“Pentecost is not over, in fact, it is continually going on in every time and in every place.”

Apostle of the Holy Spirit.

Elena was born on June 23, 1835, into a wealthy, noble family in Lucca, Italy. She was 1 of 6 children to Antonio Guerra and Faustina Franceschi. She was well educated, formed in her faith, and talented while also being timid in nature.

She 1st worked with the Vincentians, caring for the poor and sick but for much of her 20s, she was bedridden with a serious illness. It was a challenge that turned out to be transformational for her. While confined to her home or even bed, she studied French, Latin, music, and dedicated herself to meditating on Scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers.

After her recovery, she felt the call to consecrate herself to God during a pilgrimage to Rome with her father. She attended the 3rd public session of Vatican I and met Pope Pius IX. At the sight of him, she was moved that, upon returning to Lucca, she vowed to offer her life for the pope.

Against the wishes of her family, she formed a religious community dedicated to education.

One of her students, Saint Gemma Galgani (https://real-heroes.org/saint-gemma-galgani/), wrote in her autobiography about the strong spiritual impact of her education by the sisters.

At the age of 50, she wrote Pope Leo XIII, asking him to rekindle a devotion to the Holy Spirit in the faithful of which he responded. Encouraged, she wrote 13 letters to him in the next couple of years. At her request, the Pope issued the encyclical Divinum Illud Munus, “On the Holy Spirit” in which he established the Novena to the Holy Spirit to be prayed between the Feast of the Ascension and Pentecost.

He granted her a private audience shortly after, in which he encouraged her work and renamed her community as the Oblate Sisters of the Holy Spirit.

During this time, she also began corresponding with Saint Arnold Janssen (https://real-heroes.org/saint-arnold-janssen/) regarding a “Militia of the Holy Spirit” that would be dedicated to working against the Freemasons.

Internal friction had been brewing with some of the sisters as they questioned her leadership. She resigned after reflection in order to end the conflict. Her Order received papal approval from Pope Pius X on March 6, 1911.

Several years later, she died of natural causes on Holy Saturday, April 11, 1914. The congregation continues its work with houses in nations such as Iran, Lebanon, Brazil, Canada, and the Philippines, with a total of 36 houses around the globe.

Saint John Bosco referred to her as a “golden pen” in reference to her spiritual writings and “modern day apostle of the Holy Spirit.”

For God’s Glory.

Suore Oblate dello Spirito Santo – https://www.oblatespiritosantofirenze.it/index.htm

To be reborn –

I ask you, O Jesus, to be born again,
but to be reborn from above.
Please rename me and renew me in your Spirit…
Always be:
the inspiration of my thoughts,
the stimulus of my will,
the center of my affections,
the guide of my words,
the support of my hope,
the reason and end of my actions,
the friend of the heart,
the companion of life,
my comfort in death,
my treasure for eternity…
May my life be an unceasing rebirth
and grow in the Spirit.

-B. Elena Guerra