Helena - First Pilgrim to the Holy Land

because the multiplying Christians refuse to honor the Emperor's as gods they are persecuted as enemies of the state but the more vicious the oppression the more Christianity grows then after more than two centuries mighty Rome now politically sundered and morally bankrupt is almost miraculously transformed under this sign you shall conquer appears to the Emperor Constantine on the eve of a crucial battle it changes the course of history yet this sign is no more than the answer to a devout mother's prayer a Christian mother an emperor's mother who prays fervently for his conversion a mother who raises into radiance the sites that had been engulfed in secrecy of the life and death of Jesus a mother who blazes a path to the Holy Land that pilgrims from her day to ours solemnly trod she is one of history's most remarkable women [Music] in the year 326 a woman of 72 arrived on the shores of Judea she was the empress of the Roman Empire the mother of Constantine the Great her name was Helena a destination was Jerusalem and the Holy Land helena was the first Christian pilgrim she forged a path that future generations would follow from the shores of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus gathered his apostles to the tomb of Lazarus whom Christ raised from the dead she laid the foundations of many of the most important churches in Christendom the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem where Jesus was born the Paternoster on the Mount of Olives where Christ first spoke the Lord's Prayer she restored Jerusalem as the holiest of cities her most sacred discovery of all is marked by her great church of the holy sepulchre [Music] this is the legend of st. Helena how through her faith in God she made one of the greatest discoveries in history [Music] [Applause] [Music] Helena Flavia Augusta the most venerated woman in the Roman Empire a saint immortalized in legend as a young girl it is such was famed for her wit her grace and her beauty [Music] the story of Helena begins in ad two hundred and seventy four when she captured the heart of an officer in the Roman guard and bore him a child [Music] a son who grew up to become the most powerful man in the world Constantine the Great the first Christian Emperor [Music] Helena adored her son I give thanks to the gods for this beautiful boy though I know in time like all men he will carve his own path far away from his mother [Music] my love for him will always in you and I pray he will never forget me throughout his life Constantine's most important influence would always be his mother [Music] by the end of the third century the Roman Empire was in sad decline its farthest provinces will constantly prey to invasion and conquest by neighboring barbarians the Empire could no longer be held together from Rome at the beginning of the 4th century it was split into four in the West Constantine's father ruled with an iron fist but in the East Rome's Authority was being undermined by another force against which armies were no defense the forbidden religion called Christianity [Music] more than 200 years before st. Paul had brought the word of Christ out of Jerusalem and delivered it to the Gentiles of Asia Minor and beyond [Music] even into Rome itself [Music] Paul's epistles had inspired generation after generation of new Christians [Music] [Music] pagan rome reacted to this fledgling faith with ruthless brutality in their thousands Christians were brought here to the Colosseum and slaughtered [Music] [Applause] they were fed to the Lions butchered burnt and crucified yet Christianity not only survived the persecutions it grew in influence by the early fourth century as much as 10% of the Empire may have secretly been Christian [Music] in areas like Cappadocia in modern-day Turkey Christianity had thrived after receiving the gospel from st. Paul hidden within these caves whole communities practiced their faith in these isolated mountains their dead could receive a Christian burial laid to rest in graves carved from stone [Music] they remained true to their faith in daily defiance of Rome when the Roman legions attacked these far-flung posts the Christians went quite literally underground [Music] within the subterranean cities of asia minor and the catacombs of Rome a secret sign began to appear it was the first two Greek characters of Christ's name key and row [Music] by this simple sign the Gospels were spread all the time gaining new converts even among the rich and powerful including Helena [Music] in the dead of night Helena was taught the letters of st. Paul and the Gospels she came to believe that God gave His only Son to the world so that he might die to bring mankind eternal salvation she became entranced by the Sacred Lands described in the New Testament how I yearn to visit the holy city of Jerusalem and travel through the deserts of Judea to stand on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and tread where Jesus once walked in the town's Bethlehem and Nazareth I make this promise to my lord that one day I will so that she might know and be known to other Christians she was shown the Kiro [Music] but Helena prayed for the day when Christianity would not need to hide its light she could not know that the instrument for the liberation of the faith will be her own son Constantine he was not a Christian and the promise of salvation through Christ meant little to him when his father was killed in battle Constantine claimed his title as Caesar of the West but his dream was of a greater prize Rome itself and a reunited Empire [Music] from his base in Gaul Constantine marched towards Rome [Music] between Constantine and Rome lay the river Tiber and the Milvian bridge on the opposite bank his enemy Maxentius Ceaser of Rome had gathered a great army [Music] unknown to Constantine Helena looked to Jesus for the protection of her pagan son Lord Jesus I beg you to watch over my son and bring him safely through the battle he is about to face so that he may help me in spreading your word [Music] as Constantine's army arrived at the northern side of the bridge in set up camp the skies began to boil [Music] as his troops looked on a strange shape began to fall within the clouds [Music] [Applause] all gazed in astonishment to the vision but none knew what it meant [Music] [Applause] [Music] on the eve of the most important battle of his life Constantine pondered the meaning of the strange apparition he fell into a troubled sleep and have a dream [Music] I heard my name being called and when I looked up I saw an angel with the same sign that I had seen in the heavens that day he commanded that I make a likeness of a sign and henceforth use it as my safeguard in all engagements with my enemies now I realized that this was a command from the god of my mother's faith for I felt a love about me I obeyed the instruction of the angel and fashioned the sign from two Spears within I placed the sign of Christianity as shown to me by my mother known as the hero for the first time an army would fight under the banner of Christ as dawn broke the forces of Maxentius swept across the bridge battle began [Music] within Maxentius army were many secret Christians when they saw the sign of the Kiro on cross they turned against the tyrant Maxentius and fought instead with the army of Constantine [Music] [Music] in desperation at sensuous sounded a retreat as his forces swarmed back across the bridge it collapsed hurling his soldiers into the fast flowing waters of the Tiber Maxentius himself was drowned his army swept away [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Constantine made a triumphant entry into Rome as a gruesome trophy Maxentius is severed head to stuck upon a lance and catted aloft for all to see [Music] [Applause] constantine was now absolute master of all europe and proclaimed supreme augustus to honor his victory this triumphant arch was built celebrating the Battle of Milvian bridge constantine was swift to acknowledge that his great victory was fought under the banner of the christian god [Music] Constantine's first act was to issue a decree that Christians be allowed to worship freely persecution was at an end no longer with the Coliseum run with Christian Blanc to Helenus prayers and her son's miraculous victory Christianity would enter Golden Age a new dawn was breaking over pagan Rome as Helena and Constantine transformed the city into the center of Christianity by building the first legal church the Basilica of st. John Lateran above the doors is the secret sign of the Kiro and above that the new standard of Christianity the Holy Cross [Music] constant-time called it the head and mother of all churches in Rome and in the world the protector of Christians as he called himself still guards the entrance here the earliest councils of the church took place under the guidance of Constantine himself [Music] to the south of Rome a magnificent church began to rise built over the grave of a martyr called the apostle to the Gentiles that martyr was st. Paul and the church st. Paul's outside the walls [Music] but the greatest church of all was began on Helena's own land it was built above the tomb of st. Peter on the Vatican Hill st. Peters [Music] Constantine's original creation is today the largest and most imposing Church of the Christian world [Music] in one Chapel Constantine gazes upon the symbol of his power the Holy Cross [Music] to Helena it seemed all her prayers had been fulfilled with the new churches and her son a powerful Emperor Christian Rome seemed to be entering a new era but Constantine was not yet a Christian growing bold with his power he committed an act so ruthless and grim it shocked even the pagan senators of Rome rumours had reached Constantine that his son Crispus by his first marriage and his second wife Fausto had committed adultery with the fury of a tyrant Constantine ordered their deaths [Music] Crispus was poisoned and foster locked in a steam bath and suffocated all that Christianity had achieved was in jeopardy Constantine the self-proclaimed protector of the faith was now openly despised by the elite of Rome shamed by her son her family murdered and her faith mocked Helena abandoned Rome although now 72 years old she decided to fulfill her pledge to God to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Lands years before she had hoped it would be to celebrate a free faith now she set out with a different task in mind to find Golgotha the very site where Christ was crucified there she would build a great church in his honor as penance for Constantine's sins The Jerusalem Helena found was not the city she had dreamt of from the stories in the Bible [Music] in 69 AD the Romans had crushed a Jewish revolt and destroyed the city the ancient Temple of Jerusalem where Jesus had challenged the Pharisees was razed to the ground the city was renamed Aelia Capitolina and dedicated to the Roman gods Jupiter Juno and Minerva nearly all traces of Jerusalem's holy past had been obliterated Helen has searched the scriptures for clues to the sacred places and above all for the site of Golgotha where Jesus had died on the cross they came to a place called Golgotha which in Hebrew means place of the skull she ordered excavations to begin Jesus suffered outside the city gate when they came to the hill of Calvary they crucified Jesus there was a garden in the place where he was crucified and in the garden there was a new tool in which no one had ever been laid yet with each new site came further disappointment no trace of the site of crucifixion could be found she called a meeting of the wise men of Jerusalem and pleaded with them to teach her what they knew of their city's history that she might complete her quest though they told her many things of the life and death of Christ they knew little my beloved son I have searched endlessly for the site of our Lord's final suffering but all to no avail and so I must ask you my son to join me in looking into our souls examining our consciences and begging for his forgiveness by your abominable deeds you have set our Lord against us he has forsaken us since I cannot build a church in the Lord's honor here I shall at least fulfill my pledge of a pilgrimage and seek out his life I shall tread in his footsteps in this the holiest of ancient lands and beg him to show forgiveness for you through my penance your mother Helena Augusta seeking the forgiveness of God Constantine had also left Rome he had begun rebuilding the ancient city of Byzantium as the new Christian capital it was to be renamed Constantinople [Music] the centerpiece was to be a magnificent church to rival any in Rome [Music] the higher Sophia [Music] for the next 1,000 years this would be the seat of the Christian faith [Music] on one wall Constantine is depicted offering his church and his city to the infant Jesus and Madonna in penance for his sins [Music] as she had promised God and now her son Helena left Jerusalem and began her pilgrimage to the sacred places of the Holy Lands by honoring these sacred sites she hoped to win forgiveness at last for her son her pilgrimage would take over a year and Helena would travel hundreds of miles a truly arduous test for a woman of age at least God shall know that I kept my pledge though my son sins have denied me the most sacred site of Golgotha I shall know the other holy places where Jesus walked and lived before I come to be charged by the Lord I will give back this land to Christianity [Music] Helena began as the New Testament begins at Nazareth by the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary [Music] fear not Mary for thou hast found favor with God and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus he shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest and of his kingdom there shall be no end [Music] Helen his first triumph was to find the place where she believed the angel Gabriel gave the wondrous news to Mary [Music] you [Music] above this site and now stands the Church of the Annunciation a great land and tower announcing to all the glad tidings [Music] Helena continued her pilgrimage by traveling Justice Mary and Joseph had from Nazareth to Bethlehem or son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger the cast there was no room for them in the inn over the stables where the Savior was born Helena established her first church the Church of the Nativity [Music] [Music] in the crypt where helena believed the stables once stood the birth of Jesus is still celebrated [Music] below the altar is the Star of Bethlehem named after the star that guided the three kings to Mary and Joseph [Music] with the founding of her first church Helena had begun to fulfill her penance to God from Bethlehem Helenus pilgrimage took her to the River Jordan where Jesus was baptized [Music] then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him and when he was baptized the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lo a voice from heaven saying this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased [Music] Jesus had set out from here to gather his apostles and Helena retraced his steps to the shores of the Sea of Galilee [Music] and Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two brethren Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea for they were fishers and he saith unto them follow me and I will make you fishers of men and they straightway left their nets and followed him elana marveled at being so close to the birthplace of her faith I give thanks to Jesus that I have been granted sight of this sea for here truly did Christ first spread the true word [Music] inspired by the wonders she had seen Helena went back with renewed zeal to the scriptures and made a remarkable discovery on the side of a lonely hill by the village of Bethany Helena found the tomb of Lazarus then they took away the stone from the place where the Dead was laid and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said father I thank thee that thou hast heard me and when he thus had spoken he cried with a loud voice Lazarus come forth and he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with grave clothes [Music] jesus saith unto them loose him and let him go the discovery of Lazarus tomb was she felt proof of the holiness of her pilgrimage and a sign that God may be willing to forgive her son she turned again to the scriptures in the final chapters of Christ's life a path led her back to the very edge of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives where now stands the Church of the Paternoster founded by Helena [Music] you [Music] it was here within this broader that Jesus knowing that death was at hand gave his apostles a prayer our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come Thy will be done on earth as it is in could that volunteers were fed to like they're better done almost on the Westeros daily Doris gave me Sofia medicine for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever [Music] the Lord's Prayer was to encircle the world this church now contains the prayer in every language of every country touched by Christianity [Music] after reciting the prayer Jesus had set out for Jerusalem Helena retraced his path Jesus had begun from the house of Mary and Martha the sisters of Lazarus in the village of Bethany close by in the village of Beth age Helena laid the foundations of a church [Music] it has 'as this stone said to have been used by Christ to climb upon the donkey that would carry him into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday [Music] the crowd spread garlands on the road and cut branches from trees and spread them also and they shouted Hosanna to the son of David blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord hosanna in the highest even to this day the faithful carry palms on Palm Sunday just as the first Christians did along the path which Jesus and Helena followed into the gates of the city [Music] [Music] Helena went as Christ did to the Garden of Gethsemane where jesus pleaded with his father to spare him the agony of his death father if thou be willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done and there appeared an angel unto him from heaven strengthening him [Music] [Music] [Music] while he was still speaking Judas one of the twelve arrived and with him a crowd with swords and clubs and Jesus said to them you come to arrest me as though I was abandoned but let the Scriptures be fulfilled [Music] finally Helenus path letter along the Via Dolorosa along which Christ carried his cross [Music] today Christians still bear witness to his suffering [Music] a long pilgrimage ended on the Hill of Calvary where the Bible says Jesus was crucified [Music] yet Golgotha the site of the crucifixion still remained hidden lord I have traveled this land and walked where you once trod I have fulfilled my pledge and ended my pilgrimage and though I am not worthy I beg you to now reveal to me the site of your greatest sacrifice so that I might complete my penance for my son that night a storm struck Jerusalem a lightning centered on an abandoned pagan temple on the hill of Calvary Helena took this as a sign from God and at dawn she ordered the shrine of the false gods to be leveled [Music] as the remains of the temple were cleared a wind arose exposing a shape within the rubble as they dug it became clear Helenus prayers had been answered beyond her wildest expectations she had found not only Golgotha but what she believed was the holy cross itself [Music] as they dug further they recovered two more crosses for as the Bible tone Christ had been crucified between two thieves but which of the three was the true cross [Music] legend says that Helena had the three crosses brought to the bed of a dying woman one by one the sick woman touched the crosses the first brought no change nor did the second but when the woman touched the third her sickness left her the true cross had shown itself with a miracle [Music] helena kissed the sacred would give thanks to the lord the true cross is found his foul his foul the once forgotten city of Jerusalem was now at the very heart of the Christian world [Music] at the place where Helena found her cross she built one of the greatest churches of Christendom the Holy Sepulchre [Music] within as a chapel dedicated to Helena [Music] below her Chapel is the grotto where she made her discovery [Music] Helana was to amaze the world with further revelations [Music] she identified the spot where many believe the cross had stood on Golgotha [Music] she uncovered the tomb of Christ from which her great church takes its name and she found the stone on which it is said the body of Christ was laid to be anointed by his mother Mary [Music] [Applause] in order that the world might share her momentous discovery Helena had fragments of the true cross shipped throughout the empire [Music] in the church of santa croce in rome one such fragment is displayed [Music] this is said to be the actual wood of her holy cross [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and this one of the nails [Music] another of the nails was fixed to the helmet of Constantine lest he forget again whence his power came within a year of her discovery with Constantine by her side Helena died [Music] the legacy she left gave birth to her legend together with her son Constantine she carried Christianity out of the dark years of secrecy and persecution to create a truly global faith [Music] through her discoveries she revealed for all Christians the sights of Christ's life and established Jerusalem as the holiest of cities [Music] today the churches she founded stand as monuments to her life's work testament to the triumph of her faith [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] as Mary is the mother of Christ helena is the mother of Christianity in those early centuries from the empowering fire of Pentecost to the Dauntless zeal of Helena what had been secret becomes sacred the once muted message of Christ becomes Clarion and the infant church grows to embrace all humankind though it is now 2,000 years after Jesus those first Christians will always be a part of our breath and be [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: FamilyTime

Views: 156,145

Keywords: ben kingsley, jesus christ, lazarus, mount of olives, gethsemane, holy sepulcher, golgotha, judea, constantine the great, sea of galilee, saint helena, ancient rome, christianity, god, gaul, Maxentius, kyero, crispus, fausta, jerusalem, constantinople, hagia sophia, nazareth, st gabriel, st peters basilica, st. pauls basilica, church of the nativity, river jordan, Pater Noster, first pilgrim holy land, battle milvian bridge, basilica st. john lateran, church annunciation, holy cross

Id: XZ8yNxuqw8E

Length: 59min 50sec (3590 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 08 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Turt35]

THANK YOU! She's my patron saint, and I know so very little about her. <3

[u/edric_o]

Εν τουτω νικα!