Duchess Consort Linda Carole Teilmann, Dame Grand Collar               

Feast Day of Saint Helen 2021 

August 18, 2021   

     Greetings to all Nobles, Knights, Dames and Members of the Monarchical Chapters of the Royal Order of Constantine the Great and Saint Helen. 

     His Grace, Duke Michael, our Royal Order’s Deputy Grand Master to His Royal Highness, Prince Rafael Andujar y Vilches, Prince Grand Master, and I wish you and your families good health and happiness after this last year and a half of many difficulties and loss of life due to the worldwide pandemic.  It is our honor to serve His Royal Highness and each of you in this very worthwhile organization.

As many of you are aware, each year our Royal Order commemorates the official Feast Day of Saint Helen, the Blessed Mother of Constantine the Great.  The official day is August 18th, however, we are inviting you to set aside a few moments anytime during the month of August to reflect on the accomplishments of this amazing woman.  She converted to Christianity shortly after her son, Constantine, became Roman Emperor.  Due to her newfound faith, she used her position to care for the poor, liberate prisoners and, of vital importance, provided inspiration to her son, to allow Christians to worship freely. 

     Her conversion to Christianity brought her strong faith, and in the year 326, she began a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  There she ordered the construction of the Basilicas of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives. She encouraged her son to build a Basilica over the sites where Jesus had died and risen from the dead.  After clearing away the pagan edifices that had been built on the site, the workers began construction of the Basilica. The work was overseen by Empress Helen, who hoped to discover the relics of Christ’s Passion.  Her faith was rewarded when the True Cross was discovered.  The identity of the Cross was confirmed when a deceased man was laid upon the wood and miraculously restored to life.  The three nails from the Crucifixion were presented by Empress Helen to Constantine. One was cast into the Iron Crown, as a reminder that there is no rule which should not be subject to God; the Crown currently rests in the Cathedral of Monza, in Italy. The other precious relics of the Crucifixion are today preserved in the Roman Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem.  Her seemingly impossible efforts and achievements resulted in The Holy See proclaiming Empress Helen, as Saint of the Roman Catholic Church sometime after her death.

     In years past, we have encouraged the Ladies of Saint Helen to host a luncheon or a tea where they could discuss the great efforts of Saint Helen and to introduce potential candidates to the Royal Order of Saint Constantine the Great and Saint Helen.  Sadly, with the health threat of COVID 19, our leaders have determined that it would be in the best interests of our Nobles, officers, Ladies, Knights and Members of the Monarchical Chapters not to physically gather, but rather to take some quiet time with family to ponder the great achievements of Saint Helen.

     We encourage each of you to regularly review our website https://myroyalorder.org/ to meet new members, or learn of the planned activities of our membership.  There is much that each of you can do in the meanwhile – such as learning the history of our Royal Order, that of our leaders and of the Royal House.  There are also many wonderful articles and photographs on the Royal House's website https://www.principalityofcappadocia.org/ as well as posted on our Facebook page, Royal Order of Constantine the Great and St Helen https://www.facebook.com/groups/rocgsh.org

In Christ’s Love and Service,

Duchess Consort Linda Carole Teilmann, DGC

Dame Grand Collar, Royal Order of Constantine the Great and Saint Helen

P.S:  Help us build our history.  Should you have an event, however small, please send us brief summaries of your activities and pictures.