The Reliquary of Fr. Elijah Comini

The Reliquary of Fr. Elijah Comini

(ANS – Bologna, Italy – September 25, 2026) – The small notebook belonging to the Salesian priest who was killed in Pioppe di Salvaro during the Monte Sole massacre is kept in a reliquary that combines the palm of martyrdom with the face of Don Bosco.

There are relics that speak thru the silence of the bones, and others that speak with the very voice of those who left them behind. The new reliquary dedicated to Blessed Elijah Comini, who is to be beatified on Sunday, September 27, in Bologna alongside Fr. Ubald Marchioni and Fr. Martin Capelli, belongs to this second category. It holds his diary, a small notebook filled, page after page, with dense, minute handwriting from December 31, 1927, to July 22, 1944. Seventeen years of inner life condensed into a few dozen sheets of paper are presented for the veneration of the faithful on the occasion of the beatification.

A diary in place of a body

Because the priest martyr’s body was never recovered, the diary takes on a unique significance. It is the most intimate thing Fr. Elijah left us: not an object touched by chance, but the daily record of his faith, his resolutions, his struggles, and his fidelity. The first page is dated December 31, 1927, the last day of the year, the day on which the Church sings the Te Deum in thanksgiving. Young Elijah, 17, a Salesian professed for just over a year, began writing right on the threshold of a new year, at a time for taking stock and making resolutions: as if he had wanted to place his life, right from the start, under the sign of gratitude and surrender to God. The last page, July 22, 1944, falls in the midst of the wartime summer in Salvaro, just over 2 months before his martyrdom.

The language of the reliquary

On the glass protecting the notebook is an image of the palm of martyrdom, an ancient Christian symbol of victory over death. In the Book of Revelation, the saved stand before the Lamb holding palms in their hands. Placed above the written pages, the palm seems almost to seal them, as if to say that this life, recorded day by day, found its fulfillment in the blood shed at Pioppe. Set within the glass is a medal bearing the face of St. John Bosco and the coat of arms of the Salesian Congregation, featuring the anchor, the burning heart, the star, the figure of St. Francis de Sales, and the motto Da mihi animas, cetera tolle: “Give me souls; take all the rest.” It would be hard to find a more faithful summary of Fr. Elijah’s life, for he truly allowed everything to be taken from him, even his life, so as not to abandon the souls entrusted to him.

The image of Don Bosco, alongside the diary of his martyred son, reminds us that Salesian holiness is a family story, passed down from master to disciple. This charismatic sonship is lived out in the docility that Don Bosco demanded of his Salesians, exemplified by the handkerchief held in his hands – symbolized in the reliquary by a red cloth – a sign of obedience even unto martyrdom. Just as a handkerchief allows itself to be folded, put away, or moved by the hands of the one who holds it without offering any resistance, so Fr. Elijah showed total and trusting docility in the hands of God. Standing before this reliquary, pilgrims will find more than just a memento. They will find a voice: that of a young man who, in 1927, began to write about God and his own vocation, and who, in 1944, wrote that vocation with his very life.

The display case was designed by Corrado Bianchi and crafted by Massimo Rossi.