New Saint Elena Guerra

As a young woman, Elena Guerra (1835-1914) was bedridden with a serious illness, a challenge that proved to be transformative. During her long recovery, she devoted herself to meditating on Scripture and reading the writings of the Church Fathers.  By age 22, she received a clear calling to promote devotion to the Holy Spirit. 

• She founded Pentecost Upper Rooms and the Oblate Sisters of the Holy Spirit. 
• Saint Gemma Galgani was one of her students.
• From 1895 to 1903, she spread devotion to the Holy Spirit & wrote 12 letters to Pope Leo XIII, urging him to encourage Catholics to open their hearts more to the Holy Spirit’s power and presence. 
• In 1897, Pope Leo XIII responded by issuing his encyclical Divinum Illud Munus, a profound reflection on the Holy Spirit & His presence in the life of the Church. 
• On January 1, 1901, Pope Leo XIII invoked the Holy Spirit by singing the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus in the name of the Church, igniting an outpouring of the Holy Spirit around the world. 
• Pope St. John XXIII called Elena an "Apostle of the Holy Spirit" during her beatification in 1959.
• Pope Francis canonized Elena Guerra on October 20, 2024. 

Newly canonized St. Elena Guerra urges all to call on the Holy Spirit:  

"Pentecost is not over...it is continually going on in every time and in every place, because the Holy Spirit desires to give Himself to all...to 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."

To read St. Elena Guerra's Letters to Pope Leo XIII, go to:

Pentecost Today USA/ Resources -

Letters to Pope Leo XIII (Elena Guerra) 

 Pentecosttodayusa.org/resources 

Divinum illud munus (May 9, 1897)