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Feast Day: July 18
Also known as
Camillus de
Lellis; Camillo de Lellis
Profile
Son of a
military officer who had served both for
Naples and
France. His
mother
died when he was very young. Spent his youth as a
soldier, fighting for the
Venetians against the Turks, and then for
Naples. Reported as a large individual, perhaps as tall as 6'6", and
powerfully built. A
gambling addict, he lost so much he had to take a job working
construction on a building belonging to the Capuchins; they
converted him.
He entered the Capuchin noviate three times, but a nagging leg injury,
received while fighting the Turks, each time forced him to give up. He
went to
Rome for medical treatment where Saint
Philip Neri became his
priest and confessor. He moved into San Giacomo Hospital for the
incurable, and eventually became its administrator. Lacking education, he
began to study with
children when he was 32 years old.
Priest. Founded the Congregation of the Servants of the Sick
(the Camellians) who, naturally, care for the
sick both in hospital and home. The order expanded with houses in
several countries. Camillus honored the
sick as living images of Christ, and hoped that the service he gave
them did penance for his wayward youth.
Born
1550 at Bocchiavico, Abruzzi, kingdom of
Naples,
Italy
Died
14 July
1614 at
Genoa,
Italy
Beatified
1742
Canonized
1746 by
Pope
Benedict XIV
Patronage
bodily ills,
hospitals,
hospital workers,
illness,
nurses,
sick people,
sickness
Prayers
Prayer to...
Images
Gallery of images of Saint Camillus
[4 images, 87 kb]
Readings
Think well.
Speak well. Do well. These three things, through the mercy of God, will
make a man go to Heaven.
Saint Camillus de Lellis
Let me
begin with holy charity. It is the root of all the virtues and Camillus'
most characteristic trait. I can attest that he was on fire with this holy
virtue - not only toward God, but also toward his fellow men, and
especially toward the sick. The mere sight of the sick was enough to
soften and melt his heart and make him utterly forget all the pleasures,
enticements, and interests of this world. When he was taking care of his
parents, he seemed to spend and exhaust himself completely, so great was
his devotion and compassion. He would have loved to take upon himself all
their illness, their every affliction, could he but ease their pain and
relieve their weakness.
In the sick he saw the person of Christ. His reverence in their presence
was as a great as if he were really and truly in the presence of his Lord.
To enkindle the enthusiasm of his religious brothers for this
all-important virtue, he used to impress upon them the consoling words of
Jesus Christ: "I was sick and you visited me." He seemed to have these
words truly graven on his heart, so often did he say them over and over
again.
Great and all-embracing was Camillus' charity. Not only the sick and
dying, but every other needy or suffering human being found shelter in his
deep and kind concern.
from a biography of Saint Camillus by a contemporary
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