Constantine and Helen

Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine the Great and his mother Helen.

St. Constantine the Great, Equal-to-the-Apostles, was the first Roman Emperor to embrace Christianity. After his vision of the Cross and his victory under its sign, he ended the persecutions with the Edict of Milan, convened the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea, and founded Constantinople as a Christian capital. His mother, St. Helen, traveled in old age to the Holy Land, where according to tradition she found the Precious Cross of the Lord and built churches on the holy sites.

Mother and son are commemorated together on May 21, one of the great name days of the Greek world, honored as Equals-to-the-Apostles for turning an empire toward Christ.

Feast day

On the New Calendar, Constantine and Helen is commemorated on May 21. Churches on the Old (Julian) Calendar keep the feast on June 3 of the civil calendar.

Who celebrates a name day

People with these names keep their name day on this feast:

Konstantinos, Kostas, Kostis, Dinos, Konstandinos, Constantine, Costas, Costa, Gus, Konstantin, Eleni, Elena, Helen, Elli, Lena, Heleni, Konstantina, Constantina, Dina, Ntina, Kostoula, Helena, Ellen, Elenitsa, Nitsa, Lenio

Also commemorated on May 21

• Pachomios the New Martyr

  Martyr, Παχώμιος ο Νέος

  Venerable Martyr Pachomios of Ousaki, an Athonite monk beheaded for Christ.

  Name days: Pachomios, Pachomius

• Kassianos the Greek

  Venerable, Κασσιανός ο Έλληνας

  Venerable Kassianos the Greek, wonderworker of Uglich.

  Name days: Kassianos, Cassian

• Constantine of Murom with his sons Michael and Theodore

  Saint, Κωνσταντίνος του Μουρόμ

  Holy Princes Constantine, Michael and Theodore of Murom, enlighteners of that region.

• Christopher of Antioch

  Hierarch, Χριστόφορος Αντιοχείας

  Hieromartyr Christopher I, Patriarch of Antioch, murdered for his faith.

• Timothy, Polios and Eutychios

  Martyr, Τιμόθεος, Πόλιος και Ευτύχιος

  Holy Martyrs Timothy, Polios and Eutychios, deacons of Africa.

Icon: public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.