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when it was stirred up in Persia, a great many were adorned with martyrdom for Christ, among whom were also Ustazades, the pedagogue of Sapor, and Symeon the archbishop, and besides many others, one hundred clerics and bishops were martyred in one day, and many countless multitudes. And from the many, they numbered 18 thousand notable martyrs who were perfected by the most godless Sapor with horrendous tortures, strange to nature. Then also Akepsimas the bishop and Aeithalas the presbyter and Terboulia, the sister of Symeon the archbishop, were martyred with many other women. But Constantine, the most divine emperor, urged Sapor through letters to spare the Christians, asking him to cease from such great cruelty; which letter is wonderfully and most divinely composed; but he did not persuade him. In the same year, the divine Constantine sent the blessed Helen with money and troops to Jerusalem to search for the life-giving cross of the Lord. And Macarius, the patriarch of Jerusalem, meeting the empress with the due honor, made the search for the longed-for life-giving wood with her, with tranquility and earnest prayers and fasting. 26 When these things had happened, the place was soon revealed from God, shown to the same Macarius, in which was established the temple and the statue of the unclean demon Aphrodite; which, using her imperial authority, the God-crowned Helen quickly demolished through a multitude of artisans, digging it up from its foundations and casting away the dust, it having been built long ago magnificently by Aelius Hadrian. Immediately the holy tomb and the place of the skull were revealed, and to the east very near these, three crosses buried in the earth; and having searched, they also found the nails. And while all were at a loss as to which might be the Lord's cross, and the blessed Helen was greatly distressed, Macarius, the well-named bishop, through faith solved the question. For bringing each of the crosses to a certain woman of high rank who was despaired of and almost dead, he distinguished the Lord's. For only its shadow touched the sick woman, and immediately the breathless and motionless one, by divine power, at once leaped up, glorifying God with a loud voice. And the most-pious Helen, taking up the life-giving wood with fear and great joy, brought a part of it with the nails to her son, but the rest she placed in a silver casket and delivered to the bishop Macarius as a memorial for the generations to come. Then she also ordered churches to be built both at the holy tomb and at the skull, and in the name of her son where the life-giving wood was found, and in Bethlehem and on the Mount of Olives; and so she returned to the all-praised Constantine. And he, receiving her with joy, placed the portion of the life-giving wood in a golden case, entrusting it to the bishop for safekeeping; and of the nails, some he forged into his own helmet, and others he mixed into the bridle of his horse, that the saying spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: "In that day that which is on the bridle of the horse will be holy to the Lord Almighty." And the same all-praised Constantine wrote to the well-named Macarius to hasten the building, and he sent a director of the work with an abundance of money, ordering the holy places to be built in such a way that there would not be such beauty in the whole inhabi27ted world, writing also to the governors of the province to eagerly assist the works from the public account. And the emperor was cheerfully celebrating and giving thanks to God who had done such good things in his times. In the same year also the well-named Macarius, the patriarch of Jerusalem, fell asleep in peace, and Maximus succeeded to his throne, a meek and notable man, who had endured many tortures for God in the persecution and had lost his right eye. At that same time also the blessed Helen fell asleep in the Lord at 80 years old, many

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ἐν Περσίδι κινηθέντος πλεῖστοι τῷ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ μαρτυρίῳ κατεκοσμήθησαν, ἐν οἷς καὶ Οὐσθαξάδης, παιδαγωγὸς Σαβώρου, καὶ Συμεὼν ὁ ἀρχιεπίσκοπος καὶ πρὸς ἄλλοις πολλοῖς ἑκατὸν κληρικοὶ καὶ ἐπίσκοποι ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ ἐμαρτύρησαν καὶ πολλὰ πλήθη ἀναρίθμητα. ἐκ δὲ τῶν πολλῶν τοὺς ἐπισήμους ιηʹ χιλιάδας ἠρίθμησαν μαρτύρων βασάνοις φρικώδεσι καὶ ξέναις τῆς φύσεως τελειωθέντας ὑπὸ Σαβώρου τοῦ ἀθεωτάτου. τότε καὶ Ἀκεψιμᾶς ἐπίσκοπος καὶ Ἀειθαλᾶς πρεσβύτερος καὶ Τερβουλία, ἡ ἀδελφὴ Συμεὼν τοῦ ἀρχιεπισκόπου, σὺν ἑτέραις πλείσταις ἐμαρτύρησαν. Κωνσταντῖνος δέ, ὁ θειότατος βασιλεύς, Σαβώρῃ διὰ γραμμάτων παρῄνει φείσασθαι Χριστιανῶν αἰτῶν καὶ παύσασθαι τῆς τοσαύτης ὠμότητος· ἥ τις ἐπιστολὴ θαυμασίως συντέτακται καὶ θειότατα· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔπεισεν. Τῷ δ' αὐτῷ ἔτει Ἑλένην τὴν μακαρίαν μετὰ χρημάτων καὶ στρατευμάτων ἀπέστειλεν εἰς τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα ὁ θεῖος Κωνσταντῖνος πρὸς τὸ ἀναζητῆσαι τὸν ζωοποιὸν τοῦ κυρίου σταυρόν. Μακάριος δέ, ὁ πατριάρχης Ἱεροσολύμων, συναντήσας τῇ βασιλίδι μετὰ τῆς δεούσης τιμῆς τὴν ζήτησιν τοῦ ποθουμένου ζωοποιοῦ ξύλου ἐποιεῖτο σὺν αὐτῇ μεθ' ἡσυχίας καὶ προσευχῶν σπουδαίων καὶ νηστείας. 26 τούτων δὲ γενομένων, ἐφάνη συντόμως θεόθεν ὁ τόπος τῷ αὐτῷ Μακαρίῳ δειχθείς, ἐν ᾧ ἵδρυτο τῆς ἀκαθάρτου δαίμονος Ἀφροδίτης ὁ ναὸς καὶ τὸ ἄγαλμα· ὃν τῇ βασιλικῇ αὐθεντίᾳ χρωμένη συντόμως καθεῖλεν ἡ θεόστεπτος Ἑλένη διὰ πλήθους τεχνιτῶν ἐκ βάθρων κατασκάψασα καὶ τὸν χοῦν ἀπορρίψασα, ὑπὸ Ἀδριανοῦ Αἰλίου πάλαι κτισθέντα πολυτελῶς. αὐτίκα δὲ τὸ ἅγιον μνῆμα καὶ ὁ τόπος τοῦ κρανίου ἀνεδείχθησαν, καὶ πρὸς ἀνατολὴν σύνεγγυς τούτων τρεῖς σταυροὶ κεχωσμένοι· ἐρευνήσαντες δὲ εὗρον καὶ τοὺς ἥλους. ἀμηχανούντων· δὲ πάντων, ποῖος ἄρα εἴη ὁ δεσποτικὸς σταυρός, καὶ σφόδρα τῆς μακαρίας Ἑλένης λυπουμένης, ὁ Μακάριος φερώνυμος ἐπίσκοπος διὰ πίστεως ἔλυσε τὸ ζητούμενον. ἀπεγνωσμένῃ γάρ τινι γυναικὶ τῶν ἐμφανῶν καὶ σχεδὸν τεθνηκυίᾳ προσαγαγὼν ἑκάτερον τῶν σταυρῶν τὸν δεσποτικὸν διέγνω. μόνον γὰρ ἤγγισε τῇ ἀσθενούσῃ ἡ σκιὰ αὐτοῦ, καὶ εὐθὺς ἡ ἄπνους καὶ ἀκίνητος θείᾳ δυνάμει παραχρῆμα ἀνεπήδησε δοξάζουσα τὸν θεὸν μεγάλῃ φωνῇ. ἡ δὲ πανευσεβὴς Ἑλένη μετὰ φόβου καὶ πολλῆς χαρᾶς ἀνελομένη τὸ ζωοποιὸν ξύλον μέρος μὲν αὐτοῦ σὺν τοῖς ἥλοις ἤγαγε πρὸς τὸν παῖδα, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν εἰς ἀργυροῦν καταθεμένη γλωσσόκομον παρέδωκε τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ Μακαρίῳ εἰς μνημόσυνον ταῖς μετέπειτα γενεαῖς. τότε δὲ καὶ ἐκκλησίας ἐκέλευσε κτισθῆναι ἔν τε τῷ ἁγίῳ μνήματι καὶ ἐν τῷ κρανίῳ καὶ ἐπ' ὀνόματι τοῦ ἑαυτῆς υἱοῦ, ἔνθα εὑρέθη τὸ ζωοποιὸν ξύλον, καὶ ἐν Βηθλεὲμ καὶ ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῶν ἐλαιῶν· καὶ οὕτως ἐπανῆλθε πρὸς τὸν πανεύφημον Κωνσταντῖνον ὁ δὲ δεξάμενος αὐτὴν μετὰ χαρᾶς τὴν μὲν τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ ξύλου μοῖραν ἐν χρυσῇ θήκῃ παρέθετο, παραδοὺς τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ εἰς τήρησιν· τῶν δὲ ἥλων τοὺς μὲν εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ περικεφαλαίαν ἐχάλκευσεν, τοὺς δὲ ἀνέμιξε τῷ σαλιβαρίῳ τοῦ ἵππου αὐτοῦ, ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· "ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἔσται τὸ ἐπὶ τὸν χαλινὸν τοῦ ἵππου ἅγιον τῷ κυρίῳ παντοκράτορι." ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς πανεύφημος Κωνσταντῖνος ἔγραψε τῷ φερωνύμῳ Μακαρίῳ ἐπισπεύδειν τὴν οἰκοδομήν, καὶ ἄρχοντα τοῦ ἔργου ἀπέστειλε μετὰ δαψιλείας χρημάτων, κελεύσας οὕτω κτισθῆναι τοὺς ἁγίους τόπους, ὡς μὴ εἶναι τοιαύτην καλλονὴν ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ οἰκου27 μένῃ, γράψας καὶ τοῖς ἡγεμόσι τῆς ἐπαρχίας συνδραμεῖν τοῖς ἔργοις σπουδαίως ἐκ τοῦ δημοσίου λόγου. ἦν δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς φαιδρῶς ἑορτάζων καὶ εὐχαριστῶν τῷ θεῷ τῷ ποιήσαντι τοιαῦτα ἀγαθὰ ἐν τοῖς χρόνοις αὐτοῦ. Τῷ δ' αὐτῷ ἔτει καὶ ὁ φερώνυμος Μακάριος, ὁ πατριάρχης Ἱεροσολύμων, ἐκοιμήθη ἐν εἰρήνῃ, καὶ διεδέξατο τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ Μάξιμος, πρᾷος ἀνὴρ καὶ ἐπίσημος, πολλὰς βασάνους ὑποστὰς διὰ τὸν θεὸν ἐν τῷ διωγμῷ καὶ τὸν δεξιὸν ὀφθαλμὸν ἀπολέσας. Κατ' αὐτὸν τὸν καιρὸν καὶ ἡ μακαρία Ἑλένη ἐκοιμήθη ἐν κυρίῳ ἐτῶν πʹ πολλὰ