About Elena Aiello:
Elena was born on April 15, 1895 (which happened to be Holy Week) to an exemplary Christian family in Montalto Uffugo (Consenza), Her mother had prayed for the grace of having a baby girl and promised, that if she did, she would name her Elena and consecrate her to the Cross of Our Lord in memory of the Empress, St. Elena.
Her mother unfortunately died at an early age and her father, now a widower and a tailor by trade was left with the care of 8 children one of which also soon died at age one. Elena lived a devout life and performed penances.
A crucial incident occurred when she accidentally inhaled some water she was drinking from a glass while laughing. As a result, she experienced a constant cough for a year and a half (except at night) and the volume of her voice became lowered. She was given some treatments by a doctor but this caused her more pain. Eventually she prayed to Our Lady of Pompei, promising her that she would become a nun if cured. And in fact, Our Lady of Pompei appeared to her during the night and assured her that she would be healed –which she was.
Now that becoming a nun was her goal, she was forced to delay it due to insistence by her father resulting from foreign complications which led to World War I. During this period of her life she he helped refugees, prisoners and nursed invalids and the dying heedless of the dangers to herself in catching any
contagious illnesses.
Her father finally gave his consent for her to be a nun on the condition that she join the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood. Before entering the order, she was prophetically told that she would not last in this Order because God had other plans in store for her. While in the Order she was put in charge of sixteen postulants. But suffering took hold of her life almost immediately which was intestinal pain and a severe pain on the left shoulder. Eventually her shoulder became one solid black mass. She was eventually operated on without any anesthetic while holding a small wooden cross and looking at a picture of Our Lady of Sorrows. Unfortunatel the physician mistakenly cut nerves that resulted in lockjaw and a vomiting spell for 40 days.
Despite the pain, Elena’s intent was to take part in the upcoming religious clothing ceremony through sheer will-power but when the Father Director saw her in such a deplorable state, he couldn’t let her go through with it. What she feared would happen, did, she was asked to leave the convent and return home. However, Elena wrote in her notebook that Our Lord asked her on two occasions to accept His own designs with complete resignation and embrace His cross. Elena left in tears not realizing the great esteem in which she was held by everyone when they observed her good-nature and patience in suffering.
Meantime, Elena’s shoulder was getting worse. In fact, the doctor told her that gangrene was already setting in. The doctor advised her father to demand compensation from the Institute, in other words, sue them. But Elena pleaded with her father to do nothing of the kind especially since she also had hopes to return to it.
Her long period of suffering began and her dream of being a sister was fading away since now she couldn’t even retain liquid food. The doctor diagnosed her with stomach cancer and told her there was no cure and that she was going to die. Her characteristic frank response to him was, “My dear doctor, it is you, who are going to die: I will not die from this disease, because St. Rita is going to make me well”.
On the way home, Elena stopped in a church where St. Rita was venerated to beg her for a cure. In her notebook she writes that she saw dazzling flames all around the statue and told her cousin, who was next to her. Her cousin didn’t see anything. Then that night she had a dream of St. Rita, who told her that she wanted devotional exercises to be held in Montalto in her honor in order to rekindle the faith of the people. Elena started a triduum and St. Rita told her to say a second one and that she would be cured, but the pain in her shoulder would remain because she had to suffer for the sins of the world. Elena’s confessor and spiritual director carefully documented all of these facts.
On January 28, 1928, Elena Aiello founded a new religious order that she named the Minim Sisters of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Mother ..
(Venerable Elena Aiello was declared Blessed on September 14, 2011 -Feast of the Exaultation of the Holy Cross.
About Curia Generalizia dei Frati Minori Conventuali ( General Curia of the Friars Minor Conventional):
Of course what makes the Convent of special interest is the tomb of Blessed Eleana.
Address: Via di S. Teodoro, 42, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
Tel: +39 06.699571