ORDINIS HELENIUM
CONCLUSION OF THE
ORIGINAL LATIN TEXT
written during the autumn of
1288 by bishop
Brynolf Algotsson (1245-1317)
in
Westgothia, Sweden.
No complete edition exists.
This translation is based on
CODEX LAURENTII ODONIS from
ca.1400, and on
BREVIARIUM SCARENSE printed
in 1498.
No other earthly sources
exist
as to information on the life
of St. Helena.
The
brynolfian text is meant to be used at the yearly Feast of Saint Helena. The
Church must exult over the day of this feast. Helena prays for us who honours
it, that God may forgive us all of our sins. "Joy! you faithful parish of
devotees. You Westgothians -
spring anew! You Wheel of the World
- praise the martyrdom of
Helena!" "Get involved in the far-famed March of Victory on this happy
Day, because our reverend Martyr has raised up to the Throne of Honour!"
GOD is namned: the Highest Authority, Creator of
Everthing, the Highest Artist, the Founder of Helena, the Judge, our Foreman,
Lord, the King of Honour, the Divine Power.
GOD'S REALM is designated by complete joy, by calmness
and sereneness, by peace -
the Peace that overwhelms any conscience; the celestial Government.
OTHER NAMES of God's realm: Pleasure, Heaven, the Grand
Assembly room of the Holy Ones; the heavenly Fatherland, the World of Light.
FROM WHERE did Helena stem in a worldly sense, and where
did she operate?: Westgothia, Västergötland, in Sweden. She belonged to a
noble family.
WHERE IS HELENA NOW: On the Throne in Heaven; her
dwelling is before the eyes of the King of Honour.
HOW TO ADDRESS HELENA: "Oh Helena full of Mercy";
"Oh beatific Empress"; "Oh Lawyer of Swedes"; after having
fulfilled the hour of suffering successfully, she has become worthy of receiving
a Throne in God's House -
that is through having become the "pleasant MARTYR of God".
"Hail, you decoration of our Fatherland". She is a NEW CLARITY; God's
Maid; the Flower of Westgothia; the Lamp of our Fatherland; the Ornament
and the Patroness of Westgothia.
HOW TO HONOUR HELENA: Through preserving the holiness of
our early years, and through not giving away our Forces to strangers!; with
devotions and through singing lauds on her behalf; to perform music to her:
"Resonate lovely melodies out of reverence on the day of Helena's yearly
Feast".
EXTERIOR description of Helena: She is compared to a
beautiful rose. She surpasses everybody as to beauty; she expresses herself with
taste; one can clearly see that God has blessed her eternally. She is compared
to Susanna, Sara (the wife of Tobia), Lea, Rachel and Esther, so there is no
doubt that she was brown-eyed and darkhaired! When Brynolf writes that Helena
was as beautiful as Rachel, he cannot have thought of Rachel as a blue-eyed
blonde. "The excellent face of Helena is not very unlike that of
Esther". She is also compared to Judith, and to Deborah and Hulda, the
prophetesses; to Sara (daughter of Raguel), Anna (daughter of Phanuel), Rebecca,
Martha, Maria, Jael, the Tecoa-woman and Abygail.
Brynolf mentions four times how FRAGRANT Helena was; she
was a nice-scented lavender; she owned innately nice-smelling Balm of Power.
WHAT HELENA CAN DO: She can direct us on the Road of
Righteousness, that we mustn't go astray. She can lead us up to the World of
Light from the Valley of Sorrow, enabling us to live with her in eternal
freshness. She is the daughter of gentleness and peace and she is the prentice
of sinlessness. Helena is able to cause that the punishment which awaits us is
neglected; she guides us to God's Realm. Her prayers can enable us to be led to
God's Realm inspite of our being creatures of earth. She can rinse away sins by
means of her praying, and take us to the longed-for metes of Heaven. She can
pray to God that we may experience Mercy. She
is an utterly pleasant star which shines without cessation. She owns and owned
the gift of Prophecy, that is: God gave her information of what she had to go
through. She prayed for her enemies and accusants, and she was benevolent
towards those who turned against her - but she did
not embrace the enemies of God (like a Quisling)! The intelligence of Abygail
revived within Helena, and she carried inside a SPIRITUAL YEARNING; she had a
celestial need to become able to get refreshed by the Height of God. Restlessly
she gathered treasures for the Treasury in Heaven. Her power and her mediation
are proportionate (mediation between God and mankind) - shown eg. by
her mundifying a leper).
The PURPORT of Helena's work: She was given from Heaven
for the spiritual elevation of Westgothia; for to be a mild Lawyer for Sweden, a
Mediatress. The purport was moreover that God, in accordance to her prayers on
high for us who honour her yearly Feast, may forgive our sins and mercifully and
generously may gloze them over. Moreover that our spirits may be encouraged to
praise God.
Thanks to Brynolf's choicing the quotation from Syrach
26, the right slant on CHASTITY is revealed, since nothing can be compared to
the individual who proves to be chaste (v.15). Helena confined her heart, speech
and manners to Chastity.
MIRACLES: Sweden and Norden experienced her clear
tokens; they appeared before the eyes of people, whenas the favour of Helena's
Star was waxing in Westgothia. Yes, all over the world people experienced
distinct miracles thanks to her. When she prayed to God, miracles were the
result, since God alone is the source of miracles. After her bodily death the
miracles were multiplied thanks to her merits. A)Already on the 1:st of August,
the very day of her martyrdom, a lad, guiding a blind man past the site of the
martyrdom after sunset, saw a shine almost like an ardent candle in a bramble
- the flashing was emitted from the cut off finger of Helena,
and on the finger was the ring she had brought with her from the Holy Land. (Or:
Marvellously a light flashed forth from Heaven into the bramble, revealing where
on earth the finger lay). Whenas the blind man touched this finger, and lifted
his hand, stained by her blood, towards his eyes, immediately the prior
obscureness was removed and the light retured! B)Whenas her body was conveyed,
the carriers stopped by the road for to thank God at he appropriate hour, a new
fountain bubbled forth at once, which still is known as Saint Helena's Source
(Brynolf doesn't tell whether he means the source outside Skodhwe or that near
Gothene church). C)After the holy body of Helena had been rinsed over the big
boulder on the Cemetery (Brynolf doesn't say it out clearly if this was the
cemetery of Skodhwe, but it is to be taken for granted), the stone broke into
two peaces in such a way, that the part over which blood had dripped from her
wounds raised up without effort, while the part over which no blood had dripped
indeed remained on the ground. This is evaluated as a measure of God to the
honour of Helena, so that no longer her blood could be stepped on by human feet.
The Divine Power thereby proved, too, how great the Faith of Helena had been
during her lifetime: "If you had belief like a mustard seed and told this
mountain to go away, it would go away". D)The stone remained STANDING
RAISED UP (Estos!) in that a way for many a year, and more miracles took place
there, as long as the site was kept in due reverence.
How is Helena's BIRTH designated?: Like a brilliant
sun-up. The rest of the mankind are brought forth from mud, but we are given a
possibility, thanks to the prayers of St. Helena for us, to be guided to the joy
in Heaven. She was given by the divine and clear Mercy; she was delivered from
above.
WHEN was Helena BORN in Westgothia?: Whenas the winter
of disbelief had gone; whenas christian Faith had become known within the
borderlines of our Fatherland (id est ~1100).
Helena GROWING UP: She was educated in the Law of the
Lord and in Justice. God's Order and Eternal Bases on an unchanging Rock did
exist in the heart of this holy Woman.
Was Helena the ONLY CHRISTIAN FLOWER who appeared here?
No, there were more, but Helena was the most eminent, and the rumour was spread
of her good deeds and of her divine Fire of Love. During the wee years of Faith,
she raised like a glistening and early star on the front line, with beaming
exemplarity and tokens. Christian martyrs were few and far between before the
martyrdom of Helena in Sweden.
How is the EARTHLY LIFE designated?: As a jail!; as the
'war', as the valley of sorrow. "Husks are shook and thereby the seeds are
gathered". Helena endured until her spirit was replanted in Heaven: -That's
how seeds are gathered! Fasts, prayers and work withal she tamed and accustomed
her body.
How is DEATH designated?: In terms of "casting the
weight of the body off!"; to climb up to Heaven. Her death is regarded as
honorífic. In advance she was informed of that she was going to die at Gothene.
She was absolutely sure that a Wreath of Victory was prepared for her in Heaven.
Exactly in God's appointed second, he snatched his Prize-woman out of the carnal
prison by means of impatient swords. Nothing can block the way to the spirit who
is steering towards the celestial Government. In the Rosary of Heaven the red
rose was laid down, which our honorable martyr had deserved through martyrdom.
HOW WAS HELENA LIVING: All her life she gained superb
awards for her family. The chains of matrimony was superseded by her wholly
hallowing herself to God. Her exemplarity brought forth holy tokens. She was
loved by everybody, and she had a noble mind. She served the Lord with fasting
and spiritual speech; the entrance of the mansion of hers was open to wanderers,
and she kept the poor warm with wool from her sheep. Her led a HOLY life; she
was humble in deed and words, aflame with Agapë. She feeded and clothed the
poor daily. Nightly she would occupy herself with spiritual contemplation, and
she would devote daytime dutifully to outer work.
SOBRIETY: Explicitely Brynolf has written that Helena
was sober as Hanna, the mother of Samuel, with reference to 1-Sam.1:12-17.
Her relationship to the CHURCH: She was constantly and
uncompromisedly enthusiastic for God's House, and she financed the building of
churches; she loved to adorn God's House. Zealously she served the servants of
the Fane of God.
Her MATRIMONY: Having reached marriageable age, she
agreed to accept a man, according to the customs of the country. She believed
that she obeyed God in doing so. God combined in her to be fertile but yet to be
decent and beautiful, so that her physiognomy mirrored her mind. After having
become a widow, her age and assets called for another matrimony. Matrimony is
regarded as "contagion blotting the body"; as carnal chains that one
wants to break. She simply and powerfully rejected the carnal love of matrimony.
WHERE did Helena LIVE; where was her mansion?: Her
country estates was GOTHENE! (Forget Skövde and Vâmb, in other words) Sanely
she received this visionary description of the future there: It seemed to her,
concerning the church of Gothene, that it, at the same time as she appeared in
it, flew to Skodhwe yonder. God gave her the interpretation: That she was going
to die at Gothene but was yet going to be buried at Skodhwe.
SPIRITUAL WEDDING: Helena preferred to be chained to
God, because such a wedding will lead to eternal joy althought the start may be
hard, when on the other hand carnal matrimony starts with pleasure but reaches
towards the end with grief. She began serving the Lord in her troublesome
widowhood.
Did Helena ENTER A CONVENT?: No, she "replaced her
matrimony almost as if she were in a convent; she intended to lead the pious
life of pious widows".
Helena's GRAVE: She had been informed in advance that
she was going to be buried at Skodhwe. In person she financed a large portion of
the erection of the church of Skodhwe, which was under weigh. When the arcade or
portico was built, which is between the tower (turret) and the church, some
people asked what the Intérstice there was meant for. She answered: GOD IS
PRONE TO GIVE US (YOU) SOMETHING SACRED, THE BODY AND REMAINS OF WHICH IN A
SUITABLE WAY CAN BE LAID TOGETHER HERE - Dabit vobis/nobis
Deus aliquem sanctum, cujus corpus et reliquie poterunt hic decenter collocari/hic
poterunt decenter collocari. That her reverend and sacred body later actually
did rest in peace here, was regarded as a proof of that she owned the clear
Spirit of Prophecy.
SATAN: He hated that oratories of saints were
constructed, while houses of idolatry and temples of demigods were dismantled
and boskets of offerings were chopped down. He became jealous of Helena, who
promoted all this and the worship of God. He decided to douse the shining Lamp
of God's House -
Helena -
and as a tool he chose her son-in-law.
The SON-IN-LAW: The daughter of Helena got married to an
aristocrat, who soon began hating the daughter, often tormenting her both
verbally and violently. The servants of their estates were appalled by this
unjust disaster, and the waited for their master, the son-in-law of Helena, and
the jabbed him to death in an ambush.
The REVENGERS: The relatives of the son-in-law let go of
the servants, because they accused Helena for having let the ambush happen; for
being its engineer by having talked in a bloodthirsty way, and thereby the
ambush blackened her conscience. The relatives of her son-in-law became thus her
relentless enemies, and they began 'threshing' her.
The THEOLOGY behind the suffering of Helena: Even if we
judge something or someone as fulfilled, there might still be details, in the
eyes of the Highest Artist, which are not perfect. God made Helena perfect by
dint of hammering persecution and pressure
- because thereafter there
followed a daily waxing of her loving her Founder, and she aspired the joy and
peace of the celestial Fatherland.
The PILGRIMAGE: God wanted to create a space for his
wrath (or: he wanted to allow the circumstances their wrath)
- in order to let her get
away from her enemies -
and he sent a vision into Helena's mind that it would be good for her to
visit holy places abroad. She did not shrink back from the coming toils of the
road, but she combined feminine Proposal and masculine Courage and went to the
Holy Sepulchre of our Lord and to the site of his Sufferings and to many other
places where Holy Relics were revered -
entrusting God to judge her case justly. She knew that patience brings a
perfect achievement along with it.
Her RETURN: She returned dauntlessly to the mansion,
relying on the Lord. Her enemies, though, were still hunting Helena's righteous
spirit, and they prepared for the ambush. ON THE FIRST OF AUGUST, whenas she was
heading for the inauguration of Gothene Church, a certain one among her enemies
cast himself over her, wounding her cruelly in the attack, sating the sword with
innocent, righteous blood. Her spirit, freed because of the jabbing, flew
directed to the Height, but her body lay fallen like a guiltless sheep
- and now she went over from the war to the Peace, which
overwhelms any conscience. Eagerly she transcended to God's Consoling (id est in
1140 acc.to the oldest ref.s).
MORE Miracles: A mute, a deaf, a leper and a cripple
were healed after having implored Helena by her Grave at Skodhwe. A certain
stoner, working with beatific Helena's church, weaponless and guiltless, had to
dodge to the swords of enemies attacking him. They couldn't wound him since he
implored our Martyr for help, except for slicing his clothes some. There were a
few traces of the jabberings, looking like scarlet threads on the skin, as if
the swords had been blunt. When the enemies realized that they could achieve
nothing, they turned away in different directions from the stoner. They cut down
another man thereafter, who approached them. Then, on turning anew towards the
stoner with their swords, they were stricken by blindness in such a way, that
even if they had been in the same house as the stoner, they could not have seen
him, whereby the ancient miracle, which Elisha once asked God for, was renewed
thanks to divine promotion. The main part of the Memorial of Helena, of her life
and work, had already in the days of Brynolf's got lost due to oblivion, neglect
and absence of written documents. Brynolf's texts on her are meant to promote
the hallowing process of the Holy Ones and the construction and consolidation of
the Faithful.
CANONIZATION: It was arcbishop Stephanus who informed
pope Alexander III, during his exile at Sens in France, of the life of Saint
Helena, wherefore the pope considered it reasonable to enroll her in the
Catalogue of Saints (id est in 1164, verifiably).
A part of her SERMON included by Brynolf:
"Listen everybody:
Despise the present,
since it is ugly to be fond
of
what steadily is under weigh
to perish.
Love to the earthly things
must not imprison you,
haughtiness must not bent you
inwards,
wealth must not blemish you,
jealousy must not consume
you.
Out of love for us, dear
brethren,
our Redeamer lay dead for us,
and through his love for us
we conquer ourselves.
If we act perfectly, we shall
not only evade coming
punishments,
but we shall be rewarded with
honour
in common with the martyrs.
Irregardless if there is no
persecuting at the moment,
this peace still might be our
martyrdom,
and although the carnal neck
is not pressed down,
we still can slaughter our
carnal wishes mentally
by means of a spiritual sword".
PRAYER:
"Listen, our Empress
full of mercy,
to the prayers of your people.
Delight among the happy ones
of the Assemblage!
Please be our Commander in
Chief
amidst the crucial moments of
the present life,
which our complaint usually
reveals with pain.
Please be our Commander in
Chief
amidst the crucial moments of
the present life.
Let it happen to us as it did
to you,
you who was elevated,
so that your people may
become pleasant to God
and able to deserve honour
-
Amen!"
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