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Helena of Sköfde (d. 1164, also called Helen or Elin) was a Swedish saint and patron to what is now
Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...
, in southwest
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, where she was born. Her father might have been a duke (or jarl) named Guthorm.Mershman, Francis (1913)
"St. Helen of Sköfde."
In Herbermann, Charles George et al. (eds.) ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company
Helena was widowed at a young age, but instead of remarrying, she "devoted herself to works of charity and piety, keeping her gates open to the poor, and clothing them".Dunbar, Agnes B.C. (1901). ''A Dictionary of Saintly Women''. Volume 1. London: George Bell & Sons, p. 373 She also built, at her expense, most of the church in Sköfde in southcentral Sweden. According to
hagiographer A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...
Agnes B. C. Dunbar, she built a portico between the church and its tower, and when asked about its purpose, replied, "God will give us some saint whose body and relics can be suitably placed there". Eventually, she was interred there. The church, which was named for her since the Middle Ages, was burned down during the city's fire in 1759, was rebuilt on its original foundations, and is still used today. Helena's burial chamber is located in the oldest part of the church. Helena had a dream, while visiting
Götene Götene is a locality and the seat of Götene Municipality, Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sw ...
in western Sweden, that the village's church, with her in it, flew away to Sköfde. She interpreted the dream as a prediction that she would die in Gotene and be buried at Sköfde, which, as Dunbar reported, "eventually happened". In about 1164, her daughter's husband, while Helena was on a
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
to
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, was killed by his servants, who admitted to it but claimed that Helena had incited them to do it. His family became her enemies and persecutors; one of them, while she was visiting Gotene "for indulgences to the consecration of the church of Gotene", stabbed and killed her. Many miracles occurred after her death. A blind man was healed the day of Helena's murder, while passing by where it happened with a boy who was leading him. The boy saw "a light like a burning candle in the bushes", told the man what he saw, and after a search, found Helena's finger wearing a ring she had brought from Jerusalem. The blind man touched his eyes with the blood from the finger and was immediately healed. While transporting Helena's body to Sköfde, a fountain, later called ''Lene Kild (''"St. Helen's Fountain") sprung up where they rested. At the cemetery where she was buried in Sköfde, her body was washed on a large stone, which was cut in two parts. The part of the stone stained with her blood was propped up so no one would step on it; according to Dunbar, many miracles occurred there, which became a place of veneration for Helena, even after the
Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
. In the late 16th century, according to Catholic historian Francis Mershman,
Abraham Angermannus Abraham Andersson, usually known under the Latin form of his name, Abrahamus Andreæ Angermannus or just Abraham Angermannus (died in October 1607) was the fourth Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala in the Church of Sweden from 1593 to 1599. He was d ...
, the fourth
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
Archbishop of Uppsala, had Helena's fountain, along with other springs with religious significance, filled up with stones and rubbish, but pilgrims traveled to Helena's grave every summer, where they were healed after staying there all night; they took little bags of earth from under her tombstone, leaving their crutches behind, and made "
votive offerings A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...
in token of gratitude". Another legend states that devotion to the coffin containing Helena's body floated to Tiisvilde, a small town in the nearby Danish island
Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...
, where a spring "broke forth where the coffin touched land". Mershman stated that it might have been a reason for Helena's veneration at Tiisvilde, although it is possible that she visited there or that some of her relics had been brought there. Helena was
canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...
by Pope Alexander III, on the recommendation of Stefan, the first Archbishop of Uppsala. She was the first Swedish nun to be canonized. Her feast day is July 31.


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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Helena Of Skovde Year of birth unknown 1164 deaths Medieval Swedish saints 12th-century Christian saints People from Västra Götaland County 12th-century Swedish people Female saints of medieval Sweden 12th-century Swedish women