Elena Aiello was born on 10 April 1895 during
Lent in
Cosenza to Pasquale Aiello (22 February 1861 – 16 November 1955), a
tailor, and Tereseina Paglilla (d. 1905) as the third of eight children, one died at one. She received her
baptism from Father Francesco Benincasa on 15 April in the church of San Domenico as "Elena Emilia Santa Aiello", with her godmother being Maria Genise. During the Procession of Rogations, her mother said that if she had a daughter she would name her in honour of
Saint Helena. She had her shoulder operated on without anesthetic while she held a small wooden cross and looking at a Marian image but the inept doctor cut nerves that caused her lockjaw and a vomiting spell for several weeks. Aiello could not partake in the vesting, for her superior saw her situation to be so bad she could not participate in it, which forced her departure. The doctor told her father to sue the order for her ailments (her shoulder now had
gangrene setting in) but she convinced him not to do so. On 22 April 1940, the Lord told her to deliver a message to
Benito Mussolini to tell him not to join
Adolf Hitler during
World War II for such a joining would bring both terrible defeat and divine punishment upon the Italian people. A few days later on 6 May 1940 she forwarded this message to Mussolini in the form of a letter. Unfortunately the letter was ignored by Mussolini and never replied to. Aiello died at dawn at 6:19am on 19 June 1961 in
Rome; she had received
extreme unction at 2:00am. Her remains were interred in the
motherhouse of her order. ==Beatification==