St. Elena Guerra

“Apostle of the Holy Spirit”
Canonized!
 
By:  Dee Halbert, DOSA Service Committee CCR
 
 
I was filled with unspeakable joy and renewed hope for the Church as I watched the much-anticipated canonization mass celebrated by Pope Francis of our new Saint Elena Guerra. It was broadcast from Rome on Sunday, October 20th.  Because of her holy boldness and obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, this humble nun at the turn of the 20^th century was instrumental in millions of Catholics and other Christians being renewed and more fully conformed to Jesus Christ thru her request to Pope Leo XIII to call for a return to the Holy Spirit for the whole Church.
 
Patti Mansfield, a pioneer and leader of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal describes in her article of May 24, 2022 on St. Elena the historical and divine significance of her holy boldness and obedience. In an excerpt from her article she states:
 
“In October of 1973, Fr. Val Gaudet wrote an article in New Covenant entitled, A Woman and the Pope. He explained that Pope St. John XXIII called Elena “the apostle of the Holy Spirit.”  In fact, Fr. Gaudet thought Elena’s teaching influenced Pope St. John XXIII to pray his famous prayer: “Renew your wonders in this our day as by a New Pentecost.”
 
Bl. Elena’s life spanned from 1835 to 1914. She founded a religious order in Lucca, Italy, that became the Oblate Sisters of the Holy Spirit. In 1886, Bl. Elena began to be aware of her prophetic task, which was to write to Pope Leo XIII and urge him to renew the Church through a return to the Holy Spirit. She wrote about a dozen confidential letters to the Holy Father between 1895 and 1903, calling for renewed preaching on the Holy Spirit, “who is the one who forms the saints.”
 
Bl. Elena told Pope Leo XIII of her desire to see the whole Church unite in constant prayer, like Mary and the apostles in the Upper Room, awaiting the coming of the Spirit: “Oh, if only the invocation Veni! (Come) . . . would become as popular a prayer as the Ave (Hail Mary)!” Her words are full of fire:
“Pentecost is not over. In fact, it is continually going on in every time and in every place, because the Holy Spirit desired to give himself to all men and all who want him can always receive him, so we do not have to envy the apostles and the first believers; we only have to dispose ourselves like them to receive him well, and He will come to us as he did to them.”
She also wrote, “The mystery of Pentecost is a permanent mystery. The Spirit continues to come to all souls who truly desire Him . . . If they only want Him . . . if they only invoke Him . . . if they only prepare a place for Him in their hearts. . . . Who is hungry enough? Who is thirsty enough? Who is humble enough? Who is zealous enough? . . . It is necessary that we return to the Holy Spirit so that the Holy Spirit may return to us.”
Pope Leo XIII heard the Lord’s call through Bl. Elena. He responded to her first letter by publishing Provida Matris Caritate in 1895, in which he asked the entire Church to celebrate a solemn novena (nine consecutive days of prayer) to the Holy Spirit each year between the feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost. After her third letter, the pope wrote the encyclical Divinum Illud Munus in 1897, which also concerned the doctrine on the Holy Spirit. Bl. Elena was pleased with the Holy Father’s efforts but disappointed with the bishops’ poor response to the call for an annual novena. Following the ninth letter of Bl. Elena, in 1902, the Holy Father wrote a letter to the bishops, Ad Fovendum in Christiano Populo, reminding them of the obligation to make the novena annually.
Bl. Elena formed prayer groups called “Permanent Cenacles.” She often was heard to exclaim, “Let us go to the Cenacle!”
From her early years as an educator, Bl. Elena wrote many pamphlets and books urging people to return to the Holy Spirit. In 1880, she had even approached Don Bosco, while he was passing through Lucca. He encouraged her to continue her apostolate with the youth, as well as her activity as a writer. He said, “You have a pen of gold.”
That “pen of gold” composed not only letters to the pope, but also many beautiful prayers to the Holy Spirit. Elena used the invocation of Pope Leo XIII and wrote a Holy Spirit Chaplet that is used as a Pentecost Novena. This novena is a plea for each of the seven sanctifying gifts of the Spirit, with a prayer that is repeated seven times for each gift: “Father, in the name of Jesus, send forth your Spirit and renew the world.” This prayer is followed by an invocation to Our Lady, “O Mary, who by the work of the Holy Spirit, conceived the Savior, pray for us.” At the end of the chaplet, there are three additional invocations to Our Lady and a Hail Mary. This prayer is still used today by the Oblate Sisters of the Holy Spirit, and I have had the privilege to pray it with them in Elena’s bedroom in Lucca.
In her ninth letter to Pope Leo XIII, on October 15, 1900, Elena begged the pope to exhort all Catholics to pray for the new century and to place it under the sign of the Holy Spirit: “Most Holy Father, I humbly present with confidence to your Holiness that the new century may begin with the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus to be sung at the beginning of the Mass of the first day of the year.”
As a result of Bl. Elena’s request, Pope Leo intoned the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus (Come Creator Spirit) in the name of the whole Church, on January 1, 1901. On the same day, an event took place in Topeka, Kansas, that marked the beginning of a great revival in the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit destined to sweep throughout this country and around the world. And just over sixty-six years later, we sang the Veni Creator Spiritus on the Duquesne Weekend, using the same Gregorian chant melody used by Pope Leo XIII. May the time come soon for her canonization. Let it be! Veni Creator Spiritus!”
 
Come Holy Spirit!
 
St. Elena Guerra Pray for Us!
 
“The Spirit and the Bride say “Come.” And let him who hears say, “Come.” And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price. Rev 22:17
 

This prayer to the Holy Spirit originated with the exhortation of Pope Leo XIII. In a papal brief promulgated on May 5, 1895, he exhorted all Catholics to devoutly make a Holy Spirit Novena. The pope suggested a special formula of prayer: “Send forth your Spirit and renew the world.” With this in mind, Saint Elena Guerra, “The Holy Spirit Apostle of Modern Times,” composed these invocations in 1896 to ask the Holy Spirit for the grace of a New Pentecost, which renews the face of the earth.
 
How to pray:
O God, come to my assistance.
 O Lord, make haste to help me.
 Glory be to the Father…
1. Come, O Spirit of Wisdom, detach us from earthly things and infuse in us a love and taste of heavenly things.
 “Father, in the Name of Jesus, send forth your Spirit and renew the world.”
 “O Mary, who by the work of the Holy Spirit, conceived the Savior, pray for us.”
2. Come, O Spirit of Understanding, enlighten our minds with the light of your eternal truth and the riches of holy thoughts.
 “Father, in the Name of Jesus, send forth your Spirit and renew the world.”
 “O Mary, who by the work of the Holy Spirit, conceived the Savior, pray for us.”
3. Come, O Spirit of Counsel, make us docile to your inspirations and guide us in the way of salvation.
 “Father, in the Name of Jesus, send forth your Spirit and renew the world.”
 “O Mary, who by the work of the Holy Spirit, conceived the Savior, pray for us.”
4. Come, O Spirit of Fortitude , and give us strength, constancy and victory in the battle against our spiritual enemies.
 “Father, in the Name of Jesus, send forth your Spirit and renew the world.”
 “O Mary, who by the work of the Holy Spirit, conceived the Savior, pray for us.”
5. Come, O Spirit of Knowledge, be the Master of our souls and help us to put into practice Your teachings.
 “Father, in the Name of Jesus, send forth your Spirit and renew the world.”
 “O Mary, who by the work of the Holy Spirit, conceived the Savior, pray for us.”
6. Come, O Spirit of Piety, come to live in our heart to possess and sanctify all of our affections.
 “Father, in the Name of Jesus, send forth your Spirit and renew the world.”
 “O Mary, who by the work of the Holy Spirit, conceived the Savior, pray for us.”
7. Come, O Spirit of the Fear of the Lord, reign over our will and make us always disposed to suffer every evil rather than to sin.
 “Father, in the Name of Jesus, send forth your Spirit and renew the world.”
 “O Mary, who by the work of the Holy Spirit, conceived the Savior, pray for us.”
Invocation to Mary:
 O most pure Virgin Mary, by your Immaculate Conception you were made a chosen tabernacle of Divinity by the Holy Spirit. Pray for us.
May the Divine Paraclete come soon to renew the face of the earth.
 Hail Mary, full of grace…
 O most pure Virgin Mary, by the Mystery of the Incarnation you became true Mother of God by the Holy Spirit. Pray for us.
May the Divine Paraclete come soon to renew the face of the earth.
 Hail Mary, full of grace…
 O most pure Virgin Mary, persevering in prayer with the Apostles in the Upper Room, you were abundantly inflamed by the Holy Spirit. Pray for us:
May the Divine Paraclete come soon to renew the face of the earth.
 Hail Mary, full of grace…
Let us pray:
 Send Your Spirit, Lord, and transform us interiorly with Your gifts. Create in us a new heart that we may please You and be conformed to Your will. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

1st Century–19th C 
The initial exponential work of the church, em- powered by the Holy Spirit, spread throughout the world. 
1895–1903 Blessed Elena Guerra, of Lucca, Italy, (“Apostle of the Holy Spirit”) wrote 13 confidential letters to Pope Leo XIII, requesting a renewed preaching on the Holy Spirit. 
1895/97 Pope Leo XIII wrote Provida Matris Caritate, in which he exhorted the entire Church to celebrate a solemn novena to the Holy Spirit each year be- tween the feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost. He again mandated the Pentecost novena in 1897 in his Encyclical on the Holy Spirit, Divinum Illud Munus. 
1901 The first day of the new century Pope Leo XIII intoned the hymn, “Veni Creator Spiritus” in the name of the whole church, dedicating the 20th Cen- tury to the Holy Spirit. 
1901 Topeka, Kansas, Rev. Charles Parham and his students dedicated 
themselves to study baptism in the Holy Spirit. As a result a revival started, considered the beginning of Pentecostalism. 
1906 Azusa Street, Los Angeles, the Pentecostal movement grows with an 
out-pouring of the Holy Spirit. 
1950’s–60’s The Charismatic Renewal movement starts among mainline churches as members embrace baptism in the Holy Spirit. 
1961 Pope St. John XXIII’s prayer to convene Second Vatican Council: “Re- new your wonders in our time, as by a new Pentecost.” 
1967 February, students and professors at The Ark and The Dove Retreat House in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA, experienced the grace of baptism 
in the Holy Spirit, later known as “The Duquesne Weekend.” 
1967 April, word quickly spread from Pittsburgh to South Bend, East Lancing and Ann Arbor, 100 people gathered for the 1st International Catholic Char- ismatic Renewal Conference. 
1970’s Growth of parish-based prayer groups, covenant communities, houses of prayer, Renewal Centers throughout the country and the world. The National Service Committee for Catholic Charismatic Renewal (NSC) established. Conferences at Notre Dame gather 1000’s, a communications office was set up in Ann Arbor. 
1972 International Communications Office in Ann Arbor, moves to Brussels at the invitation of Cardinal Suenens, and later Rome becoming ICCRO (1978) and then ICCRS. 
1973 First International Conference for Leaders of the Renewal at Grottaferrata, Italy and first meeting with Pope Paul VI. 
1975 International Catholic Charismatic Conference in Rome. 13,000 delegates assembled in Saint Peter’s Basilica for the celebration of the Pentecost Mass with Pope Paul VI. 
1975 At the NSC request, Franciscan University of Steubenville hosts a Catholic Charismatic Renewal conference for priests, launching the Steubenville Conferences and becomes a center for the Renewal. 
1977 “Charismatic Renewal in the Christian Churches” Ecumenical Charismatic Renewal Conference in Kansas City, MO. gathers 50,000 people in Arrowhead Stadium. 
1977 Establishment of the Steering Committee of the Association of Di- ocesan Liaisons for Catholic Charismatic Renewal 
1980’s– present 
continued growth of the 
Renewal touching more than 120,000,000 Catholics worldwide. 
1998 Pope John Paul II calls the Ecclesial Movements to Rome, including Catholic Charismatic Renewal. 
1999 Members of Catholic Charismatic Committees operating on a national level (including Diocesan Liaisons, Covenant Communities, Ethnic realities, the NSC and others) began annual 
meetings for prayer and discernment. 
2006 Pope Benedict calls the Ecclesial movements to Rome. 
2014 June, Pope Francis speaks to over 50,000 gathered at The Olympic Stadium sponsored by the Renewal in the Spirit (RnS), ICCRS, and the Catholic Fraternity. 
2015 December, The NSC brokers the purchase of Providence Villa (formerly The Ark and The Dove), the site of the “Duquesne Weekend,” reclaiming this historic site for the whole Renewal as a center of unity and to promote the grace of baptism in the Holy Spirit for generations to come. 
2016 February, The Ark and The Dove is blessed by Bishop Zubik of Pitts- burgh, PA. Pentecost, the official ribbon cutting and re-opening of The Ark and The Dove. 
2017 The Golden Jubilee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, celebrating 50 years of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit since the Duquesne Weekend! Pope Francis invites all those involved with Charismatic Renewal to Rome for Pentecost. 
2024  Saint Elena Guerra Canonization 
 
*Holy Spirit Milestones Reprint from Pentecost Today Magazine, Winter 2017 50^th Anniversary Jubilee Issue, National Service Committee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of the [email protected]”