Mother of Emperors. Helena, Helena Augusta, or Saint Helena was an Empress of the Roman Empire and mother of Roman emperor Constantine the Great. She was born in the lower classes traditionally in the Greek city of Drepana, Bithynia, in Asia Minor, which was renamed Helenopolis in her honor, though several locations have been proposed for her birthplace and origin.

Helena ranks as an important figure in the history of Christianity between AD 246-330. In her final years, she made a religious tour of Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem, during which ancient tradition claims that she discovered the True Cross.

Her alleged skull is displayed in the Cathedral of Trier, in Germany. Portions of her relics are found at the basilica of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli in Rome, the Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles in Paris, and at the Abbaye Saint-Pierre d'Hautvillers. The church of Sant'Elena in Venice claims to have the complete body of the saint enshrined under the main altar.