Proclaimed As Venerable
On December 15, with immense joy and deep gratitude, we invoked her as Venerable, following her example with love.
Birth Into Heaven
At night, she received the anointing of the sick. Mother General, Cherubina Camerata was at her bedside and prayed, but remained silent, overcome by emotion. Mother Elena, gathering all her strength reminds her: “Mother General, seems to me you are very distressed. In your position, you must know how to hide tears. In the community, everyone has her own worries and the superior, like the mother in a family, must understand the trials of all and hide one’s own. The greatest gift she can give her daughters is that of peace and serenity. Her smile will be like a wave of light in their souls; our goodness must remind them that of the Lord; only in this way we will open their hearts to the good and we will raise them towards the heavens … there is so much need for goodness on earth … so much … till we can”.
The dawn of 21 December 1894, she senses that the steps of the Bridegroom are approaching, as her heart overwhelms with happiness, she reopens her eyes for a moment and seeks the Crucifix, but the Risen Lord is before her, the Love of her life, the radiant Light.
Maternal Care
In the month of August, Mother Elena was struck by intestinal paralysis and began to decline slowly. She had a smile for all and much concern for the health of her daughters. But forgetting about herself, she continued to recommend to them mutual charity and zeal for souls, then, seeing them cry because of the worsening of her condition, asked with maternal tenderness: “Why are you crying? Death is a gift from God, only this allows us to rejoice with Him in paradise and I go before you. Observe the rules and do what you can do for the good of the girls especially the poor ones. Always choose the last place on earth and you will have the first in heaven”.
Her Prayer Is Accepted
Mother Elena Bettini, almost eighty years old, insistently asked to be exonerated from her responsibilities of leading the Institute, and when it happened in 1892, her heart overflowed with joy as she is kneeling before the new Superior General who embraces her with infinite gratitude. Mother Cherubina Camerata had attended the school since she was a child, breathing fully in amazement of the simplicity and strong charism of Elena Bettini, her Mother and teacher.
A New Service
The Holy Father asked her to move, as Superior, to another religious institute, which remained suddenly without the founder. She stayed there for thirteen years. Total obedience characterizes the existence of Elena Bettini, always careful to grasp the passage of God in her life through human mediation.
