There are two different saints called Helena. The first and more prominent is Helena of Constantinople. At first the Romans opposed Jesus and his teachings and then after he was no longer on the scene probably decided to use the spreading religion to their advantage by becoming its caretakers. Helena was the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine I. In a miraculous trip that she made to Jerusalem she dug up the relics of the three crosses and the nails with which Jesus was supposed to have been crucified. It is perhaps this feat of recovering these important artifacts along with her piety that led her to be canonized as a saint by both the Catholic and Orthodox branches of Christianity. She was also a very strong and powerful patron of the church being the mother of Constantine I.
