St. Helena

In light of the theft and recent recovery of the relic of the True Cross from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston – today’s “Saint of the Day” is noteworthy. Today – August 18 – is the feast of St. Helena – Empress mother of Constantine the Great.  She converted to Christianity and performed many acts of charity, including building churches in Rome and in the Holy Land. On a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Helena discovered the True Cross. In liturgical art Helena is depicted as an empress, holding a cross.

Read more about the traditions of the “finding of the true cross” here.

 The relic of the true cross has been a part of the church since early in the 19th century when  Boston’s first bishop – Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus gave it to the then diocease and the first cathederal .