The icon of the Saints Constantine and Helen was found near Sofia Cathedral in Polotsk during the archaeological excavations in 1967. The icon depicts the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (272–337) and his mother Helen. Saint Constantine was the Roman emperor who made Christianity the dominant religion in the state. His mother Helena was canonized as equal-to-the-apostles for her work in spreading Christianity.
Deeply honoring the Cross of the Lord, the emperor wished to find the Life-Creating Cross, on which Jesus Christ had been crucified. For this purpose, he sent his mother, Queen Helen, to Jerusalem, giving her great powers and material means. Saint Helen together with the Patriarch of Jerusalem Macarius took the Life-Creating Cross from the ground on the Mount of Golgotha. Thus in 326, the Cross was miraculously found for the Christian world.