Saint Camillus de Lellis was born on May 25, 1550, and he died on July 14, 1614. He was an Italian Catholic priest who founded the Camillians, a religious order dedicated to caring for the sick. Thus, Saint Camillus de Lellis established the Order of Clerks Regular, Ministers of the Infirm, which is abbreviated as M.I.0, and is better known as the Camillians. His experience in wars led him to establish a group of health care workers who would assist soldiers on the battlefield. The large red cross on their cassock remains a symbol. Do you think Saint Camillus de Lellis did a lot of good?

Saint Camillus de Lellis Biography

Saint Camillus de Lellis was born on May 25, 1550. His mother was almost fifty when she gave birth to him. His father was an officer in the French Army and was not home much.  His mother died in 1562. Because of this, Saint Camillus de Lellis grew up neglected by the family members who took him in after her death. He was tall for his age, and when he was thirteen, he started accompanying his father from one military camp to another. When he was sixteen, de Lellis fought against the Turks with his father in the Venetian Army.

After military service, Saint Camillus de Lellis entered Rome’s San Giacomo Hospital for treatment, but was a bad patient. He was kicked out of the hospital because of his horrible attitude. He gambled away all his possessions in the Army, and he took a job as a laborer at the Capuchin friary at Manfredonia. While there, the friars saw his good nature despite his problems, and eventually, he had a religious conversion in 1575. He wanted to join that order, but his wounded leg from the Army would not heal, and he was denied entry into the religious order.

Saint Camillus de Lellis moved to Rome after he was denied entry into the religious order. He became a caregiver at the hospital to pay for his stay. He became Superintendent. While there, he followed a strict ascetic life, did penances, like wearing a hairshirt. He took as his spiritual director and confessor the popular local priest, Philip Neri, who was a saint.

Saint Camillus de Lellis monitored purchases. He began to care for the patients at the hospital. Eventually, he felt called to establish a religious community for this purpose, and he sought Holy Orders. Phillip Neri, his confessor, approved this task, and a wealthy donor provided him with the income necessary to undertake his seminary studies. He was ordained at the age of thirty-four on Pentecost of 1584.

Saint Camillus de Lellis Veneration

In 1886, Pope Leo XIII proclaimed Saint Camillus de Lellis patron of all hospitals and of the sick. In 1930, Pope Pius XI named him co-patron, with Saint John of God, of nurses and nursing associations. His assistance is also invoked against gambling, since he was a gambler. His body is in the altar in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Rome, along with several of his relics, including a crucifix that spoke to him.

The Congregation of the Servants of the Sick of St Camillus, the daughters of St. Camillus, the Secular Institutes of Missionaries of the Sick Christ Our Hope, of the Camillan Sisters, and of the Lay Camillian Family, were all founded after Saint Camillus de Lellis died.  He is often depicted ministering to the sick.

Conclusion

He was beatified by Pope Benedict XIV in 1742 and canonized by him four years later in 1746. Saint Camillus de Lellis is the patron saint of the sick, hospitals, nurses, and physicians. His assistance is also invoked against gambling. What he shows us is that even people who were once very wrong can turn their lives around and become saints.