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blumentopf
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Augusta Flavia Iulia Helena
Hail Flavia, Augusta, Iulia Helena!
The mother of great emperor Constantine!
Who toiled as lowly bar maid in an inn
In ancient Drepanum, Bithynia.
One day a soldiers troop her tavern passed,
Led by imperial an officer,
Chlorus Constantius, famed warrior
Demanded in her tavern a repast.
High officers can easily forget,
Their rank, when struck by beauty sans compare.
He fell in love with the so sweet and fair,
And in Apollo's temple they were wed.
A son was born to them, called Constantine,
Who’d follow in his father’s foot steps soon,
To lead in battle squadrons and platoon,
And favored by the gods their wars to win.
But for political expedience
Constantius Chlorus put his wife aside,
And took Maxentius’ daughter as his bride,
To boost career and personal advance.
Exiled upon an isle she mourned her lot.
Heart broken and in sorrow Helen lived
Her tears were flowing as she cried and grieved.
But in her grief she found the Christian God.
And Helen, wounded deeply could but pray
In bitter exile grieving and alone,
For she had also lost her only son,
Who battled with his father far away.
Both fought far off, in York, on British ground
Where Chlorus fell and died, - - the battle won,
And the victorious army chose her son
As future Emperor to trumpet’s sound.
And Constantine made himself a name,
As emperor and sovereign supreme,
Yet unfulfilled was still his biggest dream,
To gain the WEST, - his high ambitious aim.
He conquered it at last upon the siege
And battle by the famous Milvian bridge,
That gave great Constantine victory
And brought to paynim lands Christianity.
He lifted up his mother from her woe,
And struck on coins of gold her image fair,
Made her "Augusta" - vindicating her
And put the diadem upon her brow.
As ruling Empress, with great piety,
She served the sick, the homeless and the poor,
And for the churches Helen did procure
The funds with zeal and generosity.
Byzantium was at first their residence,
The town munificent - “Helenopolis”
With garden gates and flower line trellis,
A town of fame, strength ad munificence.
But later they chose Trier* as their domain,
The Teutons' pride, and then the Romans' gem
But Helen’s heart longed for Jerusalem,
To search for treasure in dust-bowl terrain.
The agèd empress soon searched on her knee,
Beneath old rubble, broken stones and dross,
She dug and searched, and found at last the cross
Where our Savior hung in agony.
She traveled East to strange and foreign strands,
And searched and found beneath some temples’ stones
Three magi wise men's venerated bones,
And had them transferred on to Western lands.
The cross did not at first a church adorn,-
The faithful used the Chiro sign and Fish,
In Catacombs, on caskets wall and niche
Until the True Cross was to surface borne.
Basilicas soon rose upon their spot,
She financed them and many a sacred shrine
In Palestine and on the Teuton Rhine,
In honor of the Christian Lord and God.
St. Ambrose, Milan’s bishop sang the praise
Of Empress Helen and her sanctity,
The gracious Empress on her agèd knees
That brought the world the symbol of God’s grace.
by: Elizabeth Dandy
*Trier is the oldest German city.
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last updated 11 October 2010 - 4:04am
©22 February 2005 - 2:54pm —
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