Inspiration: For several years, I've been fascinated with how the early Church survived all the turmoil of the first three centuries after Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection. Emperor Constantine of course played a big role in the acceptance of Christianity after he saw a vision of a Cross in the sky and then won the battle that made him the 57th Emperor of the Roman Empire. The story of Constantine is interesting and we should all be grateful for his conversion, it was Constantine who stopped killing Christians and allowed the Church to flourish.
It was Constantine's mother, Saint Helena, I wanted to know more about. I discovered that Saint Helena converted to Christianity when she was in her mid 60s. Being inspired by the Love of God, she soon traveled from Rome to Jerusalem in search of the Cross on which Christ had been crucified. She not only found the True Cross but she is also responsible for building churches and shrines on Sacred sites, giving money to the poor, liberating many from prison and is credited for spreading the Word of Christ. It is documented that Saint Helena mingled among the people and dressed in simple attire.
Great Links: Saint Helena also brought from Jerusalem to Rome the actual stairs that Christ climbed to His trial before Pilate.See the stairs and heard the story of the restoration.
The Holy Stairs (Scala Santa) are located in the Saint John Lateran Basilica which is the Mother Church of the Worldwide Church and the See of the Pope.
About the Painting: In many illustrations of Saint Helena, she looks very young. In my painting, I've depicted her later in her life when she made her most significant contributions.
Feast Day: August 18
Saint Helena and the True Cross
20 X 30 - acrylic on birch panel
When I Survive the Wondrous Cross
1. When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
2. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
3. See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
4. His dying Crimson, like a Robe,
Spreads o'er his Body on the Tree;
Then am I dead to all the Globe,
And all the Globe is dead to me.
5. Were the whole Realm of Nature mine,
That were a Present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my Soul, my Life, my All.
Words by Isaac Watts 1674-1748
Tune: Rockingham by Edward Miller, 1990
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