahead 10. And this prayer of his, like once the prayer of the prison guard (Acts Apostle 16.) was heard - the Lord soon consoled him with a direct appearance and showed him what he should do. Eusebius, a contemporary of the event, who heard about it personally from the king, narrates:

One afternoon, when the sun had already begun to decline to the west, the king said, I saw with my own eyes the sign of the cross made of light and lying in the sun with the inscription: “By this conquer.”

This sight struck with horror both the king himself and the army around him, for the cross, as a shameful instrument of execution, was considered a bad omen by the pagans. Konstantin was at a loss and said to himself: what does such a phenomenon mean? But while he was thinking, night fell. Then Christ appeared to him in a dream with a sign seen in heaven and commanded him to make a banner similar to the one seen in heaven and use it for protection when attacked by enemies.

Rising from sleep, Constantine told his friends the secret of his dream vision, and then called experienced craftsmen to him and, having described to them the image of a wonderful banner, ordered them to build, in the likeness of this, a banner made of gold and precious stones; He ordered his soldiers to depict a cross on their shields and helmets. Struck by the wondrous vision, Constantine at the same time decided not to honor any other God except Christ who appeared to him; - inviting to him the mysteries of His word - Christian priests - he asked them: who is this God and what is the meaning of the sign that he saw? Having heard their answer about the one God, about the mystery of the incarnation of His Only Begotten Son for the salvation of men, about the death on the cross of the Lord Jesus, who defeated the mortal power, about the sign of the cross that appeared to him that it was a sign of victory, Constantine fully and consciously became a Christian in his soul . From that time on, he began to diligently read the Holy Scriptures and constantly had priests with him, although he had not yet received holy baptism 11.

“Having called on the God of all and His Christ as an assistant and protector, also placing a victorious banner with a saving sign in front of his warriors, Constantine set out with his entire army from the borders of Gaul on a campaign against Maxentius in the Italian region.” 12

The campaign undertaken by Constantine to liberate Rome from the cruel tyrant did not enlighten the latter. - The evil Maxentius, having made abundant sacrifices to the gods with solemn ceremonies, having listened to the predictions of fortune-tellers based on the entrails of pregnant women, marched against Constantine with a large army; but he did not avert worthy retribution for his wickedness. Constantine, covered with the saving sign of the Cross, after three oncoming clashes with the enemy, approached the eternal city itself and here inflicted a decisive defeat on it. Maxentius, fleeing across the Tiber River, died when the bridge was destroyed, like an ancient pharaoh, with his chosen horsemen in the abyss of the water. The winner triumphantly entered Rome and was greeted by the people with great joy. Realizing that this victory was granted by Divine help, Constantine erected a sacred banner in the most crowded place of the city, and then, when the grateful Romans erected a statue in honor of the new emperor, he ordered a high spear in the form of a cross to be placed in the hand of his image and the following inscription to be inscribed: “with this With a saving sign, I freed your city from the yoke of the tyrant and returned to the Roman people and the Senate its former splendor and celebrity" 13.

Having thus become the ruler of the entire western half of the Roman Empire, Constantine was the first of the Caesars by decree (in 313) to declare complete religious tolerance to the peoples under his control: he left the pagans the right to perform the rites of their worship, and allowed Christians to freely worship the One True God. This decree was followed by a whole series of decrees 14 favorable to the Church of Christ: execution on the cross was prohibited, bloody games in the circus were abolished; pagan sacrifices and incense on solemn days were stopped, the celebration of Sunday was established with the prohibition of legal proceedings on this day and the cessation of work of both free citizens and slaves; orphans and children abandoned by their parents, the poor and wretched, whom paganism left without help and charity, were accepted under royal protection; celebrations of renovation and consecration of churches began in all cities; songs of praise and prayers of thanksgiving to God were heard everywhere; bishops met freely to discuss the needs of the Church. Constantine himself sometimes attended these meetings, delved into issues relating to faith and readily did everything that was required for the benefit of Christian society. He freed the clergy from all extraneous positions and from taxes, just as the pagan priests were free from taxes, so that they could completely devote themselves to serving God; he not only returned to the Church the tombs and all the places taken away by the persecutors, but also granted several large buildings for worship, called basilicas, in which judges sat and which, according to their internal structure, could be easily converted into churches; - granted the right to pastors to resolve disputes and mutual disagreements between Christians. Wearing on his helmet, as a visible sign of reverent veneration of Christ God, the monogram “Christ” 15, Constantine gave his soldiers a prayer that they had to read on Sundays and which, being a confession of the heartfelt faith of the emperor himself, disposed everyone to recognize the One Almighty Seek the Giver of blessings and His help in all matters 16.

The favor of the emperor caused delight among Christians: their hearts were filled with great spiritual joy from tasting the sweetness of life under the new government. Contemporary Eusebius depicts that time as follows:

Now a bright and clear day, not darkened by any cloud, illuminated the Church of Christ with rays of heavenly light. We must admit that our happiness is higher than our merits; we are brought into the greatest amazement by the grace of the Author of such great gifts: we worthily marvel at Him and say with the prophet: " Come and see the works of the Lord - what devastation He has caused on earth"(Ps. 45:9). People of all ages, male and female, rejoicing with all the strength of their souls, send prayers and thanksgiving to God with their minds and hearts 17.

But while in the West Christians thus prospered under the rule of Constantine, it was completely different in the East, where Licinius reigned: brought up at the court of Diocletian, a commander under Galerius, he, having achieved the dignity of Caesar, hated Christians in his soul. Having become related to Constantine, Licinius at first did not dare to oppose his powerful brother-in-law 18 - he even signed the decree (Milan) issued by the latter on religious tolerance; but soon, having become the sovereign ruler of the entire East after the death of Emperor Maximin, he began to oppress and humiliate Christians. Fearing the loss of his royal power and listening to slander from representatives of idolatry, he closed and destroyed Christian churches under the pretext that they were praying in them for betrayal of Constantine and demanded from everyone, and especially from his troops, a pagan oath and sacrifices to idols; He subjected those who disobeyed his will to imprisonment and terrible torture, leading them to martyrdom. At this time, by the way, a courageous squad suffered - 40 martyrs. - Licinius, however, was cruel not only to Christians: and all the peoples subject to him suffered a lot from his greed and malice. His suspicion and cruelty is sufficiently evidenced by the fact that he put to death the wife and daughter of his former patron, Diocletian, and exterminated all the children of the emperors - Maximinus, Severus and Galerius. The Roman Empire, according to Eusebius, divided into two halves, represented two opposites of day and night: the inhabitants of the East were enveloped in the darkness of the night, and the inhabitants of the West were illuminated by the light of the brightest day.

Licinius's relationship with Constantine could not and was not friendly. Licinius showed in them deceit and double-mindedness; he assured Konstantin of friendship, but secretly hated him, tried to do him all sorts of harm; His intrigues did not succeed, and more than once discord began between them, ending in wars. Constantine remained the winner, but deceived by the false assurances of his son-in-law, he made peace with him. However, over time, relations between the emperors became more and more strained. The oppressed subjects of Licinius and the Christians persecuted by him saw no end to their suffering. Licinius finally stopped hiding his plans against Constantine and entered into open struggle. In 323, a brutal war broke out between them. This war was to finally decide the fate of Christianity in the Roman Empire, which embraced “the entire universe.”

Both emperors gathered significant forces and prepared for a decisive battle, each in accordance with their own faith: it seemed that decrepit paganism had taken up arms against Christianity, which had come into the world to renew humanity. - On the eve of the battle, Licinius, surrounded by priests and fortune-tellers, gathered selected warriors and his best friends in the shady grove in which the idols stood, made a solemn sacrifice and, turning to everyone who was there, said:

Friends! - these are our public gods, before whom we need to revere, as our ancestors taught us. The commander of the army hostile to us, having rejected the customs of his fathers, accepted false opinions and glorified some foreign, unknown God. With his shameful banner (the Cross) he disgraces his army; having trusted him, he raises weapons not so much against us as against the gods. The matter itself will reveal who is right and who is wrong - if we win, then it is clear that our gods are true gods; If the God of Constantine, the foreign god we ridicule, prevails, then let them honor him. But it is certain that our gods will win, so let us boldly rush with weapons in our hands against the atheists! 19

On the contrary, Constantine, before the battle, retired to his tent and there, through prayer and fasting, prepared for battle; in these decisive moments of his life, he turned to his past, went over in his memory the events of his life, the dangers to which he was exposed and which passed safely for him - he recalled the shameful death of the persecutors of Christianity and the courageously peaceful death of the disciples of Christ, and, in all this, seeing the wondrous dispensation of the Almighty, entrusted himself and all his work to the highest heavenly guidance and intercession. Christians prayed earnestly for the emperor, their patron; the sacred banner stood among the regiments of Constantine and inspired the hope of heavenly help. His troops looked at this victorious banner with reverence, while his enemies looked at him with fear; in many cities of the Licinian kingdom, in the middle of the day, they saw the ghosts of Constantine’s troops marching victoriously with this banner. Licinius himself urged his soldiers not to look at the enemy banner, “for,” he said, “it is terrible in its strength and hostile to us.”

Pagan priests and fortune-tellers predicted victory for Licinius, but God granted it to Constantine. Licinius repeatedly attacked the approaching enemy, but each time he was defeated and fled; pretending to repent, he asked for peace, but secretly he gathered new militias and sought help from the barbarians. Finally, the naval victory of Crispus, son of Konstantinov, near Byzantium, and the battle of Adrianople finally decided the success of the war. Licinius submitted, and a short time later he was executed in Thessalonica, since, having surrendered to the winner, he had formed a conspiracy against Constantine. In 323, Constantine became the sole sovereign of the entire Roman Empire.

This victory over Licinius once again and so tangibly and clearly convinced Constantine that earthly blessings and successes are bestowed on the worshipers of the true God. And this is how he, presenting himself as a submissive instrument in the hands of the Almighty, humbly gives glory to God alone for his successes:

Of course, there will be no pride, he says in one of the decrees, for someone who realizes that he has received benefits from the Most High Being to boast. God found and judged my ministry fit to fulfill His will. Starting from the British Sea, I, with the help of some highest power, drove before me all the horrors encountered, so that the human race, educated under my influence, could be called to the service of the most sacred law and, under the guidance of the highest Being, grow the most blessed faith.

“I firmly believed,” he adds, “that I must offer my whole soul, everything I breathe, everything that exists in the depths of my mind - I must offer everything to the great God.

So determined in his soul, Constantine, after the victory, hastened to extend to the Christians of the Eastern Empire the same rights that they enjoyed in the West. And in the East he forbade offering sacrifices to idols in the name of the emperor; he elected predominantly Christians as regional leaders; took care of the renovation and construction of churches; returned to the faithful property taken away during the persecution.

Whoever lost property, said one decree, by fearlessly and fearlessly passing through the glorious and divine field of martyrdom, or by becoming a confessor and acquiring eternal hopes for himself, who lost them, being forced to emigrate, because he did not agree to yield to the persecutors who demanded betrayal of the faith - We command that all such property be given away.

In cases where there were no close relatives, property taken from Christians was transferred to local churches; private individuals from whom the martyr's property was taken away received rewards from the royal treasury. Constantine’s Christian feelings were especially fully and characteristically expressed in his rescript to the regional commanders:

Now,” this is how he addresses God here, “I pray to You, great God!” be merciful and favorable to Your eastern peoples; and through me, Your servant, grant healing to all regional rulers.... Under Your leadership I began and completed the work of salvation; presenting Your banner everywhere, I led a victorious army; and wherever some social necessity called me, I followed that sign of Your power and went against the enemies. That is why I gave You my soul, well tested in love and fear, for I sincerely love Your name and am in awe of the power that You have shown through many experiences and with which you strengthen my faith.... I want Your people to enjoy peace and serenity; I want those who are mistaken to taste the pleasures of peace and silence, just like believers, for such a restoration of communication can lead them too to the path of truth. Let no one bother another.... Sane people should know that only those who will live holy and pure will be those whom You Yourself call to rest under Your holy laws; and let those who turn away, if it pleases them, take possession of the lot of their false teaching... Let no one harm another; what one has learned and understood, let him use it, if possible, for the benefit of his neighbor; and when this is impossible, he must leave him, for it is another thing to voluntarily accept the struggle for immortality, and another thing to be forced into it through execution... Removing our conscience from everything contrary, we will all take advantage of the lot of the bestowed good, that is, the good of the world 20 .

Having become the sole ruler of the entire Roman Empire and declaring religious tolerance “throughout the entire universe” (Luke 2:1), Constantine, however, was not “lukewarm” (Apoc. 3:15) in his royal life. Having abandoned paganism and become the head of a Christian society, he saw in Christianity the most important support of the empire, the main guarantee of the power and success of the state, which, in his opinion, should pave the way for the free, without violence, establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth - indicate and give means for educating and improving the human race in the spirit of Christ. Constantine, as an obvious patron of Christians, was little loved in Rome, where many pagan customs and morals still remained. And he himself did not like Rome with its Pantheon, where, so to speak, mechanically, the pagan gods of all conquered peoples were gathered, and he rarely and reluctantly visited the old capital. And the Romans, grateful to the liberator for getting rid of the tyrant (Maxentius), did not understand and could not appreciate the activities of the emperor; They saw in him a violator of their old folk orders, an enemy of their religion, closely connected with the political greatness of Rome. Their displeasure and grumbling, even conspiracies and sometimes obvious indignations were the reason that the idea arose and matured in the mind of Constantine to create a new capital for himself, a Christian city, which would not be connected in any way with paganism. Constantine fell in love with the position of Byzantium, an ancient small town on the shores of the Bosphorus, which was also marked by a naval victory over Licinius, and he chose it and made it the new capital of the empire; He himself, with a solemn move, marked out the distant boundaries of the new city and began to furnish it with magnificent buildings. Extensive palaces, aqueducts, baths, and theaters decorated the capital; it was filled with art treasures brought from Greece, Italy and Asia. But temples dedicated to pagan gods were no longer built there, and instead of the Colosseum, where gladiator fights took place, a circus was set up for horse competitions. The main decoration of the new city were churches dedicated to the true God, in the construction of which the royal patron of Christians himself took an active part. This time his care extended not only to the splendor of the houses of prayer, but even, for example, to such insignificant things - according to his high rank: with the construction of new churches in the capital, a shortage of liturgical books was felt, and the tsar became concerned about their production as quickly as possible - Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea was deliberately equipped with embassy with the order that “excellent scribes write fifty copies of books on trimmed parchments” and that these scrolls be delivered to him, and “he retains the reward for his work” 21.

By his order, liturgical books in the capital's churches were to be kept in decently rich bindings.

Imbued with a deep religious feeling, Constantine in the new capital arranged his everyday life in accordance with the requirements of piety and holiness. The palace itself was a clear reflection of his Christian mood. “In the royal palaces, a semblance of the Church of God was built, and the emperor, with his zeal for pious exercises, set an example for others; every day at certain hours he was confined to inaccessible chambers and there he talked privately with God, kneeling in prayer, and asked for what he needed, and sometimes he invited his courtiers to participate in prayers. With special reverence, he spent Sunday and Friday - the day of the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross; on these days he stopped his usual activities and devoted himself to serving God. The palace of Constantine thus represented something completely different from what it was palaces of the former Roman Caesars: here one could not hear idle talk and insidious intrigues, there were no noisy, vain, often bloody amusements; here one heard “hymns of praise to God.” The king’s interlocutors were “the secret places of God’s Word” - bishops and priests - his servants and guardians of the whole house were men adorned with purity of life and virtue; even the spearmen and bodyguards were guided by the example of the pious king. The Christian owner of the palace put a Christian stamp on everything. In the main hall, in a gilded recess in the ceiling, there was an image of the Cross made of precious stones in a gold frame. Above the door leading to the royal chambers, “in full view of everyone,” was a painted picture made of wax. This picture represented the following: the face of the emperor, a cross above his head, and under his feet a dragon being cast into the abyss; The meaning of this picture is this: Constantine, in the person of the persecutors of Christianity - the pagan emperors, cast the dragon - the enemy of the human race - into the abyss of destruction by the saving power of the Cross. This picture inspired everyone that its owner was an admirer of the true God, who through the death of His Son on the cross gave new life to humanity.

The new Christian capital, named after its founder, was the “city of King Constantine”, Constantinople, which occupied the middle place between the former capitals of the empire - Rome and Nicomedia, as Jerusalem once was - the “city of King David”, which did not belong exclusively to any tribe of Israel 22 , according to its fortunate geographical position, and handed over to the patronage of the Mother of God, quickly. It blossomed and eclipsed the glory and grandeur of not only the magnificent Nicomedia, but also the great Rome itself. And just as in ancient times David, having settled in Zion, was embarrassed by the fact that he “lives in a house of cedars,” and “the Ark of the Covenant remains under the skins” (2 Samuel 5:9; 7:2; 2 Chronicles 17:1 and gave.), so now Constantine, having settled in beautiful Byzantium, could not remain indifferent to the desecrated “cradle of Christianity” - the place of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus, His suffering, death and resurrection. Reverent before the sign of the Cross, he wished to glorify the very “life-giving Tree, on which the King and Lord was crucified.” But, as a warrior and, moreover, one who had shed a lot of blood, he considered himself unworthy to do it himself. This pious intention of the emperor was carried out by his equally honorable mother, Queen Helena, whom he sent to Jerusalem, providing her with authority and rich gifts.

Helen, as Eusebius narrates 24, this old woman with youthful speed rushed to the East in order to perform due worship of the feet of the Lord, according to the word of the prophet, " Let us worship at His footstool" (Ps. 132:7).

In a sacred country, marked by wondrous events, where everything reminds of “the great Mystery of piety - the appearance of God in the flesh,” the greatness of the humble soul of the royal old woman was clearly manifested; there Saint Helena did not dress in the attire characteristic of her rank, but in the most modest clothes she rotated among the crowd of people, trying to be unrecognized, giving out generous alms; Imitating the Lord Jesus, she extended her self-abasement to the point that she gathered virgins in her house, treated them and served at the table herself in the form of a simple slave 25. The example of the queen's sincere piety made a deep impression not only on believers in Christ, but also on non-believers.

The stay of the queen-mother in the “cradle of Christianity” was also marked by the fulfillment of the plans of her royal son. In Palestine, all the places consecrated by the gospel events have long been devastated. The pagans, out of hatred for Christianity, tried to erase the very memory of them; the most dear place for a believing Christian heart - the cave of the Holy Sepulcher was covered with garbage and thus hidden from reverent gaze; Moreover, as if in mockery of the “Crucified God” and His admirers, on a hill built on top of the holy cave, a temple was built for the “voluptuous demon of love” (Venus). According to Elena's instructions, idolatry temples, erected in places sacred to Christians, were destroyed and holy temples were built in their place. So beautiful churches were built, at the request and at the expense of the queen, in Bethlehem over the cave of the Nativity of Christ, on the Mount of Olives - the place of the Ascension of the Lord; Gethsemane, the place of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the place of the appearance of God to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre, was decorated with temples.

But the main concern of the royal old lady was to realize the thought of her great son, to find the very Tree on which the Savior of the world was crucified.

The place where the Cross of the Lord was hidden was unknown; To find him, the pious Helen used all means and her royal influence. And after much intense questioning and searching, this place was indicated by a certain Judas, a Jew, an old man of advanced years, the son of a Jewish teacher, indicated under a pagan temple built on a hill that covered the cave of the Holy Sepulcher. By order of the queen, the vile Venus was overthrown, her temple was immediately destroyed; Saint Macarius of Jerusalem prayed at the desecrated place; began clearing the hill. And pious zeal received wondrous reinforcement: the faithful who worked and dug the earth smelled the stench of fragrance emanating from under the earth. Zeal for the glory of the name of Christ prompted the workers, in accordance with the desire of Blessed Helena, to carry the materials of the destroyed pagan temple and all the rubbish from under it as far as possible from the burial place of the Lord Jesus, so that in this way nothing defiled by idolatry would touch the great Christian shrine. The Cave of the Holy Sepulcher was found and cleansed; Near it, on the eastern side, three crosses were found and next to them a board with an inscription and honest nails. But how was it possible to find out which of the three crosses was the cross of the Savior? - The general bewilderment regarding this matter was resolved, according to the arrangement of Providence, through such a miraculous event: it happened that at that time a dead man was being carried past this place for burial; Saint Macarius ordered those carrying the deceased to stop; They began to believe, on the advice of the bishop, that the found crosses were one per deceased; and when the Cross of Christ was laid, the dead were resurrected. Everyone, seeing this miracle, rejoiced and glorified the wondrous power of the life-giving Cross of the Lord. The Elder Queen reverently bowed to the honest Tree and kissed it. And since with the multitude of people it was not possible, following the example of the queen, to each individually pay due respect to the found cross, Saint Macarius, satisfying the general desire to see the shrine at least from afar, piously lifting it up and standing on an elevated place, created the erection of the Cross of the Lord in front of the gaze of the multitude of the faithful, who at that time loudly exclaimed: “Lord, have mercy!” This was the first Exaltation of the honest and life-giving Cross; it happened in 326. The Orthodox Church celebrates this event annually on September 14, 26. Many of the pagans and Jews then turned to Christ; Among those who converted was Judas, to whom he pointed out the place where the Holy Cross was kept 27. The Holy Cross was then placed in a silver ark for preservation; on Good Friday, it was taken to Golgotha ​​(in the soon-built temple where it was kept) for worship. But Saint Helena, leaving Jerusalem, took a piece of the life-giving Tree with her as a gift to her son Constantine. After living for a short time, the blessed queen-mother died and was honestly buried.

Having received from his mother, Blessed Helena, a priceless treasure - a particle of the Holy Cross, Constantine decided to decorate the cave of the Holy Sepulcher and next to it build a temple that would be “more magnificent than all the temples that exist anywhere”... “The cave as the head of everything, according to Eusebius ", the Christ-loving generosity of the king clothed him with excellent columns and numerous decorations. From the cave there was access to a vast open-air square. This square was lined with shining stone and was surrounded on three sides by continuous porticoes." And with what amazing care the Christian king treated the construction of the temple on the eastern side of the cave, the following lines from Constantine’s letter to the Jerusalem Saint Macarius best give an idea of ​​this: “as for the construction and elegant decoration of the walls of the temple, know that care for This I entrusted to the rulers of Palestine. I took care that artists, craftsmen, and everything necessary for the construction would be immediately delivered to you under their care. As for columns and marbles, which ones do you recognize as the most precious and most useful, consider in detail, and Write to me immediately, so that from your letter I can see how much materials are required and deliver them from everywhere. Moreover, I want to know what kind of vault of the temple you like - mosaic or decorated in another way. If mosaic, then everything else in it can be decorated with gold. "Let Your Reverence inform the said rulers as soon as possible how many craftsmen and artists will be needed and how much the costs will be. Try also to immediately inform me not only about the marbles and columns, but also about the mosaics, which you consider to be the best."

By the way, Constantine himself came up with the idea that it would be good to decorate the temple with twelve - according to the number of Apostles - columns, on top of which there would be vases cast from silver. It is not surprising, therefore, that this temple was a miracle of beauty and its appearance delighted its contemporaries. Eusebius the historian, among other things, describes this monument to the pious zeal of the first Christian emperor: “The basilica (temple) is an extraordinary building, immeasurable in height, extraordinary in breadth and length. Its inner side is covered with multi-colored marbles, and the outer appearance of the walls, shining polished and united with one another stones, appears to be extremely beautiful and is in no way inferior to marble. The domed ceiling is decorated with marvelous carvings, which, spreading like a great sea over the entire basilica in mutually connected arcs and everywhere shining with gold, illuminates the entire temple as if with rays of light. The main object of everything is a semicircle located on "The very edge of the basilica (on the eastern side), according to the number of the twelve Apostles, is crowned with twelve columns, the tops of which are decorated with large vases cast from silver - a beautiful offering to God from the king himself."

But the pious king did not limit his attitude towards Christianity only to concern for its external exaltation; he was also concerned about the inner life of Christ’s Church. The Church, according to Constantine, should serve as the most important support for the life of the state; religious unity must be a powerful guarantee of the success of the empire. The Church, shining with grandeur and external splendor, with its inner world must attract the pagan population to itself, gradually turning the entire state into one internally cohesive organism, revived by the One Spirit of Christ. Such unity and prosperity of the Church “gave the caring king peaceful days and good nights,” in which he saw happiness for himself and all the peoples of the world under his control.”

However, these “peaceful days and good nights” were not always easy for the great emperor. In his time, the Church of Christ, already crowned with the victorious crown of martyrdom and having received the right of civil existence even with advantages over paganism, was outraged by internal disorders that arose and matured during the difficult time of persecution. As soon as Constantine reigned in Rome, he learned with surprise and sorrow that an entire region of his empire was overwhelmed by civil strife among the children of the One Father. - A struggle broke out among Christians in Africa over the appointment of Caecilian, a “traitor” 28, as Bishop of Carthaginia; his opponents elected Majorinus as bishop, and soon - after the death of Majorinus - they elevated Donatus, the main instigator of their opposition, to his place 29 . The adherents of the latter - the "Donatists", having become close to the "Novatians" 30, claimed that only they constituted the Church of Christ and, in frenzied fanaticism, did not hesitate to slander their opponents, even forcibly take away churches from them; it often came to bloodshed between the warring parties. To reconcile them and consider their mutual complaints, Constantine first sent his “beloved and respected” Bishop Hosea 31 to Carthage, instructing him at the same time to distribute financial assistance to the poor Christians there 32; then, by personal order of the emperor, two councils were assembled on the Donatist cause - a small one in Rome and “from many bishops of different places” in Arelate 33. The judgment pronounced on the troubled schismatics by these councils was finally confirmed in Milan in 316 under the personal presidency of Constantine, and the matter was apparently settled.

But the more pious the king became acquainted with the current situation of Christianity, the less it justified his ideal idea of ​​​​the holy unity of the children of Christ's Church. The Donatist cause, which worried Constantine in the first steps of his reign, was significant not so much in its essence as in the passion of the fighters. In 323, after the victory over Licinius, having become the autocrat of the entire empire, Constantine went to the East, imbued with a sincere desire to rebuild the entire state anew, on better, more solid principles. In his plans, he gave first place to the Christian Church, which, in his opinion, was supposed to spiritually unite a politically united world empire. But there, in the East, he suffered a more severe disappointment than in the West. He arrived here at a time when the disputes excited by the heresy of Arius 34, unchecked by anything, had reached their extreme development. Eusebius depicts this time as follows: “not only the leaders of the churches entered into debate with each other, but the people were also divided; the course of events reached such indecency that the divine teaching was subjected to offensive ridicule even in pagan theaters.” This time was favorable for the activities of the blasphemers of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Licinius, Constantine's brother-in-law, who was then living out the last years of his reign, who had once signed the Milan decree on religious tolerance with Constantine, was suspicious of Christians in general, as people who were unreliable towards him, hated and even cruelly persecuted them. In their mutual discord caused by the Arian heresy, he could see a desirable phenomenon, useful for himself. These disputes, weakening the strength of the Church, could give rise to the hope of support for him in his plans against his powerful brother-in-law. And such calculations of Licinius were not in vain. Constantine himself, for example, spoke of Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia as follows: “he even sent spies to me and gave the tyrant (Licinius) almost armed assistance” 35 .

Arriving in Nicomedia, Constantine was deeply struck by the discord excited by Arianism. However, he did not immediately understand the importance of these events. And he himself and the mysteries of divine teaching who arrived with him from the West received here one-sided coverage of the case of Arius from the Nicomedians, who saw dogmatic questions not as an object of pious faith of vital importance, but as an area of ​​scientific research, and even empty verbal debate. Nevertheless, Constantine did not ignore the Arian cause; At first, he sent an extensive conciliatory message to Alexandria with a convincing request to Bishop Alexander and Arius to end their mutual discord. According to the king, the bishop was also wrong due to his carelessness and harsh questioning, and Arius was also to blame for breaking the communion without submitting to the bishop; he recommends that both take an example from philosophers, who, although they argue with each other, get along peacefully. Moreover, both of them stand on common ground: both recognize divine Providence, and therefore it is easy for them to reconcile 36...

Along with this message, Constantine sent his “beloved” bishop Hosea to Alexandria, who was supposed to investigate this matter on the spot and help pacify the Alexandrians. Hosea fulfilled the emperor's instructions. - True, he did not reconcile the opponents, but from the investigation of the disputes he came to the conclusion that the heresy of Arius is not idle talk, but threatens to shake the foundations of the Christian faith, and leads to the denial of all Christianity. In 324, Hosea of ​​Corduba returned to the king and explained to him the serious danger of the Arian movement. Then Constantine decided to convene an Ecumenical Council, which, in his opinion, remained the only means to pacify the Church. According to the tsar, this Council, “going to war against the main enemy” that was then disturbing the world of the Church, the blasphemous Arian heresy, had to consider other questions and give answers - definitions on the structure of the internal life of Christians 37 .

The Ecumenical Council was determined by the authority of the Tsar to be in the city of Nicaea 38. Constantine did everything to make it easier for the convened bishops to travel to the meeting place, and he accepted the maintenance of those who arrived in Nicaea at the expense of the state. Saints arrived in Nicaea from Egypt and Palestine, from Syria and Mesopotamia, from Asia Minor, Greece, Persia and Armenia and from the Transdanubian Goths; From Rome, instead of the elderly bishop, two presbyters arrived. Among the assembled saints were: the elderly Alexander of Alexandria, the first accuser Arius, who brought with him Archdeacon Athanasius, a courageous and skillful fighter against the Arians (later the Great, Archbishop of Alexandria), the saint of the Lycian city of Myra, St. Spyridon the wonderworker. In total, more than 2,000 people arrived at the Council (with the bishops there were presbyters and deacons), and there were some saints in 318).

The cathedral opened in June 325 in a vast chamber of the royal palace. The benches stood around the room for the bishops, and in the middle there was a table on which lay the book of Holy Scripture, as a faithful witness to the truth. When everyone had gathered, Constantine appeared in all the majesty of his imperial rank, but without armed guards, accompanied by Christian courtiers, dressed in the most magnificent royal clothes, shining with gold and precious stones. His appearance struck the assembly and especially those present at it, who, having arrived from distant countries, had never seen either his royal face or royal grandeur; but he himself was embarrassed at the sight of such a gathering of glorious shepherds of the Church of Christ, among whom were strict ascetics and miracle workers, confessors and martyrs with burnt hands and pierced eyes, 39 who suffered for the faith. Silently, with a downcast gaze, he approached the golden chair and stood waiting until the saints invited him to sit down. Having then listened to the welcoming and grateful speeches of Eustathius of Antioch and the historian Eusebius of Caesarea, Constantine himself addressed the meeting with a speech in which he expressed his joy at seeing such a great meeting of the fathers, and begged them to resolve controversial issues peacefully. “God helped me,” he said, “to overthrow the wicked power of the persecutors, but incomparably more regrettable for me is any war, any bloody battle, and incomparably more destructive is the internal internecine warfare in the Church of God.”

The Arians went to the Council and behaved boldly and confidently; they did not foresee that their cause would face complete and comprehensive defeat; on the contrary, they expected happy success in their plans: - they had up to 17 bishops on their side; They were headed by the capital's bishop, who had connections in the royal palace. The Arians hoped that the Council, even if it did not agree with their views, would not give them strict condemnation.

Arius stubbornly defended his teaching, using all the power of his eloquence. But the unshakable, convinced devotion to the true church teaching of the fathers of the Council put to shame the false wisdom of the blasphemer. The defenders of Orthodoxy understood well what the essence of the Arian heresy was and worthily, with deep religious feeling and truly enlightened understanding, refuted it. The Alexandrian deacon Athanasius was distinguished by his special power of speech and accuracy in exposing heretical bullshit: his word dissolved, like a light web, the cunning talk of the heretic. The debates were heated and lengthy; in vain did Constantine use his influence to reconcile the disputants and lead to an amicable solution to the dispute; The further the debate continued, the more obvious it became how far the Arians had deviated from the truth. The statement of faith proposed to the Council by Eusebius of Nicomedia, the head of the Arians, which clearly expressed the idea that the “Son of God” is a “work,” a “creature,” and “there was a time when He did not exist,” was unanimously rejected by the fathers of the Council as false and impious. - the very scroll on which it was written was torn.

Having thus irrevocably condemned Arianism, the fathers of the Council decided to give the believers an accurate confession of Orthodox teaching - a symbol of faith. Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, introduced them to the “baptismal symbol,” which had been used for a long time in his church and was expressed almost exclusively in expressions taken from Holy Scripture. The fathers greeted this symbol with approval; but in order to decisively eliminate the possibility of putting heretical thought into it, they considered it necessary to replace some general expressions in it with those that would perfectly define church truth. The emperor, who was present at the Council, joined the fathers in approving the Caesarean symbol and confessed his full agreement with it; but at the same time, Constantine proposed introducing into the symbol the formula that the leaders of the Church had settled on at preliminary meetings to express church thought about the Son of God and His relationship to God the Father - calling Him “consubstantial” with the Father. The word spoken by the king was unanimously accepted by the Council and served as the definitive basis for the teaching about the Face of the Lord Jesus, the central Christian dogma.

The “baptismal” symbol was corrected and the Council set forth a new Nicene Creed, indisputable for the entire Universal Church.

The final solemn meeting of the fathers at Nicaea took place in the imperial palace on August 25, 325; it coincided with the 20th anniversary of the reign of Constantine 40.

Dismissing the fathers of the Council, Constantine, in his farewell speech to them, begged them to have peace among themselves.

Beware, he said, of bitter disputes between you. Let no one have envy towards those who have shown special wisdom: consider the dignity of each one to be the common property of the entire Church. Higher and superior, do not look arrogantly at the inferior: God alone knows who is superior, Perfection rarely happens anywhere and one must have leniency towards the weakest brothers; Peaceful agreement is more valuable than anything else. When saving unbelievers, remember that not everyone can be converted by scientific reasoning; the teachings must be adapted to the different dispositions of each, like doctors applying their medicines to various diseases.

Thus the cherished desire of the pious emperor was fulfilled, which he confessed, once even bringing

God Himself as a witness - the desire - "to unite the teaching of all the peoples of his empire about the Divine into one common system." The great thought, suggested to the king by his holy religious feeling, the implementation of which he set for himself as a vital task with a sincere desire - this, amazing in the sublimity of its content and breadth of volume, the thought of the Great Constantine was now introduced into the general consciousness and became the property of the entire Christian world. Moreover, for the implementation of this thought in Christian life, the pious king also indicated the surest path - the Ecumenical Council - following which the sheep of Christ’s pasture, both already called and others not yet called, by the grace of God, unmistakably enter the courtyard of the Heavenly Father , for true life (John 10:9). And this truly victorious triumph of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Tsar was also headed by the joyful receipt for him of a priceless treasure, a particle of the life-giving Cross of the Lord, brought from Jerusalem as a gift to him by his mother, Queen Helena.

Constantine lived after that for more than 10 years and during all this time of his reign he adhered with unwavering fidelity to the Nicene Confession of Faith 41 and zealously tried to establish the spirit of Christian piety in his kingdom, presenting himself as an example worthy of imitation. Possessing a thorough general education and theological education in particular, he conducted extensive correspondence with the heads of churches on subjects of faith and piety and the structure of Christian life, and often in his palace he spoke before a meeting of courtiers and people even with “godly” teaching. His diligence was extraordinary, he did not tolerate idleness: even in his old age he did not consider it a burden for himself even to write extensive legislative acts with his own hand 42 . Truly magnanimous by nature and modest, he was not seduced by his royal grandeur and the noisy delights of the people's crowd - these delights even bored him. Standing at a high level of moral development, Constantine wanted to raise everyone who came into contact with him to the same level. So one day he brought some sense to a certain covetous nobleman in this way: having invited him to his place, he took him by the hand and said:

To what extent will we extend our greed?

Then he said, outlining a man-sized space with his spear:

If you acquired all the riches of the world and mastered all the elements of the earth, and then you would not use anything more than such a piece of land, and even then, would you still be worthy of receiving this too!

Another example: - having listened to the flattering speech of one honorable person (from among the clergy), who called the king “blessed” and expressed that “in this life he has been awarded autocratic rule over everyone and in the future he will rule together with the Son of God,” Constantine answered the flatterer :

You better pray for the king, so that in his future life he too will be worthy of being a servant of God.

The tsar’s charity flowed in a wide stream, according to a contemporary, “from morning to evening he was looking for someone to do a good deed”; He supplied the beggars and people in general thrown into the streets with money, food, and decent clothing; He took care of orphaned children instead of his father; He arranged for girls who had lost their parents to marry, and provided them with a dowry from his treasury. He did especially a lot of charity on Easter Day. In his new capital, Constantine introduced the custom that on Easter night high wax pillars, “like fiery lamps,” would be lit throughout all its streets, so that the mysterious night became brighter than the day itself, and as soon as morning came, Constantine extended his right hand, distributed gifts to them. With the same generosity, the king distributed alms on the occasion of his family joyful events, for example, the marriage of his sons; - in the latter cases, luxurious feasts and dinners were held for invited guests, then the fun was even carried out of the palace onto the street - the king cordially received the round dances of women. But under the king, complete decency was always observed in everything and nothing immodest or seductive was allowed.

The last years and especially the days of the life of Tsar Constantine and his death were a worthy conclusion to his Christian pious disposition. Long before his death, Konstantin began to prepare for it. - In his new capital, he built a temple in the name of the holy Apostles. This temple was decorated, among other things, with twelve arks in honor of the face of the Apostle, and in the middle of these arks a tomb was built. At first it remained unclear why the tomb was built here, but then it was clarified and it turned out that the pious king had built this tomb for himself. The thought of death became a subject of intense thought for Konstantin as soon as he began to feel the decline of his physical strength.

In 337, Constantine solemnly celebrated Easter in Constantinople for the last time and soon fell ill. Anticipating his approaching death, he devoted himself entirely to holy exercises: often kneeling, he zealously poured out fervent prayers before God; on the advice of doctors, he moved at that time to the city of Eleonopolis to be treated there with warm baths.

But Constantine had not yet been baptized! This in our time and for us may seem a very strange phenomenon, but in the ancient times of the Christian Church, many were baptized in mature years or even in old age, some out of a feeling of deep respect for the great sacrament, for the reception of which they considered long preparation necessary, others but not without evil lust - to live first for one’s sinful pleasure, and then to be reborn for a new spiritual life (God is their Judge!). Constantine, who from a young age carried Christ in his heart, having long ago become a Christian in his soul, put off his baptism out of humble awareness of his sinfulness, wanting to prepare himself for this through the feat of his whole life. Moreover, in his soul there was a sincere desire to be baptized in the waters of the Jordan River.

Not receiving relief in Eleonopolis and feeling an extreme decline in bodily strength, Constantine crossed over to Nicomedia and here, convening the bishops, asked them to honor him with holy baptism.

Before his baptism, the dying king made the following speech:

The desired time has come, which I have long been longing for and which I have been praying for as a time of salvation. It's time for us to accept the seal of immortality and partake of saving grace. I thought of doing this in the waters of the Jordan River, where, as an example for us, the Savior Himself was baptized; but God, who knows the Useful, honors me with this here.

Having received Holy Baptism, Constantine “rejoiced in spirit, his heart was full of living joy. Dressed at baptism in a white robe that shone like light, he did not take it off until his death. He rested on a bed covered with white veils, the scarlet - this royal distinction - “the servant of God" no longer wanted to touch. The king concluded his last prayer of thanks, “raising his voice” with these words:

Now I recognize myself as truly blessed, for I have undoubted faith that I have partaken of the Divine light and have been worthy of immortal life.

The great and Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine died, bequeathing the kingdom to his three sons, on the very day of Pentecost 337, in the thirty-second year of his reign, being sixty-five years old from birth. His body was transferred with great triumph to the city of Constantinople, which he had created, and laid, according to his covenant, in the Church of the Holy Apostles in a tomb prepared by him. Now he lives an endless life in the eternal Kingdom of Christ our God, to Whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Troparion, tone 8:

Having seen the image of your cross in heaven, and like Paul the title was not received from man, your Apostle, Lord, has placed the reigning city in your hands: save it always in peace, through the prayers of the Mother of God, the only one who loves mankind.

Kontakion, tone 3:

Constantine today with the matter Helena, the cross is showing the all-honorable tree, for all the Jews are in disgrace, and weapons against the enemy of the faithful kings: for for our sake a great sign has appeared, and in a terrible battle.

________________________________________________________________________

1 By decree of Emperor Diocletian - February 23, 303 - it was ordered to eradicate Christianity with all its institutions and temples. The brutal persecution then began with the plunder and destruction by military force of the Christian temple in Nicomedia, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, where up to 20,000 believers were burned at one time; and then the horrors of persecution engulfed Syria, Palestine, Asia Minor, Egypt and Italy. About the cruelty of the persecutions, Laktaatsii (“On the Death of the Persecutors” XV and XVI) reports: “if I had a hundred mouths and an iron tongue, then even then I could not count all the torments that the believers endured: ... the iron was dulled and broken; the killers got tired and worked in shifts, taking turns....”

2 Emperor Diocletian, for the convenience of managing the huge Roman Empire, divided it into two halves, of which he ruled one, the Eastern, himself, living in Nicomedia and having Caesar Galerius as his co-ruler, and installed Maximian as emperor in the other, the Western, with Caesar Constantius Chlorus as his co-ruler. , who directly ruled Gaul and Britain.

3 Eusebius. Life of Constantine, book. I, ch.17

4 Eusebia: Life of Constantine, book I, 16

5 Eusebia: Church. History, book. VIII,13, Life of Constantine, book. I,13

6 Lactantius: On the death of persecutors, ch. 15.

7 Constantine was the only son of Helen; Constantius was the daughter of Chlorus's other wife, Theodora, with whom Constantius had other children. Contemporaries, unfortunately, do not talk about the influence of St. Elena on Konstantin in childhood.

8 Eusebia: Life of Constantine, book. II,49

9 Eusebius: Life of Constantine, book. I,27

10 Eusebius: Life of Constantine, book. I,36; Lactantia: On the death of persecutors, 44.

11 Eusebius: Life of Constantine, book. I,28-32.

12 Eusebius: Life of Constantine, book. I,37.

13 Eusebia: Church. East. book IX,9; Life Const. Book I,40.

14 Eusebia: Church. East. book X,6 and 6.

15 This monogram consisted of two letters X and P, of which the first one covered the second one.

16 Eusebia: Life of Constant. book IV,19.

17 Eusebia: Church. East. book X,1-3.

18 He married Constantine's sister in 313.

19 Eusebia: Life of Constant. book XI,9.

20 Histor. Orthodox churches, published in 1892 by Pobedonostsev, pp. 73-74.

21 Eusebius: Life of Constantine, book. III,1.

22 Mount Zion with the fortress of Jebus (Jerusalem) rose on the borders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; taken by David from the Canaanite tribe of the Jebusites, it stood as if outside the boundaries of the tribal division of the Promised Land.

23 “Our whole religion has a homeland in this country (Palestine) and in this city (Jerusalem)” - the expression of the blessed one. Jerome. Creations vol. II, p. 6.

24 Eusebius: Life of Constantine, book. III,42.

25 Churches. history Rufina, book. I, page 8.

26 On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Venerable Cross - a day of fasting - the divine service of the Orthodox Church is dedicated to the glorification of the Cross of the Lord, the memory of the death of the Savior on the cross; At the all-night vigil, after the great doxology, the clergy solemnly carry the Cross from the altar to the middle of the church, and here it is worshiped. The rite of raising the Cross in cathedral churches is particularly solemn, performed by bishops with the clergy repeatedly proclaiming: “Lord, have mercy.”

27 Judas, after baptism - Cyriacus was later Patriarch of Jerusalem and suffered martyrdom under Julian the Apostate. His memory is October 28.

28 This name was adopted by Christians during the persecution of those who, out of fear, gave out to the pagans objects of their religious reverence: they said about Caecilian that he gave the persecutors sacred books - this slander turned out to be false.

29 Donatus was a presbyter in Carthage.

30 The Novatians taught that those who fell during persecution and generally sinned gravely and “mortally” must be accepted into communion with the Church not through repentance, but through re-baptism.

31 Hosea, a native of Spain, who was a bishop for more than 60 years, became famous during the Diocletian persecution as a confessor for Christ. He was the bishop of Corduba. Emperor Constantine called him to his court and surrounded him with love and trust. In Christian society, there was then a widespread opinion about the strong influence of this beloved adviser on Constantine (Church. East. Socrates 1, 7).

32 Eusebius: Church East X, 6.

33 Ibid X, 5.

34 Arius blasphemously taught that Jesus Christ is not the eternal and beginningless God, that He is not consubstantial with the Father and is His creation - there was a time when He did not exist. Arius received his theological education in Antiukhia at the school of the martyr Lucian; Having become a presbyter in Alexandria, he attracted general attention there both with his mental talents and with his strictly abstinent life. Proud of intelligence and learning, Arius did not listen to the admonitions and admonitions of his bishop Alexander; He did not submit to the council convened by the bishop and condemned him. Moreover, deceiving the clergy and people with his eloquence, he tried to spread the tares of his false teaching beyond the boundaries of his local church. Having numerous followers, he sent an embassy with a complaint to many bishops of the Eastern churches. There he found supporters, led by Eusebius of Nicomedia, who had previously known Arius from the school of Lucian, a “learned man,” and also a relative of the royal family and therefore an influential man. Eusebius, the bishop of the capital (this was still when the emperor Licinius was alive, whose residence was Nicomedia) did not recognize the authority of the court of the Alexandrian bishop. In a letter to Arius, he replied: “Being wise, wish that everyone would be so wise, because it is clear to everyone that what was created did not exist until it was brought into being; what is brought into being has a beginning.” The Bishop of Alexandria therefore found himself in a sad situation; Around 318, Alexander decided on extreme measures: - he convened a council of one hundred bishops; excommunicated Arius and his followers from the Church; expelled the blasphemer from Alexandria and, in a district message, announced this to all churches (see Theology. Vest. 1906, December: A. A. Spassky, p. 68_4). This measure further inflamed the Arian disputes and spread their flame throughout the East. The Arius case now lost its local character and acquired church-wide significance.

36 Eusebius: Life of Constantine II, 64-72.

37 Eusebius: Life of Constantine III, 17 V, 6.

38 Nicaea, now Isnik - a poor village, was then a vast and rich city, the main one in the Bithynian coastal region; it communicated with the sea through a lake and was equally accessible from sea and land; there was a vast imperial palace and there were many buildings where the bishops and clergy gathered for the council could easily fit; Nicaea was only 20 miles from Nicomedia, the then residence of the emperor, who thus found it very convenient to participate in the Council. The election of Nicaea as the site of the Council, according to a hint from Eusebius, was apparently influenced by its very name - “victory” (in Russian translation). Eusebius: Life of Constantine III, 6.

39 The number of fathers of the Council is not shown equally by historians; Eusebius (Life of Constantine III, 8) for example, numbers them up to 250; St. Athanasius of Alexandria in his writings, and the emperor himself speaks of 300. The number 318 is named by St. Athanasius in one of his letters to Africa. churches; in its Greek inscription -ТШ- it resembles “the cross of Jesus, therefore it was adopted into general use, so that the Council of Nicea received the name - the Council of the 318 Fathers.

40 Eusebius: Life of Constantine, book. P,65.

41 The Arian heresy did not die out completely even after the Council. The Arians, with their crafty resourcefulness, sometimes gained the trust of the tsar and, abusing his generosity and peacefulness, at times made obscene attacks on the Orthodox; especially St. Athanasius the Great suffered a lot from them.

The Holy Emperor Constantine (306 - 337), who received the title Equal to the Apostles from the Church, and was called the Great in world history, was the son of Caesar Constantius Chlorus (305 - 306), who ruled the countries of Gaul and Britain. The huge Roman Empire was at that time divided into Western and Eastern, headed by two independent emperors who had co-rulers, one of whom in the Western half was the father of Emperor Constantine.
Holy Queen Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine, was a Christian. The future ruler of the entire Roman Empire - Constantine - was brought up with respect for the Christian religion. His father did not persecute Christians in the countries he ruled, while throughout the rest of the Roman Empire Christians were subjected to severe persecution.
After the death of Constantius Chlorus, his son Constantine in 306 was proclaimed emperor of Gaul and Britain by the troops. The first task of the new emperor was to proclaim freedom of professing the Christian faith in the countries under his control. The pagan fanatic Maximian Galerius in the East and the cruel tyrant Maxentius in the West hated Emperor Constantine and plotted to depose and kill him, but Constantine warned them and, with the help of God, defeated all his opponents in a series of wars. He prayed to God to give him a sign that would inspire his army to fight bravely, and the Lord showed him in the sky the shining sign of the Cross with the inscription “By this way conquer.”
Having become the sovereign ruler of the Western part of the Roman Empire, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan on religious tolerance in 313, and in 323, when he reigned as the sole emperor over the entire Roman Empire, he extended the Edict of Milan to the entire eastern part of the empire. After three hundred years of persecution, Christians for the first time had the opportunity to openly confess their faith in Christ.
Having abandoned paganism, the emperor did not leave ancient Rome, which was the center of the pagan state, as the capital of the empire, but moved his capital to the east, to the city of Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople. Constantine was deeply convinced that only the Christian religion could unite the huge, heterogeneous Roman Empire. He supported the Church in every possible way, brought back Christian confessors from exile, built churches, and took care of the clergy. Deeply revering the Cross of the Lord, the emperor wanted to find the very Life-giving Cross on which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. For this purpose, he sent his mother, the holy queen Helen, to Jerusalem, giving her great powers and material resources. Together with Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem, Saint Helena began a search, and by the Providence of God the Life-Giving Cross was miraculously found in 326.
While in Palestine, the holy queen did a lot for the benefit of the Church. She ordered to free all places associated with the earthly life of the Lord and His Most Pure Mother from all traces of paganism, and ordered the erection of Christian churches in these memorable places. Above the Cave of the Holy Sepulcher, Emperor Constantine himself ordered the construction of a magnificent temple in honor of the Resurrection of Christ. Saint Helena gave the Life-Giving Cross for safekeeping to the Patriarch, and took part of the Cross with her to present to the Emperor. Having distributed generous alms in Jerusalem and arranged meals for the poor, during which she herself served, Holy Queen Helena returned to Constantinople, where she soon died in 327.
For her great services to the Church and her labors in obtaining the Life-Giving Cross, Queen Helena is called Equal to the Apostles.
By order of the emperor, in 325 the First Ecumenical Council was convened in the city of Nicaea. 318 bishops gathered for this Council, its participants were bishops-confessors during the period of persecution and many other luminaries of the Church, among whom was St. Nicholas of Myra. The Emperor attended the meetings of the Council. At the Council, the heresy of Arius was condemned and the Creed was drawn up, in which the term “Consubstantial with the Father” was introduced, forever cementing in the minds of Orthodox Christians the truth about the Divinity of Jesus Christ, who assumed human nature for the redemption of the entire human race.
After the Council of Nicea, Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine continued his active work in favor of the Church. At the end of his life, he accepted holy baptism, having prepared for it with his whole life. Saint Constantine died on the day of Pentecost in 337 and was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles, in a tomb he had prepared in advance.

In the city of Naiss (modern Serbian Niš), Helen gave birth to a son, Flavius ​​Valerius Aurelius Constantine, the future Emperor Constantine the Great, who made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire. Nothing is known about whether Elena had any more children.

When Elena converted to Christianity, she was already over sixty. According to the testimony of her contemporary Eusebius of Caesarea, this happened under the influence of her son Constantine. The first coins with the image of Helen, where she is titled Nobilissima Femina(lit. “most noble woman”), were minted in - gg. in Thessalonica. During this period, Helen probably lived at the imperial court in Rome or Trier, but there is no mention of this in historical chronicles. In Rome she owned an extensive estate near the Lateran. In one of the premises of her palace, a Christian church was built - the Helena Basilica (Liber Pontificalis attributes its construction to Constantine, but historians do not exclude the possibility that the idea of ​​rebuilding the palace belonged to Helena herself).

In 326, Helen (already at a very old age, although in good health) undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem: “ this old woman of extraordinary intelligence hurried to the east with the speed of a youth". Eusebius spoke in detail about her pious activities during the trip, and echoes of it were preserved in the 5th century rabbinical anti-evangelical work “Toldot Yeshu”, in which Helen (Constantine’s mother) was named the ruler of Jerusalem and attributed the role of Pontius Pilate.

Elena died at the age of 80 - according to various assumptions, in or 330. The place of her death is not known exactly; it is called Trier, where she had a palace, or even Palestine. The version about the death of Helen in Palestine is not confirmed by the message of Eusebius Pamphilus that she “ ended her life in the presence, in the eyes and in the arms of such a great son who served her» .

Excavations of Helena in Jerusalem

At the age of about 80, Helen undertook a journey to Jerusalem. Socrates Scholasticus writes that she did this after receiving instructions in a dream. The Chronography of Theophanes reports the same: “ had a vision in which she was commanded to go to Jerusalem and bring to the light of the divine places closed by the wicked". Having received support in this endeavor from her son, Elena went on a pilgrimage:

...divine Constantine sent blessed Helen with treasures to find the life-giving cross of the Lord. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, Macarius, met the queen with due honor and together with her looked for the desired life-giving tree, remaining in silence and diligent prayers and fasting. This story is described by many Christian authors of that time: Ambrose of Milan (c. 340-397), Rufinus (345-410), Socrates Scholasticus (c. 380-440), Theodoret of Cyrus (386-457), Sulpicius Severus (c. 363 -410), Sozomen (ca. 400-450) and others. Helen's journey and charity during the pilgrimage are described in " The Life of Blessed Basileus Constantine» by Eusebius of Caesarea, written after the death of Constantine to glorify the emperor and his family: The earliest historians (Socrates Scholasticus, Eusebius Pamphilus) report that during Helen’s stay in the Holy Land, three temples were founded at the sites of the Gospel events: on Golgotha ​​- the Church of the Holy Sepulcher; in Bethlehem - Basilica of the Nativity; on the Mount of Olives - a church over the site of the Ascension of Christ; The Life of Saint Helena, written later, in the 7th century, contains a more extensive list of buildings, which, in addition to those already listed, includes: According to Socrates Scholasticus, Empress Helen divided the Life-Giving Cross into two parts: she placed one in a silver vault and left it in Jerusalem " as a monument for subsequent historians", and sent the second to her son Konstantin, who placed it in his statue mounted on a column in the center of Konstantin Square. Elena also sent two nails from the Cross to her son (one was placed in the diadem, and the second in the bridle). On her way back from Jerusalem, Elena founded a number of monasteries (for example, Stavrovouni in Cyprus), where she left particles of the relics she found. Dating of Elena's activities Historians continue to debate in what year Helen carried out her activities in Palestine. The most common date given by Socrates Scholasticus is the year 326. Socrates does not name the year in which the acquisition of the cross occurred, but in his “Ecclesiastical History” the story of the event comes immediately after mentioning the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the reign of Constantine (July 25, 326). Orientalist Joseph Assemani (director of the Vatican Library) in the 18th century believed that the Cross was found by Helen on May 3, 326 (according to the Julian calendar). Russian theologian Professor M. N. Skaballanovich, based on the Alexandrian chronicle of the 6th century, dates the discovery of the Cross to the year 320. At the same time, he categorically disagrees with the dating of this event to the year 326, since, in his opinion, Helen died in the year of the Council of Nicaea, that is, in 325. This story is described by many Christian authors of that time: Ambrose of Milan (c. 340-397), Rufinus (345-410), Socrates Scholasticus (c. 380-440), Theodoret of Cyrus (386-457), Sulpicius Severus (c. 363 -410), Sozomen (ca. 400-450) and others. Saint Helena in British folklore

From the further story it follows that Helen was with Constantine in Britain until the moment when he began his campaign against Rome against Maxentius. On a hike " with him were three of Helen's uncles, namely Joelin, Tragern, and also Marius, whom he elevated to senatorial dignity" From this moment on, Geoffrey of Monmouth no longer mentions Helen in his work.

This legend probably arose under the influence of the writings of Eusebius, which Geoffrey used when writing his work. Eusebius reports on Constantius' campaign in Britain and his death in the palace in Eborac (York), where his son Constantine had arrived shortly before.

Memory of Saint Helena

Church veneration

For her work in spreading Christianity, Elena was canonized as Equal-to-the-Apostles - an honor that was awarded to only 5 other women in Christian history (Mary Magdalene, First Martyr Thekla, Martyr Apphia, Princess Olga and Georgian enlightener Nina).

In the East, the veneration of Helen as a saint arose soon after her death; at the beginning of the 9th century, her cult spread to the Western Church. The memory of Saint Helena is celebrated:

In memory of Helen's excavations in Jerusalem and her discovery of the Holy Cross in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, a special chapel was named in her honor, which today belongs to the Armenian Apostolic Church. In the altar of this chapel there is a window marking the place from which Elena, according to legend, watched the progress of the excavations and threw money to encourage those who worked. From the chapel of St. Helena a staircase leads down to the chapel of the Finding of the Cross.

Expression " new Elena“has become a household name in Eastern Christianity - it is applied both to holy empresses (Pulcheria, Theodora and others) and to princesses (for example, Olga), who did a lot to spread Christianity or establish and preserve its dogmas. The ancient Russian chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years” reports that the grandmother of the Baptist of Rus' Vladimir, Princess Olga, was named at baptism Elena in honor of the mother of Constantine the Great.

History of the relics

After her death, Helen's body was transferred by her son to Rome, as reported by Eusebius Pamphilus:

In Rome, Helena, according to historical data, was buried in a mausoleum on the Via Labicana outside the Aurelian Walls. The tomb was adjacent to the Church of Saints Marcellinus and Peter (both buildings were built in the 320s by Emperor Constantine). According to the Liber Pontificalis, this tomb was originally built by Constantine for his own burial. For the burial of his mother, Constantine provided not only his tomb, but also a porphyry sarcophagus made for him, which is now kept in the Vatican Museums.

From the Church of Saints Marcellinus and Peter in the 9th century, the relics of Helen were taken to the abbey in the town of Hautvillers in Champagne in the vicinity of Reims (France). They were there until 1871, and during the period of the Paris Commune they were moved to Paris, where they are kept in the crypt of the Church of Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles.

The relics of Helena remaining in the mausoleum were transferred from the Church of Marcellinus and Peter to the Church of Santa Maria in Araceli on the Capitoline Hill during the papacy of Innocent II (1130-1143). Helen's sarcophagus was used for the burial of Pope Anastasius IV (1153-1154), for which it was moved from the mausoleum to the Lateran Basilica.

Temples

See Church of Constantine and Helena

Geographical objects

Elena's name is immortalized in the names of a number of geographical objects:

• Saint Helena (Atlantic Ocean, British possession)
• Saint Helena Island (South Carolina, USA)
• Saint Helena Island (Montreal, Canada)
• Mount St. Helena (peak in the Mayakmas Mountains, USA)
• Mount St. Helens (active stratovolcano, Washington State, USA)
• Lake St. Helens (Michigan, USA)

Also, her name became the name of a number of cities (see Saint Helena (meanings)).

In culture

Painting and sculpture

The earliest images of Helen date back to the first quarter of the 4th century. These include her shoulder-length images in profile on coins, where Elena has a large hooked nose, large eyes and is depicted wearing earrings and a necklace. In the Capitoline Museum in Rome there is a sculpture from the 4th century, which some researchers consider to be a portrait of Helen. The sculptor depicted her in the guise of a young woman (although by the time her first portraits were created, Elena was over 70 years old), sitting on a chair with a tiara on her head. The Copenhagen Glyptothek contains the head of a 4th-century sculpture, which is considered a sculptural portrait of Helen (I.N 1938). Christian iconography of Helen takes shape in Byzantine art towards the end of the 9th century. She is depicted in imperial robes with a crown on her head.

In painting, images of Saint Helena are most often found at the moment of her acquisition of the Cross of the Lord or at the moment of its Exaltation. Her images are also often found together with her son Constantine, also revered among the Equal-to-the-Apostles. More rare are individual images of Helen.

• Agnolo Gaddi, " Finding the Holy Cross", OK. 1380;
• Piero della Francesca, fresco cycle about the history of the Life-Giving Cross in the Basilica of San Francesco (scene of torture by order of Helen Judas Quiriacus and her acquisition of the Holy Cross), -1466;
• Cima da Conegliano, " Saint Helena", 1495;
• Veronese, two paintings " Saint Helen's Dream", 1560s and 1580s;
• Rubens, altarpiece " Saint Helena"(written for the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, located in Grasse Cathedral);
• Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, statue of Saint Helena in St. Peter's Basilica (Rome), 1630s;
• Giovanni Biliverti, " Helen's Finding of the Life-Creating Cross", first half of the 17th century;
• Sazonov V.K., " Saints Constantine and Helen", 1870;
• Salvador Dali, surreal painting " Saint Helena in Port Ligat" And " Saint Helena", 1956.

Literature

• Evelyn Waugh, " Elena", short story, 1950;
• Marion Zimmer Bradley, " Priestess of Avalon"(en:Priestess of Avalon), historical fantasy, 2000.

see also

• The Life-Giving Cross - about the excavations of Empress Helena in Jerusalem
• Judas Cyriacus - a resident of Jerusalem mentioned in the apocrypha, who assisted Helen during excavations

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Notes

2. The year of birth is estimated based on the message of Eusebius of Caesarea that she died “almost in the eightieth year of her life.” (“History of Constantine”, 3.46)
3. Procopius, "On Buildings", 5.2.1: " There is a city in Bithynia named after Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine. They say that Elena was from here and at first it was an insignificant village. Giving her glory, Constantine endowed this place with the name of his mother and the dignity of the city, but did not create here any magnificent monuments worthy of the imperial name: in appearance he continued to remain the same, adorned only with the name of the city and proud of the name of his pet, Helen.»
4. Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History, 1.17
5. All historians’ assumptions are based on Ambrose of Milan, who called Helen “ stabularia", that is, a servant. See his “Word on the Death of Theodosius the Great” (De obit. Theod., 42)
6. Hieronymus of Stridon, in his translation of Eusebius Pamphilus’s “Chronological Canons” into Latin, called Helen concubine (271st Olympiad). However, an earlier anonymous source of the 4th century, Anonymus Valesianus, part 1, called Helen the wife of Constantius.
7. The exact year of Constantine's birth is unknown; 272 is the most reasonable date.
9. Eusebius of Caesarea, "History of Constantine", book. 3, ch. 47: " For from an unpious basileus he created her so pious…»
11. Jan Willem Drijvers, Helena Augusta: The Mother of Constantine the Great and the Legend of Her Finding of the True Cross, Leiden: Brill, 1992. P. 21
12. Jan Willem Drijvers, Helena Augusta: The Mother of Constantine the Great and the Legend of Her Finding of the True Cross, Leiden: Brill, 1992. P. 34
13. , year 5816 (Alexandrian era) (/ AD)
14. Aurelius V., Extracts on the life and morals of the Roman emperors, ch. XLI: " Meanwhile, Constantine, having achieved, thanks to amazing success in wars, sole control of the entire Roman Empire, ordered, as is believed, at the insistence of his wife, Fausta, to kill his son, Crispus. And then, when his mother Elena, greatly yearning for her grandson, began to cruelly reproach him, he also killed his wife Fausta, pushing her into the hot water in the bathhouse.»
15. " Book 3, ch. 42: About the fact that these churches were built by Constantine’s mother, Vasilisa Elena, when she came there to worship.]
17. The approximate year of death is determined based on the following facts. Helen died shortly after the discovery of the Cross, which dates back to 326. The last coins bearing her name date from 330 (issued in Constantinople), although minting resumed in 337 after the death of Constantine during a period of power struggle between the descendants of Constantius Chlorus.
18. Constantine was in the fall of 328 in Trier at war with the Germans. If Helen died in his arms (according to Eusebius), then Trier could well have been the place of her death.
19. Kann Hans-Jochim. Auf den Spuren von Konstantin und Helena. Trier, 2007. S. 21
20. Nikephoros Callistus. L.8. cap. thirty
22. Socrates Scholastic. Church history. Book Chapter I 17
23. , year 5817 (Alexandrian era) (/ AD)
31. Here and further in this section, quotations are based on
35. Uniates use two different calendars: in Ukraine - Julian, in the diaspora - Gregorian
37. "The Tale of Bygone Years", year 6462: " And she was given the name Elena in baptism, just like the ancient queen - the mother of Constantine the Great.»
39. Jan Willem Drijvers, , Leiden: Brill, 1992. P. 74
40. Liber Pontificalis. I, 182
41. Jan Willem Drijvers, Helena Augusta: The Mother of Constantine the Great and the Legend of Her Finding of the True Cross, Leiden: Brill, 1992. P. 75
44. Liber Pontificalis. II, 388
45. N. V. Kvlividze// Orthodox Encyclopedia. Volume XVIII. - M.: Church and Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia", 2008. - P. 293-297. - 752 s. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-89572-032-5
46. Johansen, Flemming. Roman portraits. NY Carlsberg Glyptotek. Copenhagen, 1995. V. III. P.172

Literature

• Couret, Alphonse. Visit to Palestine by St. Queen Helen, Equal to the Apostles // . - St. Petersburg: Publication of the editors of “Russian Pilgrim”, 1894.
• Helena, First Christian Archaeologist // Christian History Institute. Glimpses. Issue #73.(English)
• Jan Willem Drijvers.. - Leiden: Brill, 1992.(English)
• Antonina Harbus.. - DS Brewer, 2002.(English)

Links

	in Wikisource

• Socrates Scholasticus.. - contains a story about Helen’s acquisition of the Holy Cross. Retrieved November 28, 2008. .
• . Orthodox Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 23, 2009. .
• . Retrieved November 28, 2008. .
• . Retrieved November 28, 2008. .
• Jan Willem Drijvers.(English) . Retrieved November 28, 2008. .

Excerpt characterizing Helen Equal to the Apostles

- Natasha! now it's your turn. “Sing me something,” the countess’s voice was heard. - That you sat down like conspirators.
- Mother! “I don’t want to do that,” Natasha said, but at the same time she stood up.
All of them, even the middle-aged Dimmler, did not want to interrupt the conversation and leave the corner of the sofa, but Natasha stood up, and Nikolai sat down at the clavichord. As always, standing in the middle of the hall and choosing the most advantageous place for resonance, Natasha began to sing her mother’s favorite piece.
She said that she did not want to sing, but she had not sung for a long time before, and for a long time since, the way she sang that evening. Count Ilya Andreich, from the office where he was talking with Mitinka, heard her singing, and like a student, in a hurry to go play, finishing the lesson, he got confused in his words, giving orders to the manager and finally fell silent, and Mitinka, also listening, silently with a smile, stood in front of count. Nikolai did not take his eyes off his sister, and took a breath with her. Sonya, listening, thought about what a huge difference there was between her and her friend and how impossible it was for her to be even remotely as charming as her cousin. The old countess sat with a happily sad smile and tears in her eyes, occasionally shaking her head. She thought about Natasha, and about her youth, and about how there was something unnatural and terrible in this upcoming marriage of Natasha with Prince Andrei.
Dimmler sat down next to the countess and closed his eyes, listening.
“No, Countess,” he said finally, “this is a European talent, she has nothing to learn, this softness, tenderness, strength...”
- Ah! “how I’m afraid for her, how afraid I am,” said the countess, not remembering who she was talking to. Her maternal instinct told her that there was too much of something in Natasha, and that this would not make her happy. Natasha had not yet finished singing when an enthusiastic fourteen-year-old Petya ran into the room with the news that the mummers had arrived.
Natasha suddenly stopped.
- Fool! - she screamed at her brother, ran up to the chair, fell on it and sobbed so much that she could not stop for a long time.
“Nothing, Mama, really nothing, just like this: Petya scared me,” she said, trying to smile, but the tears kept flowing and sobs were choking her throat.
Dressed up servants, bears, Turks, innkeepers, ladies, scary and funny, bringing with them coldness and fun, at first timidly huddled in the hallway; then, hiding one behind the other, they were forced into the hall; and at first shyly, and then more and more cheerfully and amicably, songs, dances, choral and Christmas games began. The Countess, recognizing the faces and laughing at those dressed up, went into the living room. Count Ilya Andreich sat in the hall with a radiant smile, approving of the players. The youth disappeared somewhere.
Half an hour later, an old lady in hoops appeared in the hall between the other mummers - it was Nikolai. Petya was Turkish. Payas was Dimmler, hussar was Natasha and Circassian was Sonya, with a painted cork mustache and eyebrows.
After condescending surprise, lack of recognition and praise from those not dressed up, the young people found that the costumes were so good that they had to show them to someone else.
Nikolai, who wanted to take everyone along an excellent road in his troika, proposed, taking ten dressed up servants with him, to go to his uncle.
- No, why are you upsetting him, the old man! - said the countess, - and he has nowhere to turn. Let's go to the Melyukovs.
Melyukova was a widow with children of various ages, also with governesses and tutors, who lived four miles from Rostov.
“That’s clever, ma chère,” the old count picked up, getting excited. - Let me get dressed now and go with you. I'll stir up Pashetta.
But the countess did not agree to let the count go: his leg hurt all these days. They decided that Ilya Andreevich could not go, but that if Luisa Ivanovna (m me Schoss) went, then the young ladies could go to Melyukova. Sonya, always timid and shy, began to beg Luisa Ivanovna more urgently than anyone not to refuse them.
Sonya's outfit was the best. Her mustache and eyebrows suited her unusually. Everyone told her that she was very good, and she was in an unusually energetic mood. Some inner voice told her that now or never her fate would be decided, and she, in her man’s dress, seemed like a completely different person. Luiza Ivanovna agreed, and half an hour later four troikas with bells and bells, squealing and whistling through the frosty snow, drove up to the porch.
Natasha was the first to give the tone of Christmas joy, and this joy, reflected from one to another, intensified more and more and reached its highest degree at the time when everyone went out into the cold, and, talking, calling to each other, laughing and shouting, sat in the sleigh.
Two of the troikas were accelerating, the third was the old count’s troika with an Oryol trotter at the root; the fourth is Nikolai's own with his short, black, shaggy root. Nikolai, in his old woman's outfit, on which he put on a hussar's belted cloak, stood in the middle of his sleigh, picking up the reins.
It was so light that he saw the plaques and eyes of the horses glinting in the monthly light, looking back in fear at the riders rustling under the dark awning of the entrance.
Natasha, Sonya, m me Schoss and two girls got into Nikolai’s sleigh. Dimmler and his wife and Petya sat in the old count’s sleigh; Dressed up servants sat in the rest.
- Go ahead, Zakhar! - Nikolai shouted to his father’s coachman in order to have a chance to overtake him on the road.
The old count's troika, in which Dimmler and the other mummers sat, squealed with their runners, as if frozen to the snow, and rattled a thick bell, moved forward. The ones attached to them pressed against the shafts and got stuck, turning out the strong and shiny snow like sugar.
Nikolai set off after the first three; The others made noise and screamed from behind. At first we rode at a small trot along a narrow road. While driving past the garden, shadows from bare trees often lay across the road and hid the bright light of the moon, but as soon as we left the fence, a diamond-shiny snowy plain with a bluish sheen, all bathed in a monthly glow and motionless, opened up on all sides. Once, once, a bump hit the front sleigh; in the same way, the next sleigh and the next were pushed and, boldly breaking the chained silence, one after another the sleighs began to stretch out.
- A hare's trail, a lot of tracks! – Natasha’s voice sounded in the frozen, frozen air.
– Apparently, Nicholas! - said Sonya's voice. – Nikolai looked back at Sonya and bent down to take a closer look at her face. Some completely new, sweet face, with black eyebrows and mustache, looked out from the sables in the moonlight, close and far.
“It was Sonya before,” thought Nikolai. He looked at her closer and smiled.
– What are you, Nicholas?
“Nothing,” he said and turned back to the horses.
Having arrived on a rough, large road, oiled with runners and all covered with traces of thorns, visible in the light of the moon, the horses themselves began to tighten the reins and speed up. The left one, bending its head, twitched its lines in jumps. The root swayed, moving its ears, as if asking: “should we start or is it too early?” – Ahead, already far away and ringing like a thick bell receding, Zakhar’s black troika was clearly visible on the white snow. Shouting and laughter and the voices of those dressed up were heard from his sleigh.
“Well, you dear ones,” Nikolai shouted, tugging on the reins on one side and withdrawing his hand with the whip. And only by the wind that had become stronger, as if to meet it, and by the twitching of the fasteners, which were tightening and increasing their speed, was it noticeable how fast the troika flew. Nikolai looked back. Screaming and screaming, waving whips and forcing the indigenous people to jump, the other troikas kept pace. The root steadfastly swayed under the arc, not thinking of knocking down and promising to push again and again when necessary.
Nikolai caught up with the top three. They drove down some mountain and onto a widely traveled road through a meadow near a river.
“Where are we going?” thought Nikolai. - “It should be along a slanting meadow. But no, this is something new that I have never seen. This is not a slanting meadow or Demkina Mountain, but God knows what it is! This is something new and magical. Well, whatever it is!” And he, shouting at the horses, began to go around the first three.
Zakhar reined in the horses and turned around his face, which was already frozen to the eyebrows.
Nikolai started his horses; Zakhar, stretching his arms forward, smacked his lips and let his people go.
“Well, hold on, master,” he said. “The troikas flew even faster nearby, and the legs of the galloping horses quickly changed. Nikolai began to take the lead. Zakhar, without changing the position of his outstretched arms, raised one hand with the reins.
“You’re lying, master,” he shouted to Nikolai. Nikolai galloped all the horses and overtook Zakhar. The horses covered the faces of their riders with fine, dry snow, and near them there was the sound of frequent rumblings and the tangling of fast-moving legs and the shadows of the overtaking troika. The whistling of runners through the snow and women's squeals were heard from different directions.
Stopping the horses again, Nikolai looked around him. All around was the same magical plain soaked through with moonlight with stars scattered across it.
“Zakhar shouts for me to take a left; why go left? thought Nikolai. Are we going to the Melyukovs, is this Melyukovka? God knows where we are going, and God knows what is happening to us - and it is very strange and good what is happening to us.” He looked back at the sleigh.
“Look, he has a mustache and eyelashes, everything is white,” said one of the strange, pretty and alien people with a thin mustache and eyebrows.
“This one, it seems, was Natasha,” thought Nikolai, and this one is m me Schoss; or maybe not, but I don’t know who this Circassian with the mustache is, but I love her.”
-Aren't you cold? - he asked. They did not answer and laughed. Dimmler shouted something from the back sleigh, probably funny, but it was impossible to hear what he was shouting.
“Yes, yes,” the voices answered laughing.
- However, here is some kind of magical forest with shimmering black shadows and sparkles of diamonds and with some kind of enfilade of marble steps, and some kind of silver roofs of magical buildings, and the piercing squeal of some animals. “And if this really is Melyukovka, then it’s even stranger that we were traveling God knows where, and came to Melyukovka,” thought Nikolai.
Indeed, it was Melyukovka, and girls and lackeys with candles and joyful faces ran out to the entrance.
- Who it? - they asked from the entrance.
“The counts are dressed up, I can see it by the horses,” answered the voices.

Pelageya Danilovna Melyukova, a broad, energetic woman, wearing glasses and a swinging hood, was sitting in the living room, surrounded by her daughters, whom she tried not to let get bored. They were quietly pouring wax and looking at the shadows of the emerging figures when the footsteps and voices of visitors began to rustle in the hall.
Hussars, ladies, witches, payassas, bears, clearing their throats and wiping their frost-covered faces in the hallway, entered the hall, where candles were hastily lit. The clown - Dimmler and the lady - Nikolai opened the dance. Surrounded by screaming children, the mummers, covering their faces and changing their voices, bowed to the hostess and positioned themselves around the room.
- Oh, it’s impossible to find out! And Natasha! Look who she looks like! Really, it reminds me of someone. Eduard Karlych is so good! I didn't recognize it. Yes, how she dances! Oh, fathers, and some kind of Circassian; right, how it suits Sonyushka. Who else is this? Well, they consoled me! Take the tables, Nikita, Vanya. And we sat so quietly!
- Ha ha ha!... Hussar this, hussar that! Just like a boy, and his legs!... I can’t see... - voices were heard.
Natasha, the favorite of the young Melyukovs, disappeared with them into the back rooms, where they needed cork and various dressing gowns and men's dresses, which through the open door received the naked girlish hands from the footman. Ten minutes later, all the youth of the Melyukov family joined the mummers.
Pelageya Danilovna, having ordered the clearing of the place for the guests and refreshments for the gentlemen and servants, without taking off her glasses, with a restrained smile, walked among the mummers, looking closely into their faces and not recognizing anyone. Not only did she not recognize the Rostovs and Dimmler, but she also could not recognize either her daughters or her husband’s robes and uniforms that they were wearing.
-Whose is this? - she said, turning to her governess and looking into the face of her daughter, who represented the Kazan Tatar. - It seems like someone from Rostov. Well, Mr. Hussar, what regiment do you serve in? – she asked Natasha. “Give the Turk, give the Turk some marshmallows,” she said to the bartender who was serving them: “this is not prohibited by their law.”
Sometimes, looking at the strange but funny steps performed by the dancers, who had decided once and for all that they were dressed up, that no one would recognize them and therefore were not embarrassed, Pelageya Danilovna covered herself with a scarf, and her entire corpulent body shook from the uncontrollable, kind, old lady’s laughter . - Sashinet is mine, Sashinet is that! - she said.
After Russian dances and round dances, Pelageya Danilovna united all the servants and gentlemen together, in one large circle; They brought a ring, a string and a ruble, and general games were arranged.
An hour later, all the suits were wrinkled and upset. Cork mustaches and eyebrows were smeared across sweaty, flushed and cheerful faces. Pelageya Danilovna began to recognize the mummers, admired how well the costumes were made, how they suited especially the young ladies, and thanked everyone for making her so happy. The guests were invited to dine in the living room, and the courtyard was served in the hall.
- No, guessing in the bathhouse, that’s scary! - said the old girl who lived with the Melyukovs at dinner.
- From what? – asked the eldest daughter of the Melyukovs.
- Don’t go, you need courage...
“I’ll go,” said Sonya.
- Tell me, how was it with the young lady? - said the second Melyukova.
“Yes, just like that, one young lady went,” said the old girl, “she took a rooster, two utensils, and sat down properly.” She sat there, just heard, suddenly she was driving... with bells, with bells, a sleigh drove up; hears, comes. He comes in completely in human form, like an officer, he came and sat down with her at the device.
- A! Ah!...” Natasha screamed, rolling her eyes in horror.
- How can he say that?
- Yes, as a person, everything is as it should be, and he began and began to persuade, and she should have occupied him with conversation until the roosters; and she became shy; – she just became shy and covered herself with her hands. He picked it up. It's good that the girls came running...
- Well, why scare them! - said Pelageya Danilovna.
“Mother, you yourself were guessing...” said the daughter.
- How do they tell fortunes in the barn? – asked Sonya.
- Well, at least now, they’ll go to the barn and listen. What will you hear: hammering, knocking - bad, but pouring bread - this is good; and then it happens...
- Mom, tell me what happened to you in the barn?
Pelageya Danilovna smiled.
“Oh, well, I forgot…” she said. - You won’t go, will you?
- No, I'll go; Pepageya Danilovna, let me in, I’ll go,” said Sonya.
- Well, if you're not afraid.
- Luiza Ivanovna, may I? – asked Sonya.
Whether they were playing ring, string or ruble, or talking, as now, Nikolai did not leave Sonya and looked at her with completely new eyes. It seemed to him that today, only for the first time, thanks to that corky mustache, he fully recognized her. Sonya really was cheerful, lively and beautiful that evening, like Nikolai had never seen her before.
“So that’s what she is, and I’m a fool!” he thought, looking at her sparkling eyes and her happy, enthusiastic smile, making dimples on her cheeks from under her mustache, a smile that he had never seen before.
“I’m not afraid of anything,” said Sonya. - Can I do it now? - She stood up. They told Sonya where the barn was, how she could stand silently and listen, and they gave her a fur coat. She threw it over her head and looked at Nikolai.
“What a beauty this girl is!” he thought. “And what have I been thinking about so far!”
Sonya went out into the corridor to go to the barn. Nikolai hurriedly went to the front porch, saying that he was hot. Indeed, the house was stuffy from the crowded people.
It was the same motionless cold outside, the same month, only it was even lighter. The light was so strong and there were so many stars on the snow that I didn’t want to look at the sky, and the real stars were invisible. In the sky it was black and boring, on earth it was fun.
“I’m a fool, a fool! What have you been waiting for so far? thought Nikolai and, running onto the porch, he walked around the corner of the house along the path that led to the back porch. He knew that Sonya would come here. Halfway along the road there were stacked fathoms of firewood, there was snow on them, and a shadow fell from them; through them and from their sides, intertwining, the shadows of old bare linden trees fell onto the snow and the path. The path led to the barn. The chopped wall of the barn and the roof, covered with snow, as if carved from some kind of precious stone, glittered in the monthly light. A tree cracked in the garden, and again everything was completely silent. The chest seemed to breathe not air, but some kind of eternally youthful strength and joy.
Feet clattered on the steps from the maiden porch, there was a loud creaking sound on the last one, which was covered with snow, and the voice of an old girl said:
- Straight, straight, along the path, young lady. Just don't look back.
“I’m not afraid,” answered Sonya’s voice, and Sonya’s legs squealed and whistled in her thin shoes along the path towards Nikolai.
Sonya walked wrapped in a fur coat. She was already two steps away when she saw him; She also saw him not as she knew him and as she had always been a little afraid. He was in a woman's dress with tangled hair and a happy and new smile for Sonya. Sonya quickly ran up to him.
“Completely different, and still the same,” thought Nikolai, looking at her face, all illuminated by moonlight. He put his hands under the fur coat that covered her head, hugged her, pressed her to him and kissed her on the lips, above which there was a mustache and from which there was a smell of burnt cork. Sonya kissed him in the very center of his lips and, extending her small hands, took his cheeks on both sides.
“Sonya!... Nicolas!...” they just said. They ran to the barn and returned each from their own porch.

When everyone drove back from Pelageya Danilovna, Natasha, who always saw and noticed everything, arranged the accommodation in such a way that Luiza Ivanovna and she sat in the sleigh with Dimmler, and Sonya sat with Nikolai and the girls.
Nikolai, no longer overtaking, rode smoothly on the way back, and still peering at Sonya in this strange moonlight, looking for in this ever-changing light, from under his eyebrows and mustache, that former and present Sonya, with whom he had decided never again to be separated. He peered, and when he recognized the same and the other and remembered, hearing that smell of cork, mixed with the feeling of a kiss, he deeply inhaled the frosty air and, looking at the receding earth and the brilliant sky, he felt himself again in a magical kingdom.
- Sonya, are you okay? – he asked occasionally.
“Yes,” answered Sonya. - And you?
In the middle of the road, Nikolai let the coachman hold the horses, ran up to Natasha’s sleigh for a moment and stood on the lead.
“Natasha,” he told her in a whisper in French, “you know, I’ve made up my mind about Sonya.”
-Did you tell her? – Natasha asked, suddenly beaming with joy.
- Oh, how strange you are with those mustaches and eyebrows, Natasha! Are you glad?
– I’m so glad, so glad! I was already angry with you. I didn't tell you, but you treated her badly. This is such a heart, Nicolas. I am so glad! “I can be nasty, but I was ashamed to be the only happy one without Sonya,” Natasha continued. “Now I’m so glad, well, run to her.”
- No, wait, oh, how funny you are! - said Nikolai, still peering at her, and in his sister, too, finding something new, extraordinary and charmingly tender, which he had never seen in her before. - Natasha, something magical. A?
“Yes,” she answered, “you did great.”
“If I had seen her before as she is now,” thought Nikolai, “I would have asked long ago what to do and would have done whatever she ordered, and everything would have been fine.”
“So you’re happy, and I did good?”
- Oh, so good! I recently quarreled with my mother over this. Mom said she's catching you. How can you say this? I almost got into a fight with my mom. And I will never allow anyone to say or think anything bad about her, because there is only good in her.
- So good? - Nikolai said, once again looking for the expression on his sister’s face to find out if it was true, and, squeaking with his boots, he jumped off the slope and ran to his sleigh. The same happy, smiling Circassian, with a mustache and sparkling eyes, looking out from under a sable hood, was sitting there, and this Circassian was Sonya, and this Sonya was probably his future, happy and loving wife.
Arriving home and telling their mother about how they spent time with the Melyukovs, the young ladies went home. Having undressed, but without erasing their cork mustaches, they sat for a long time, talking about their happiness. They talked about how they would live married, how their husbands would be friends and how happy they would be.
On Natasha’s table there were mirrors that Dunyasha had prepared since the evening. - Just when will all this happen? I'm afraid I never... That would be too good! – Natasha said getting up and going to the mirrors.
“Sit down, Natasha, maybe you’ll see him,” said Sonya. Natasha lit the candles and sat down. “I see someone with a mustache,” said Natasha, who saw her face.
“Don’t laugh, young lady,” Dunyasha said.
With the help of Sonya and the maid, Natasha found the position of the mirror; her face took on a serious expression and she fell silent. She sat for a long time, looking at the row of receding candles in the mirrors, assuming (based on the stories she had heard) that she would see the coffin, that she would see him, Prince Andrei, in this last, merging, vague square. But no matter how ready she was to mistake the slightest spot for the image of a person or a coffin, she saw nothing. She began to blink frequently and moved away from the mirror.
- Why do others see, but I don’t see anything? - she said. - Well, sit down, Sonya; “Nowadays you definitely need it,” she said. – Only for me... I’m so scared today!
Sonya sat down at the mirror, adjusted her position, and began to look.
“They’ll definitely see Sofya Alexandrovna,” Dunyasha said in a whisper; - and you keep laughing.
Sonya heard these words, and heard Natasha say in a whisper:
“And I know that she will see; she saw last year too.
For about three minutes everyone was silent. “Certainly!” Natasha whispered and didn’t finish... Suddenly Sonya moved away the mirror she was holding and covered her eyes with her hand.
- Oh, Natasha! - she said.
– Did you see it? Did you see it? What did you see? – Natasha screamed, holding up the mirror.
Sonya didn’t see anything, she just wanted to blink her eyes and get up when she heard Natasha’s voice saying “definitely”... She didn’t want to deceive either Dunyasha or Natasha, and it was hard to sit. She herself did not know how or why a cry escaped her when she covered her eyes with her hand.
– Did you see him? – Natasha asked, grabbing her hand.
- Yes. Wait... I... saw him,” Sonya said involuntarily, not yet knowing who Natasha meant by the word “him”: him - Nikolai or him - Andrey.
“But why shouldn’t I say what I saw? After all, others see! And who can convict me of what I saw or did not see? flashed through Sonya's head.
“Yes, I saw him,” she said.
- How? How? Is it standing or lying down?
- No, I saw... Then there was nothing, suddenly I see that he is lying.
– Andrey is lying down? He is sick? – Natasha asked, looking at her friend with fearful, stopped eyes.
- No, on the contrary, - on the contrary, a cheerful face, and he turned to me - and at that moment as she spoke, it seemed to her that she saw what she was saying.
- Well, then, Sonya?...
– I didn’t notice something blue and red here...
- Sonya! when will he return? When I see him! My God, how I’m afraid for him and for myself, and for everything I’m afraid...” Natasha spoke, and without answering a word to Sonya’s consolations, she went to bed and long after the candle had been put out, with her eyes open, she lay motionless on the bed and looked at the frosty moonlight through the frozen windows.

Soon after Christmas, Nikolai announced to his mother his love for Sonya and his firm decision to marry her. The Countess, who had long noticed what was happening between Sonya and Nikolai and was expecting this explanation, silently listened to his words and told her son that he could marry whomever he wanted; but that neither she nor his father would give him his blessing for such a marriage. For the first time, Nikolai felt that his mother was unhappy with him, that despite all her love for him, she would not give in to him. She, coldly and without looking at her son, sent for her husband; and when he arrived, the countess wanted to briefly and coldly tell him what was the matter in the presence of Nikolai, but she could not resist: she cried tears of frustration and left the room. The old count began to hesitantly admonish Nicholas and ask him to abandon his intention. Nicholas replied that he could not change his word, and the father, sighing and obviously embarrassed, very soon interrupted his speech and went to the countess. In all his clashes with his son, the count was never left with the consciousness of his guilt towards him for the breakdown of affairs, and therefore he could not be angry with his son for refusing to marry a rich bride and for choosing the dowryless Sonya - only in this case did he more vividly remember what, if things weren’t upset, it would be impossible to wish for a better wife for Nikolai than Sonya; and that only he and his Mitenka and his irresistible habits are to blame for the disorder of affairs.
The father and mother no longer spoke about this matter with their son; but a few days after this, the countess called Sonya to her and with cruelty that neither one nor the other expected, the countess reproached her niece for luring her son and for ingratitude. Sonya, silently with downcast eyes, listened to the countess’s cruel words and did not understand what was required of her. She was ready to sacrifice everything for her benefactors. The thought of self-sacrifice was her favorite thought; but in this case she could not understand to whom and what she needed to sacrifice. She could not help but love the Countess and the entire Rostov family, but she also could not help but love Nikolai and not know that his happiness depended on this love. She was silent and sad and did not answer. Nikolai, as it seemed to him, could not bear this situation any longer and went to explain himself to his mother. Nikolai either begged his mother to forgive him and Sonya and agree to their marriage, or threatened his mother that if Sonya was persecuted, he would immediately marry her secretly.
The countess, with a coldness that her son had never seen, answered him that he was of age, that Prince Andrei was marrying without his father’s consent, and that he could do the same, but that she would never recognize this intriguer as her daughter.
Exploded by the word intriguer, Nikolai, raising his voice, told his mother that he never thought that she would force him to sell his feelings, and that if this was so, then this would be the last time he spoke... But he did not have time to say that decisive word, which, judging by the expression on his face, his mother was waiting in horror and which, perhaps, would forever remain a cruel memory between them. He did not have time to finish, because Natasha, with a pale and serious face, entered the room from the door where she had been eavesdropping.
- Nikolinka, you are talking nonsense, shut up, shut up! I’m telling you, shut up!.. – she almost shouted to drown out his voice.
“Mom, my dear, this is not at all because... my poor darling,” she turned to the mother, who, feeling on the verge of breaking, looked at her son with horror, but, due to stubbornness and enthusiasm for the struggle, did not want and could not give up.
“Nikolinka, I’ll explain it to you, you go away - listen, mother dear,” she said to her mother.
Her words were meaningless; but they achieved the result she was striving for.
The countess, sobbing heavily, hid her face in her daughter's chest, and Nikolai stood up, grabbed his head and left the room.
Natasha took up the matter of reconciliation and brought it to the point that Nikolai received a promise from his mother that Sonya would not be oppressed, and he himself made a promise that he would not do anything secretly from his parents.
With the firm intention, having settled his affairs in the regiment, to resign, come and marry Sonya, Nikolai, sad and serious, at odds with his family, but, as it seemed to him, passionately in love, left for the regiment in early January.
After Nikolai's departure, the Rostovs' house became sadder than ever. The Countess became ill from mental disorder.
Sonya was sad both from the separation from Nikolai and even more from the hostile tone with which the countess could not help but treat her. The Count was more than ever concerned about the bad state of affairs, which required some drastic measures. It was necessary to sell a Moscow house and a house near Moscow, and to sell the house it was necessary to go to Moscow. But the countess’s health forced her to postpone her departure from day to day.
Natasha, who had easily and even cheerfully endured the first time of separation from her fiancé, now became more excited and impatient every day. The thought that her best time, which she would have spent loving him, was being wasted in such a way, for nothing, for no one, persistently tormented her. Most of his letters angered her. It was insulting to her to think that while she lived only in the thought of him, he lived a real life, saw new places, new people that were interesting to him. The more entertaining his letters were, the more annoying she was. Her letters to him not only did not bring her any comfort, but seemed like a boring and false duty. She did not know how to write because she could not comprehend the possibility of truthfully expressing in writing even one thousandth part of what she was accustomed to express with her voice, smile and gaze. She wrote him classically monotonous, dry letters, to which she herself did not attribute any meaning and in which, according to Brouillons, the countess corrected her spelling errors.
The Countess's health was not improving; but it was no longer possible to postpone the trip to Moscow. It was necessary to make a dowry, it was necessary to sell the house, and, moreover, Prince Andrei was first expected in Moscow, where Prince Nikolai Andreich lived that winter, and Natasha was sure that he had already arrived.
The Countess remained in the village, and the Count, taking Sonya and Natasha with him, went to Moscow at the end of January.

Holy im-per-ra-tor Kon-stan-tin (306-337), received from the Church the name “equal to the capital” , and in all-world history named after Ve-li-kim, he was the son of the tsar Kon-station Chlo-ra (305-306) , right-of-the-country Gal-li-ey and Bri-ta-ni-ey. The huge Roman empire at that time was divided into Western and Eastern, headed by there were two very-hundred-of-names, who had co-grandparents, one of which in The father of im-pe-ra-to-ra Kon-stan-ti-na was in the western part of the region. Holy Tsar-ri-tsa Elena, mother of im-pe-ra-to-ra Kon-stan-ti-na, was a hri-sti-an-koy. The future ruler of the entire Roman Empire - Kon-stan-tin - was raised in respect for the Christian religion gii. His father did not follow Christianity in the countries he ruled, while in the rest of the Roman Empire Christians sti-ane came under the same-hundred-kim go-ne-ni-yam from the side im-per-ra-to-div Dio-kli-ti-a-na (284-305 ), his co-pre-vi-te-la Mak-si-mi-a-na Ga-le-riya (305-311) - on Vostok and im-per-ra-to-ra Mak- si-mi-a-na Ger-ku-la (284-305) - on Za-pa-de. After the death of Kon-stan-tsiya Chlo-ra, his son Kon-stan-tin in 306 was hailed by the army im-per-ra-to-rum Gal- Leah and Bri-ta-nee. The first thing he did was to proclaim freedom of origin in the countries under his control -yes of the Christian faith. Fa-na-tik of the language-che-stva Mak-si-mi-an Ga-le-riy on Vo-sto-ke and same-sto-kiy ti-ran Mak-sen-tiy on Za-pas-de-nen- you saw him-per-ra-to-ra Kon-stan-ti-na and maliciously intended to bring him down and kill him, but Kon-stan-tin pre-pre-pre- He fought them and in a series of wars, with the help of God, he defeated all his opponents. He prayed to God to give him a sign that would inspire his army to fight bravely, and the Lord showed him in the sky there is a sign of the Cross with a sign above it, “Sim be-give.” Having become the full-power ruler of the Western part of the Roman Empire, Kon-stan-tin gave Mi in 313 -Lan edict on faith-ter-pi-mo-sti, and in 323, when he reigned as the only em-per-ra-tor over the whole The Roman Empire extended the effect of the Milan Edict to the entire eastern part of the Empire. After three hundred years of persecution, Christians for the first time have the opportunity to openly practice their faith in Christ.

Having become dependent on paganism, the emperor did not leave the capital empire of ancient Rome, the former center of the language. of the great state, and moved his capital to the east, to the city of Vizantia, which was the -ime-no-va-na in Kon-stan-ti-no-pol. Kon-stan-tin was deeply convinced that only the Christian religion could unite the huge, diverse Rome -sky im-periyu. He supported the Church in every possible way, brought back the knowledge of Christianity from exile, built churches for -bo-til-xia about the spirit-ho-ven-stvo. Deeply reading the cross of the Lord, he wanted to find the very Living Cross, on which Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. For this purpose, he sent his mother, the holy queen Elena, to Jerusalem, giving her great power and ma-te-ri -al means. Together with Jerusalem Pat-ri-ar-khom Ma-ka-ri-em, Saint Elena came to the people, and Pro-mys- God's Life-creating Cross was miraculously re-created in 326. While in Pa-le-stina, the holy queen did a lot in favor of the Church. She ordered to liberate all the places connected with the earthly life of the Lord and His Most Pure Ma-te-ri, from all - of such traces of paganism, it is necessary to erect Christian churches in these memorable places. Above the cave of the Gro-ba of the Lord, the im-per-ra-tor Kon-stan-tin himself ordered to build a great-sculpted temple in a weak wu Resurrection of Christ. Saint Helena gave the Living Cross for the keeping of Pat-ri-ar-hu, and she took part of the Cross with her for enshrinement. ch-niya im-per-ra-to-ru. Having given another sweet place to Ieru-sa-li-me and arranged meals for the poor, during which I myself served -li-wa-la, holy queen Elena returned to Kon-stan-ti-no-pol, where she soon died in 327 .

For his great services to the Church-view and work on the creation of the Living Cross of the Tsar-ri- Tsa Ele-na has the same name as equal.

The worldly existence of the Christian Church was in the Russian Federation, but it arose inside the Church. -I and once-before-ra-mi from the heresies that appeared. Back in the na-cha-le de-ya-tel-no-sti im-pe-ra-to-ra Kon-stan-ti-na on Za-pa-de a heresy arose before-na-ti- Stov and no-va-tsi-an, who demanded the re-baptism over the fallen shi-mi during the reign of Christ. a-na-mi. This heresy, rejected by two local co-workers, was condemned by the Milanese So- bo-rom 316. But the heresy of Arius, which arose in the East and dared to reject God, was especially damaging for the Church. the feminine essence of the Son of God and teach about the creation of Jesus Christ. According to his instructions, the First All-Len Council was convened in 325 in the city of Nicaea. 318 bishops gathered for this council, its participation was episcopal in the period -not and many other luminaries of the Church, among which is St. Niko-lay of the World. Im-pe-ra-tor was present at the meeting of So-bo-ra. The heresy of Arius was condemned and a Creed was created, in which the term “One-essential Father” was included, on -always fortified in the knowledge of the right-glorious Christians is-ti-nu about the Divinity of Jesus Christ , having accepted human nature for the redemption of the entire human race.

One may be surprised at the church's deep understanding and sense of the sacredness of Kon-stan-ti, you de-liv- to the following definition of “One-but-existent”, heard by them in the pre-ni-yah of So-bo-ra, and before the living outside- This is a definition in the Symbol of Faith.

After Nicky So-bo-ra, equal-to-capital Kon-stan-tin continued his active activity in favor Churches. At the end of his life, he accepted Holy Baptism, committing himself to it with his whole life. Saint Constantine died on the day of Pentecost in 337 and was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles in the coffin prepared for them in advance.

Christian on the throne of the Caesars.

In the Lateran Museum (Rome) there is a statue of the Roman emperor Constantine I the Great (306-337), solemnly raising a scroll to the sky. And this is not just a pose: the scroll, the famous Edict of Milan (more precisely, the rescript) of 313, forever defined a new stage in European and then world history. The Orthodox calendar reminds us of this, in which, under June 3 (May 21, Art.), the memory of “equal-to-the-apostles Kings Constantine and Helena” is listed...

Journey to the homeland of Emperor Constantine.

Emperor Constantine the Great was born and ruled in this city. Here Saint Athanasius of Alexandria lived in exile and Ambrose of Milan was born. One of the greatest shrines of Christianity is kept here - the Robe of the Lord. Thousands of martyrs suffered here. The city in which the fate of Christianity was decided was not Rome or Constantinople, but small German Trier...

The history of Christianity knows many people who dedicated their lives to the Lord and performed many holy deeds. One of them is Helen Equal to the Apostles, Queen of Constantinople, the mother of Emperor Constantine, a man who would play a decisive role in the fate of the young Christian religion.

Elena became famous for other exploits. Her extensive activities and great accomplishments made the queen revered on a par with the apostles.

Life

The birthplace of the future empress was the port city of Drepan, located in the Roman province of Bithynia. Fate did not gift the girl with a noble origin - her father was the owner of an inn. Elena grew up in Drepan, working in her father's hotel.

Her fate changed thanks to chance. One day a famous Roman military leader passed by the hotel. He noticed a pretty girl working there. Her beauty and nobility of soul made an indelible impression on the military leader. He decided to take Elena as his wife. The military leader turned out to be Constantius Chlorus, the future Emperor of Rome. Elena agreed to marry him.

From that time on, she found herself drawn into the turbulent political life of the Roman Empire. Despite the turbulent times, Elena lived a happily married life and gave birth to a son, who was named Konstantin. Some time after the birth of her son, circumstances forced Elena to leave the royal palace.

Emperor Diocletian divided the empire into four parts, inviting Constantius to rule one of them. To strengthen family ties with the Roman nobility, Constantius married a representative of the royal family - Theodora, the stepdaughter of Emperor Maximin, who retired from governing the empire. Elena found herself removed from the court for fifteen years.

Constantius Chlorus died in 306. Constantine, the son of Helen, was proclaimed the new emperor. Constantine brought his mother back from exile. Once again at court, Elena acquired great favor among the Roman people.

Konstantin deeply respected Elena as a mother and as a virtuous woman. Helen was awarded such honors that she was called Augusta and Basilisa - titles of Roman emperors. The image of Helen was minted on gold coins. Konstantin trusted his mother to manage the treasury at her own request.

Queen Helen's Finding of the Cross

In her declining years, Elena set out to make a pilgrimage to Palestine, to the place of Christ’s life. Even in old age, possessing a sharp mind and the speed of a young body, Elena headed east. In Palestine she had to accomplish a great deed - to find the Cross on which Christ was crucified.

The legend about Helen's acquisition of the Holy Cross has reached us in two versions. The first of them says that the Cross was found under the temple of Aphrodite. When it was destroyed, under its rubble they found three different crosses, a sign taken down of the Cross of the Savior and nails. How to determine which of the three crosses is genuine was invented by Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem. He decided to apply each cross to a sick woman. God revealed the true Cross when a woman regained health by touching it. Those who were present at this event gave praise to the Lord, and Bishop Macarius raised the Cross, showing it to everyone.

According to the second version, Elena turned to the Jerusalem Jews for help. The old Jew, whose name was Judas, pointed to the sanctuary of Venus. Elena ordered the destruction of the temple. During excavations, three crosses were discovered. The Holy Cross was found through a miracle: a dead man was carried nearby, and when the Holy Cross was brought to his flesh, the dead man came to life. Judas converted to Christianity and became a bishop.

During the journey, Elena never ceased to show the best qualities of her nature. Driving past the cities, the empress showered gifts on the local population. Elena did not refuse anyone who turned to her for help. Elena also did not forget about the churches, which she decorated with rich jewelry.

She visited temples even in the smallest cities. Elena appeared in modest clothes, mingling with the crowd. In addition, she is credited with the construction of a large number of churches on the holy land. Elena also built many hospitals.

Returning from a pilgrimage, Elena made a stop in Cyprus. Seeing how the local population suffered from snakes, she ordered cats to be brought to Cyprus.

Elena founded the Stavrovoun monastery here.

Saint Helena Equal to the Apostles, what helps

After her death, Elena became a revered Christian saint, patroness and helper in earthly affairs. Anyone who wants to achieve material prosperity can turn to Saint Helena Equal to the Apostles for assistance.

Saint Helena also helps those who decide to start an important business, achieve career growth or success in the political field. In addition, the cult of Saint Helena is of great importance to the peasants.

It is no coincidence that Helen's Day falls on June 3 - the time when the planting of grain ends. Prayers are offered to Saint Helena for the protection of crops and increased yields.

The meaning of the icon of St. Helena

Icons depicting Helen appeared in the Byzantine Empire. Icon painters tried to convey both her high status during her lifetime and the special disposition of the Lord towards Helen.

Sometimes she was depicted next to Emperor Constantine, her son and assistant in good deeds. This emphasized the extraordinary harmony that reigned in the saint’s family. On the icons, Constantine is on the left side, Elena is on the right. They are wearing crowns. Next to them is a cross. Sometimes the queen holds nails.

If Helen is depicted alone, then Jerusalem is behind her. She stands next to the Cross of the Savior, looking into the sky. Helena is dressed as a Byzantine empress.

On modern icons the queen is depicted alone with a cross in her right hand. It symbolizes the suffering and great accomplishments of Helen. The left hand points to the cross, or is open. By this, icon painters show that for each person the Lord has prepared a certain task that he must complete.

Prayer to Saint Helen Equal to the Apostles

They pray to Saint Helena Equal to the Apostles when they need to make the right decision. They also ask Elena for help in gaining and strengthening faith, well-being in the family and at work, and in curing illnesses. The prayer can be said at home, near an icon or in a temple.

It is preferable to pray in a church in which there is an icon of St. Helena, or a particle of her relics. In the Christian tradition there is no clear formula for turning to Saint Helena. However, the text of the prayer can be found in special collections.