CHARLOTTE — Members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem celebrated one of their patron saints – St. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great and discoverer of the True Cross – during a special Mass Aug. 18.
The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem was founded nearly a thousand years ago by the pope, during the Crusades when Jerusalem came under attack. Today, men and women of the order still defend and support the Catholic presence in the Holy Land through their charitable work.
Now one of the order’s patron saints, St. Helena used her position as mother of the Roman emperor Constantine to care for the poor, imprisoned and exiled after her conversion to Christianity. After her son also converted and legalized Christianity throughout the Roman Empire in the early fourth century, she traveled to Jerusalem and ordered the construction of the Basilicas of the Nativity in Bethlehem and of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives. When she then began construction of a church over the site of Christ’s crucifixion, death and resurrection – the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – the True Cross and three iron crucifixion nails were unearthed.
The Mass on St. Helena’s feast day was offered by Bishop Peter Jugis at St. Patrick Cathedral and concelebrated by Father John Putnam, pastor of St. Mark Church in Huntersville and chaplain of the order’s Charlotte chapter, and Father Christopher Roux, a member of the order and rector of the cathedral. Assisting were Deacons Daren Bitter and Brian McNulty.
In his homily, Bishop Jugis praised St. Helena’s steadfast faith and her love for the poor, especially her concern for Christians in the Holy Land.
“We can learn a lot from St. Helena, to imitate her virtues of generosity and charity,” he said. “She was on fire for the love of Christ and love of the Church,” and her faith and actions helped spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.
“The Church is indebted to her so much,” he said. “She is the perfect patron saint of the Equestrian Order because of her charity and generosity (and) her love for Christ and the Church. She is the perfect patron saint because of her support of the poor and of Christian communities in the Holy Land.
“And how appropriate that she discovered the cross of Christ in Jerusalem – the cross, which is the very symbol of charity, the charity which so marked her life.”
Bishop Jugis encouraged the members to imitate St. Helena in their own lives. “Let us put the love of Christ always into action in our lives, by charity and generosity in service to others.”
Today, the Equestrian Order has approximately 30,000 members in 40 nations worldwide.
Members are required to travel regularly on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and the global amount of aid they send to support the work of the Latin Patriarchate and the other Catholic institutions in the Holy Land is more than $10 million annually.
Knights and ladies wear capes featuring a thick red “Jerusalem cross” that has four miniature crosses in each corner of the main cross. Each of the five crosses represents the five wounds of Christ.
Learn more about their work at www.midatlanticeohs.com.
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle