By Fr. George Dorbarakis
It is a remarkable case, that of the princess who later became an empress, then the mother of an emperor, and afterward a nun: Helen Dragas, who later became Ypomoni. For it is certainly not easy for someone to leave behind honors and glory — even in a period of decline — and shut herself up in a monastery, living as an ordinary mortal and carrying out even the most difficult and humble obediences. This reveals an exceptional humility, which is the necessary condition for receiving the grace of God in abundance.
Even more remarkable, however, is that she not only became a nun, but attained such heights of holiness that our Church recognized them and proclaimed her sanctity. The miracles recorded through her interventions, both in earlier times and in more recent years, are many. One example is the case of a taxi driver who, only a few years ago on this very day, was transporting a simple nun from Athens to Loutraki. During the journey he revealed his problem — skin cancer. He received her blessing, and it acted immediately as a cure for his illness. When, after a brief stop, he looked for her, she had vanished. No one around the place where he had stopped had seen her. He later recognized her in the doctor's office he visited, because the doctor had an icon of Saint Ypomoni hanging on the wall.
Yet the paradox of her life — that an empress became a simple and humble nun and even attained sanctity — is resolved and understood when one considers the whole course of her life from the beginning. Saint Helen, the Venerable Ypomoni, lived with a constant awareness of God's presence, with care for the fulfillment of His holy commandments, with humility, and above all with love for her fellow human beings, one might say from the time of her birth. Whether in the palace or in the monastery, whether a young maiden or the wife of an emperor, she essentially lived the same life. This clearly proves that a person of good disposition, a person who truly loves Christ, is not determined by the external circumstances of life but by the firm goal he has established for his life. In other words, Saint Ypomoni is another example of a truly holy person who could say, as the Apostle Paul did: "I count all things as rubbish, that I may gain Christ." She considered everything to be refuse compared to being with Christ.
And perhaps what leaves us most astonished in her case is the fact that she lived in holiness and purity even while she occupied positions of great power and before she entered the monastery. It was as if nothing earthly touched her, as if she were a dove flying above the confusion of this world. Indeed, among other images, this is how her Hymnographer describes her. He calls to us:
"Let us praise the renowned queen, the venerable Ypomoni, the devout dove who flew away from the world's confusion to the heavenly dwellings, living in unwavering love, ascetic struggle, and humility" (Apolytikion).
We have noted before that the grace of a saint — and indeed of any simple believer — is revealed by what his or her presence awakens in us. A saint always lifts us up spiritually, helps us perceive the true purpose of life, and gives us the impulse for our better self to be revealed. In the presence of a saint, the laughter of the soul emerges; we become truly human. Whatever a saint possesses — the grace of God — that is what he or she transmits. As the Lord Himself says: "A tree is known by its fruit."
This is exactly what happened with Saint Ypomoni. Every person who approached her was led toward growth in God and toward the manifestation of the grace-filled self hidden within. These are not merely flattering words spoken by us today. They are the testimony of her own age, recorded by people who knew her personally, including saints.
Let us hear, for example, what Gennadios Scholarios, the first Patriarch of Constantinople after the fall of the City, says in his discourse "On the Repose of the Mother of Emperor Constantine XI, Saint Ypomoni":
"Whenever some wise man visited that blessed Queen, he departed astonished by her wisdom. Whenever an ascetic met her, he left ashamed of the poverty of his own virtue when compared with hers. Whenever a prudent man encountered her, he added even more prudence to his own. Whenever a lawgiver met her, he became more careful. Whenever a judge conversed with her, he realized that before him stood a living rule of justice. Whenever a courageous man met her, he felt himself surpassed, marveling at her patience, prudence, and strength of character. Whenever a philanthropist approached her, his love for mankind became more intense. Whenever a lover of amusements met her, he acquired prudence and, seeing humility embodied in her person, repented. Whenever a zealot for piety met her, his zeal increased. Every suffering person found relief from sorrow through meeting her. Every proud man chastised his own excessive self-love. In general, no one ever came into contact with her without becoming better."
Likewise, her contemporary, the deacon John Eugenikos, brother of Mark Eugenikos, Archbishop of Ephesus, writes in his "Consolatory Discourse to Constantine Palaiologos" upon the repose of his mother:
"As for that ever-memorable Lady, your mother, everything about her while she lived was exceptional: her faith, her works, her lineage, her character, her life, her speech. Everything together was noble and worthy of divine honor. And just as she lived as a participant in Divine Providence, so also she departed this life."
The "Holy Lady," as George Phrantzes calls her, united the meaning of her monastic name — Ypomoni (Patience) — with the way she confronted both the joyful moments and the countless hardships of her life. Patience in life, patience in action, patience in name.
"Through her patience she gained possession of her soul."
The only thing that perhaps comes naturally to us as well when we stand before Saint Ypomoni is to magnify her together with the Church:
"Rejoice, exemplar of patience, pillar of chastity, unshaken wall of virtues and treasury of love, O Ypomoni, most glorious ornament of God-inspired queens."
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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