On Wednesday, 3 June 2026, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrated the memory of the holy, glorious, God-crowned, and Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, Equal-to-the-Apostles.
On this day, the Church honours the great work accomplished by Constantine the Great, assisted by his mother, Saint Helen. The Church also commemorates that Constantine the Great believed in Christ as God, received Holy Baptism, ended the persecutions of Christians, and, through the Edict of Milan (AD 313), granted Christians, and indeed all people, the freedom to practice their faith openly.
He also sent his mother, Saint Helen, to the Holy Land, where she recovered the Precious Cross and erected sacred churches at the places sanctified by Christ’s incarnate presence, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Basilica of Bethlehem, and others. From that time onward, thousands of pilgrims began to journey to these holy places, worshipping, praising, and glorifying our Triune God.
The Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre fittingly honours Saint Constantine and Saint Helen as its founders, as founders of the Holy Shrines, and as the inaugurators of the era of Romiosyne, that is, the Christian Eastern Roman, or “Byzantine”, Empire. For this reason, the Brotherhood celebrated Vespers on the eve of the feast and the Divine Liturgy on the morning of the feast in the Monastic and Patriarchal Church of the Brotherhood.
The services were presided over by the Rite’s keeper, Archimandrite Alexios, with the clergy of the church. At the same time, the hierarchs, the other Fathers of the Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood, and many local pilgrims participated in prayer. Also present was the Consul of Greece in Jerusalem, Mrs Anna Mantika.
According to the long-standing custom of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, the Patriarchal Church of the Brotherhood is served only once each year, on the feast of Saints Constantine and Helen, and solely by the Patriarch himself. As the Patriarch was absent this year on a mission abroad, the Vespers service was celebrated by the clergy of the church.
Following the Divine Liturgy, a solemn procession ascended to the Patriarchate, with the clergy vested and chanting the Apolytikion of Saint Constantine:
“Today Constantine, together with his mother Helen, reveal the Cross, the all-venerable Wood, which is the shame of all the Jews but the weapon of faithful rulers against their adversaries. For on our behalf it has been manifested as a great sign, awesome in battle.”
At the Patriarchate, the Patriarchal Commissioner, Metropolitan Isychios of Capitolias, addressed those gathered as follows:
“Your Excellency, Mrs Mandika, Consul of Greece,
Reverend Holy Hierarchs and Fathers,
Pious Christians and pilgrims,“A most radiant light, a brilliant evening star, transplanted from unbelief to faith in the Godhead, thou wast led to sanctify a people and a city. Beholding the sign of the Cross in heaven, thou didst hear a voice from above; receiving therefrom the knowledge of the Spirit, and being anointed priest and king with holy oil, thou didst establish the Church of God. O Constantine, Equal-to-the-Apostles, intercede for our souls.”
Today, the Holy Church of Christ celebrates the memory of the holy, glorious, God-crowned, and Equal-to-the-Apostles Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, whose work is not confined to the narrow bounds of a single age, but extends throughout the entire course of the Christian world. Their commemoration honours two persons through whom Divine Providence united the Roman Empire with the preaching of the Gospel and joined imperial authority to the ministry of the Church.
For the Church of Jerusalem in particular, Saint Constantine the Great and Saint Helen hold a place of unique importance. To them is owed the discovery, restoration, and glorious promotion of the Holy Places, the very sites where the great mystery of reverence was accomplished, namely, the salvation of the world.
Saint Constantine the Great became an instrument of Divine Providence in the historical journey of the Church. Through the Edict of Milan, he granted Christians the long-awaited freedom of religion, bringing the bloodshed and persecution to an end. By convening the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in AD 325, he contributed to safeguarding ecclesiastical unity and the Orthodox Faith. Through the founding of Constantinople, he laid the foundations of a Christian civilisation that would leave its mark upon history for more than a thousand years.
Saint Helen, moved by fervent piety, came to Jerusalem as a humble pilgrim and sought out the sacred relics associated with the Passion of our Lord. The tradition of the Church links her name with the discovery of the Precious Cross and with the revival of the Christian presence in the Holy Land.
Demonstrating his concern for Jerusalem, Constantine the Great wrote to Bishop Makarios: “Take care to write to us, so that through your letter we may learn whatever is needed, and of what kind, that this most wondrous place in the world may be adorned as it deserves.”
Elsewhere, he declares: “This is my first and only purpose… that we may adorn that sacred place with the beauty of worthy buildings.” These words reveal the Emperor’s profound awareness that Jerusalem was not merely another city, but the place of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Lord, the very centre of the Christian Faith and of the salvation of the world.
It was not without reason that the Church bestowed upon Constantine the title of Equal-to-the-Apostles. His contribution to the spread of the Gospel was, according to the measure of his historical vocation, comparable to that of the Apostles themselves. The Apostle Paul opened the roads of the Gospel to the Gentile world, while Constantine the Great created the conditions through which Paul’s preaching might become the inheritance of the whole inhabited world.
Here, in the Holy City of Jerusalem, where the Apostles first proclaimed the Gospel and where the first Church was born, the Apostle of the Gentiles announced the great mystery of the Cross, saying: “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14).
And it is precisely this boast, the Cross of the Lord, that forms the heart of the spiritual legacy of Constantine the Great. The sign which he beheld in heaven, the standard through which he overcame his enemies, was not merely a military emblem, but a revelation of the power of the Crucified and Risen Christ.
Through the protection and generosity of Constantine the Great, the venerable Church of the Holy Sepulchre was erected, the redeeming Witness, the most splendid monument of Christendom. From that time until the present day, for seventeen centuries, countless multitudes of pilgrims have journeyed to the Holy Sepulchre to venerate the place from which the light of the Resurrection shone forth.
For this reason, the venerable Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood preserves the memory of Saints Constantine and Helen, regarding them not merely as great benefactors and protectors of the Holy Places, but also as co-creators of Jerusalem’s historical identity as a worldwide centre of pilgrimage, prayer, and witness. The work which they began continues to this day through the preservation of the holy shrines and through the proclamation of the Resurrection of the Lord to the ends of the earth.
Today, as we offer praise and thanksgiving unto the Holy Triune God for His gifts, we also pray for peace in the suffering Holy Land. At a time when the Middle East is being tested by conflict, war, and uncertainty, the message of Saints Constantine and Helen remains ever relevant: that true peace is found in the power of the Cross; and that true victory is that through which truth, justice, and the love of God triumph.
Therefore, together with the hymnographer, we proclaim: “Rejoice, O all-wise Constantine, fountain of Orthodoxy, ever watering the whole world with thy sweet streams. Rejoice, boast of Christians, foremost among kings; rejoice, joy of the faithful.” Amen.
Therefore, we raise this cup to the health, long life, and God-given strengthening of our Father and Patriarch, His Beatitude Theophilos III; to the progress, stability, and blessing of our Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre; and to the joy and spiritual advancement of all the fathers, brethren, friends, and benefactors present here today.
May the days of all be filled with peace, health, concord, and divine grace, and may the blessing of the Most Holy Sepulchre accompany us all. Many blessed years!
Many happy returns and years of peace!
A monastic meal followed at the Patriarchate.
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem
