Walking with the Saints Podcast | Feast of ST. CAMILLUS DE LELLIS, Patron Saint of the Sick and of Nurses | July 14

Walking with the Saints Podcast | Feast of ST. CAMILLUS DE LELLIS, Patron Saint of the Sick and of Nurses | July 14    “To serve the sick, even with danger to our own life.” This is the fourth vow professed by the Camillians, priests, brothers and nuns whose work is to take care of the sick. Our saint for today is St. Camillus de Lellis, Founder of the Camillians. St. Camillus was born on May 25, 1550 in Abruzzo, Naples. His father was an army officer and his mother died while he was still young, so he grew up a neglected child. He was addicted to gambling. He joined his father when he was 16 and they fought against the Turks, where he received a wound in the leg which would not heal. When his unit was disbanded, being of an aggressive nature, he gambled all his possessions and lost everything. Knowing nowhere to go, he presented himself at a Franciscan friary to work as a houseboy. The guardian of the friary tried to help him live a virtuous life and in 1575 he hada conversion and asked to become a novice of the Franciscans. But due to his incurable wound he was not accepted. He went to Rome and became a caregiver in a hospital for incurable diseases. He was promoted to a higher position and he began to live a strict ascetic life: praying, fasting, making other penances. He even wore a hairshirt. Fortunately, he met Philip Neri, another future saint, who became his spiritual director. Camillus wanted to improve the care for the sick, not only physically, but spiritually, so he planned to establish his own hospital. But to be able to do this, he needed to become a priest first. Philip Neri helped him find a benefactor who paid for all his expenses in his seminary studies. In 1584, he was ordained priest by a British Bishop. Then he began his foundation. He gathered followers and founded the Order of Cleric Regulars Ministers of the Infirm (M. I.), now known as Camillians. The Order had a Red Cross as symbol which is still used today. In 1601, while they were tending to the sick in the Battle of Canizza, their tent and all equipment got burned and only the Red Cross on a cassock, remained untouched. It was a sign for them that God is pleased with that symbol.  The Institute was approved by Pope Sixtus V in 1566. It was raised to the rank of an Order by Pope Gregory XV. IN 1591, they added a fourth vow “To serve the sick even with danger to one’s own life.” Meanwhile Fr. Camillus, who was general superior of the Order, continued to suffer due to his incurable wound and other ailments he got by serving the sick. In 1607, he resigned as superior general and a new one was elected. While accompanying this new superior on his visits, he got sick, was brought to Rome and died in 1614. He was buried in the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Rome. He was beatified in 1742 and canonized in 1746. He had the gift of healing and prophecy. From his spirituality were later born The Servants of the Sick of St. Camillus, the Daughters of St. Camillus, Institute of the Missionaries of the Sick Christ, Camillian Sisters and Lay Camillian Family. St. Camillus is patron of hospitals, nurses, physicians and gamblers. Virtue: zeal, charity, fortitude, courage, generousity Prayer: “O St. Camillus, who helped the sick in their temporal and spiritual needs, please pray that they may be patient and sanctify themselves through their suffering and obtain healing from God. Amen” Reflection: Do I visit the sick, give them some material help, and pray for their spiritual and physical healing?