My Cousin the Soon to be Blessed - Venerable Servant of God Elena Aiello

DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS

VATICAN CITY, 2 APR 2011 (VIS) – Today, during a private audience with Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Pope authorised the congregation to promulgate the following decrees:

MIRACLES

- Venerable Servant of God Elena Aiello, Italian foundress of the Minim Sisters of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ (1895-1961). (DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS VIS 4 April 2011)

Sr Elena was born on 10 April 1895 in Montalto Uffugo, Cosenza, Italy. She died on 19 June 1961 in Rome, Italy. She was declared venerable on 22 January 1991 by Pope John Paul II.

OK, before I go any further I have to state that I have yet to make the exact connection between Venerable Servant of God Elena Aiello & myself. But she does share the same last name as my great grandfather & she is is from the same Provincia in Italia as he was. But I am fairly sure that somewhere along the way we are related.

I 1st came across Sr. Elena about 10 years ago when I read Trial, Tribulation, & Triumph: Before During and After the Antichrist by Desmond Birch. (The book is available at the EWTN Religious Catalog among other places.) He mentioned some of her prophecies.

In addition to being the foundress of a religious order, Sr. Elena began suffering the full stigmata every Good Friday from 1923 until shortly before her death. Additionally, she experienced apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary from 1947 until her death. As I already pointed out, she also had the gift of prophecy as the Blessed Virgin showed her visions of the future. Besides the apparitions of Mary she also had apparitions of Jesus, Saint Rita, Saint Francesco Of Paola & other saints.

I need to point out before I go any further that the Catholic Church does not determine sainthood based on a person's mystical experiences. What it does look at is how the person lived out his or her faith. Did she exhibit heroic virtue? Was her life a witness to the faith. They do look at a person's writings to determine how well she upheld the faith. & clearly, if she was promoting anything contrary to the faith that would be a huge stumbling block. In Sr. Elena's case, I am sure a huge part of her heroic virtue was displayed in her founding of the Minum Sisters of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The stigmata has been very well documented. Many photographs were taken over the years. Many doctors & scientists also examined the wounds.

Among the prophecies attributed to her is a message she was asked by Jesus to deliver to Mussolini warning him not to affiliate with Hitler. If he did, Italy would suffer a terrible defeat & Mussolini would have a total defeat & downfall.

Many of her visions/prophecies are similar to those of St. John Bosco, St. Faustina & those at Fatima & Akita.

Mary told her: "If people do not recognize in these scourges (of nature) the warnings of Divine Mercy, and do not return to God with truely Christian living, ANOTHER TERRIBLE WAR WILL COME FROM THE EAST TO THE WEST. RUSSIA WITH HER SECRET ARMIES WILL BATTLE AMERICA; WILL OVERRUN EUROPE. The river Rhine will be overflowing with corpses and blood. Italy, also, will be harrassed by a great revolution, and the Pope will suffer terribly." (22 Aug 1960)

"Spread the devotion to my Immaculate Heart, in order that many souls may be conquered by my love, and that many sinners may return to my Maternal Heart. Do not fear, for I will accompany with my maternal protection my faithful ones, and all those who accept my urgent warnings, and they - especially by the recitation of my Rosary - will be saved." (22 Aug 1960)

Describing a vision on that same day: "Oh, what a horrible vision I see! A great revolution is going on in Rome! They are entering the Vatican. The Pope is all alone; he is praying. They are holding the Pope. They take him by force. They knock him down on the floor. They are tying him. Oh God! Oh God! They are kicking him. What a horrible scene! How dreadful!

Our Blessed Mother is drawing near. Like corpses those evil men fall down to the floor. Our Lady helps the Pope to his feet and, taking him by the arm, she covers him with ehr mantle saying: "Fear not!"

Flagstaffs (flying the Red Flag over St. Peter's dome and elsewhere) collapse, and power is gone out of the clubs of those evil brutes. These atheists are ever shouting: 'We don't want God to rule over us; we want Satan to be our master!'"

After the vision mary told her "My daughter, Rome will not be saved, because the Itailian rulers have forsaken the Divine Light and because only a few people really love the Church. But the day is not far off when all the wicked shall perish, under the tremendous blows of Divine Justice."

No date has been set yet for her beatification.

For more on Venerable Servant of God Sr. Elena Aiello: Blessed Elena Aiello