Helʹena (St.)

Mother of Constantine the Great. She is represented in royal robes, wearing an imperial crown, because she was empress. Sometimes she carries in her hand a model of the Holy Sepulchre, an edifice raised by her in the East; sometimes she bears a large cross, typical of her alleged discovery of that upon which the Saviour was crucified; sometimes she also bears the three nails by which He was affixed to the cross.