From: trudie.Miller@cox.net   
      
   August 18th - St. Helena   
      
   After her pilgrimage at age 80 to the Holy Land and the finding of the True   
   Cross in 326, St. Helena left Jerusalem. Her return trip to Rome was marked by   
   the many charitable works she performed. She built various churches, made   
   generous donations to others, helped the poor and destitute, consoled the   
   unfortunate, and opened the doors of prisons. The liberation of captives was,   
   indeed, one of her glories.   
      
   Her princely munificence was such that, according to Eusebius, she assisted not   
   only individuals but entire communities. She manifested the same piety and   
   benevolence wherever she went throughout her life.   
      
   When she arrived in Rome, Constantine gave a grand reception in honor of his   
   mother. On this occasion, she chose to present her son with the precious gift   
   of   
   a small parcel of the Holy Cross. She also gave a large fragment of the Holy   
   Cross to the city of Rome, and later the Santa Croce Basilica was erected on   
   that spot by Constantine to house it at her suggestion.   
      
   Her return voyage to Rome was marked by a singular episode. While crossing the   
   Adriatic Sea, the Empress heard accounts of the terrible and numerous drownings   
   that often occurred there. She was so strongly moved by the stories that she   
   took one of four nails that had crucified Our Lord, which she was bringing with   
   her from Jerusalem, and threw it into the depths of the sea. St. Gregory of   
   Tours relates the incident in his book The Glories of the Martyrs and adds that   
   from that day on, the Adriatic Sea lost its furor.   
      
   This was the last trip of St. Helena. She died in Rome in the year 330.   
   Constantine and the princes, his sons, surrounded the bed of the Empress, where   
   she gave two last counsels to the Emperor. Her last words were to tell him to   
   watch over the Church and to be just. Finally, she gave him her final blessing;   
   the Emperor was holding her hand when she took her last breath. Her body was   
   brought to Constantinople and buried with great pomp in the imperial vault of   
   the Church of the Apostles. The whereabouts of her relics are uncertain.   
      
   St. Helena is a great historical character. Nature and grace harmonized   
   perfectly in her. Raised to the throne in the world, she made Christianity sit   
   on the throne for the first time. Her great beauty that brought her to the   
   attention of Constantius was the means that God used for that end. Her   
   illustrious and venerable name would have marked the beginning of a brilliant   
   era if Constantine had been faithful to grace. No one knows how the course of   
   History might have been if the artists could have also painted a halo over the   
   head of Constantine, if the Emperor, like his mother, would have been   
   canonized.   
      
      
   Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)   
      
   This selection describes the beautiful figure of the Empress as a work of art   
   of   
   nature and grace. She is like those figures in the Byzantine mosaics, such as   
   the ones in Ravenna.   
      
   She was a person gifted with an outstanding physical beauty, which is what drew   
   her to the attention of Constantius Chlorus, future Emperor, who married her.   
   She used her position to influence her son Constantine, the successor of his   
   father. This was how she made Our Lord Jesus Christ symbolically sit on the   
   throne of the Roman Empire. Her two great works were the conversion of   
   Constantine and the finding of the Holy Cross. With the finding of the Holy   
   Cross in Jerusalem, her name became immortal.   
      
   Her death had the same high tone as her life. There is no more beautiful scene   
   than an Empress who dies surrounded by her son, an Emperor, and her grandsons,   
   princes, with her hand being held by that of the Emperor who had received from   
   her his glory. She expired advising him to assist the Holy Catholic Church. All   
   this is marvelous and seems to have been taken from the illuminated scenes of a   
   book of hours or a medieval Missal.   
      
   Her life in a certain way is symbolized by the episode in the Adriatic Sea. It   
   reflects the idea that was already being spread that the most sorrowful Passion   
   of Our Lord Jesus Christ has the power to tame wild and violent things, making   
   them gentle and docile. This is why a nail driven into the flesh of Our Lord   
   that caused him such atrocious torments has the power to relieve men from their   
   sufferings. So when St. Helena threw one of those nails into the tempestuous   
   sea, it became placid. From that moment on - St. Gregory of Tours narrates -   
   the   
   Adriatic Sea was tamed and drownings were no longer as frequent there as they   
   were before.   
      
   What can be said about this miracle? Almost all such miracles of nature are   
   analogies of miracles of grace. A suffering from the Passion of Our Lord   
   received with love in the depths of one's soul brings peace to the revolted   
   passions, dissolves the storms, and makes passage possible on the most   
   dangerous   
   voyages of life without the risk of drowning.   
      
   This means that an act of veneration and tenderness for the infinitely precious   
   Passion of Our Lord that comes from the depths of the soul brings peace to it   
   and orients it along the way of sanctity. It can tame the disordered passions,   
   redirect the bad tendencies, and make the spiritual life tranquil-without   
   drowning. This is the beautiful symbolism of that episode of St. Helena's life.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Most people are taught by way of example and not by way of words.   
   -St. Benedict   
      
   Bible Quote   
   11. He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12. And whosoever   
   shall exalt himself shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself shall be   
   exalted.  (Matthew 23:11-12)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Scripture: Psalm 34:7   
   "For the angel of the LORD guards all who fear him, and he rescues them."   
      
   A Guardian Angel   
   Flew down from above,   
   To teach me a lesson   
   About the powers of love.   
      
   She whispers to me,   
   Takes a hold of my hand,   
   There are so many things   
   I wish you to understand.   
      
   About the powers of love,   
   And all it can do,   
   To someone who needs   
   To share it with you.   
      
   A pat on the back,   
   A kind smile on your face,   
   Can make someone's life,   
   A much brighter place.   
      
   It doesn't take much,   
   To show someone you care,   
   To give them the love,   
   God gave you to share.   
      
   So please keep in mind,   
   All the powers you possess,   
   To grace someone's life,   
   When they're in distress.   
      
   You've been put on this earth   
   To bestow the powers of love,   
   And with those final words,   
   She disappeared up above.   
      
   Prayer: Father, thank you for surrounding me with your angels. In the name of   
   the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)