4 years ago
23
4
Posted On: February 13th 2023, 05:38 am
Saint Helena (Helen), might be one of the most pivotal women in the history of Christianity after Mary. She was the first to influence a Roman emperor into embracing Christianity instead of trying to destroy it. If it weren’t for her, Christianity may never have grown to the world religion it is today. Married to Emperor Constantius, she gave birth to Constantine I in 272 AD. Despite being cast off by her husband in favor of a younger bride, she was so loved by her son that she was re-instated as monarchy as soon as Constantine The Great took power, and he took up her Christian ways.
Her acts to empower Christianity were many, and there are numerous stories of her bravery and self-sacrifice towards this goal. Favorite tales include how she went to Israel in search of the cross that Jesus was crucified on. When she found it, she brought back to Rome splinters of this cross and the nails that hung Jesus. One was fashioned into Constantine’s helmet/crown, making him unstoppable.
After she died, in 331AD, Constantine I had 50 Bibles made in her memory. 50 Bibles! Think about that really hard. We’re talking about a time when books had to be copied entirely by hand and the velum pages had to be bound with thread and pasted into folios, and then bound by leather into a book. (There is some disagreement whether these looked like the books of our day, or they were more scroll-like) None of these Bibles are known to have survived today, but we do know that this version of the Bible included the female-empowering book of Judith, a book strangely missing from the modern NIV. Maybe the idea of women cutting off the heads of men was too much for the church?
My point is this: Saint Helen was a powerful, independent woman who valued freedom of religion, education, and love of her son over all else. I think she deserves a lot more credit than history has given her.
In honor of her, I have made 50 tiny facsimiles of Bibles. May she rest in power.
Materials: Old book pages, basal wood, recycled drinking straws, tacky glue, gold paint, washi paper, fabric, gold embossing powder, and wood.
Feast Day: August 18th
#SaintHelena #saintart
(See comments for bonus fact)
Her acts to empower Christianity were many, and there are numerous stories of her bravery and self-sacrifice towards this goal. Favorite tales include how she went to Israel in search of the cross that Jesus was crucified on. When she found it, she brought back to Rome splinters of this cross and the nails that hung Jesus. One was fashioned into Constantine’s helmet/crown, making him unstoppable.
After she died, in 331AD, Constantine I had 50 Bibles made in her memory. 50 Bibles! Think about that really hard. We’re talking about a time when books had to be copied entirely by hand and the velum pages had to be bound with thread and pasted into folios, and then bound by leather into a book. (There is some disagreement whether these looked like the books of our day, or they were more scroll-like) None of these Bibles are known to have survived today, but we do know that this version of the Bible included the female-empowering book of Judith, a book strangely missing from the modern NIV. Maybe the idea of women cutting off the heads of men was too much for the church?
My point is this: Saint Helen was a powerful, independent woman who valued freedom of religion, education, and love of her son over all else. I think she deserves a lot more credit than history has given her.
In honor of her, I have made 50 tiny facsimiles of Bibles. May she rest in power.
Materials: Old book pages, basal wood, recycled drinking straws, tacky glue, gold paint, washi paper, fabric, gold embossing powder, and wood.
Feast Day: August 18th
#SaintHelena #saintart
(See comments for bonus fact)
Comments (4)
4 years agoiconophilialsn
Side note about a Volcano: You’ve heard of the volcano, Saint Helens? It is only named after this saint in the most tertiary of ways. In actuality, St. Helens the mountain was named in 1792 by a British sea captain who had a good friend that was the “Baron of Saint Helens.” This baronetcy lies in the town of St. Helens, obviously, on the Isle of Wright (south of Portsmouth.) The town was named after the St Helens Priory, there. Guess what the Priory was named after? =)
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