Constantine's laws, Nicaea, and Helena's mission

At that time the bishop of Jerusalem was Macarius (meaning "blessed"), who had succeeded Hermonas. When Constantine the Great became sole ruler, he turned all his attention to divine things. He rebuilt the churches, since he was generous with the public treasury, with public funds and all kinds of resources. And first he wrote a law that the temples of the idols be handed over to those consecrated to Christ, and that those who still practiced idolatry be punished with severe penalties. Second, he wrote a law that orthodox Christians should serve in the army, and that these should command both nations and camps. Third, he wrote a law that the two Paschal weeks be free from work, one before and one after. And from then on there was deep peace and joy in the whole world, as all the nations daily came running to the faith, and were baptized, and with their own hands shattered their ancestral gods.

But these things were not bearable to the avenging demon, and he plotted how he might destroy such great joy among human beings. The demon was no longer able to persuade people to make a god of creation, for his deception had been exposed. But he attempted to persuade the unstable to rank the Creator with created things. And again there was no small disturbance in the churches of God, as a certain Arius of Alexandria went about everywhere, throwing the world into confusion. A few bishops, small in number, were carried away with him, of whom the first was Eusebius of Nicomedia, and Eusebius of Caesarea, also called Pamphili, and others with them. When Constantine the Great saw the great strife, he was grieved in his soul. At first he tried through letters of exhortation to extinguish the quarrel between the two parties. But when he saw that the evil was becoming incurable, he ordered an ecumenical council to be held in the city of Nicaea, and three hundred eighteen bishops assembled. Most of them were confessors, bearing the marks of Jesus in their body (Galatians 6:17). With them also was the most renowned Constantine, and when the matter was set in motion, they produced a written statement of faith, the one now proclaimed in every orthodox church, declaring the Son one in being with the Father. Those around Arius and Eusebius of Nicomedia who persisted in their false teaching they denounced, and they were exiled, and others were ordained in their place. The emperor honored the bishops, embraced them, and sent them away in peace to their own dioceses, rejoicing at the harmony of the churches.

He instructed Macarius, the bishop of Jerusalem, who was present at the council and fighting for the apostolic doctrines, to search for the life-giving Cross, and the holy tomb that received God, and all the holy places. He likewise urged the other bishops to ask for whatever each saw fit for the completion of his own church. It was the nineteenth year of his reign when the council at Nicaea took place.

After these things the emperor sent his own mother Helena, praiseworthy and beloved by God, to Jerusalem, with letters and an abundance of money, to Macarius (meaning "blessed"), bishop of Jerusalem, for the search for the life-giving wood of the glorious Cross and the building of the holy places. The queen herself had asked for this, saying that she had seen a divine vision commanding her to go to Jerusalem and bring to light the holy places that had been buried by the winds and had been hidden for so many years. When the bishop learned that the queen had arrived, he gathered the bishops of the province and met her with fitting honor.