Camillus de Lelis (1550–1614)

Biography

That was Camilo: a young vagabond and chained by the vice of gambling. He was born in Bucchianico, on the Adriatic coast, on the day of Pentecost, in the Holy Year 1550. He was an only child, and already a late bloomer, and he came to fill the home with joy. Camilo had a tough and determined character. He was soon orphaned and Camilo was left alone and sick, as he had a sore that had not been diagnosed; a sore that would accompany him all his life and that would make him suffer without rest. He offers himself as a soldier and participates in Tunisia and other battles. He risks his life and loses his winnings in the game. One day, while he was walking from one convent to another, a light illuminated him. He felt the call of God and fell to the ground crying. He asked for the cappuccino habit. Three times he began the novitiate and as many times his wound opened and he went to Rome. There, the third time, he discovers his vocation. Since 1589 it has been given to the sick for life. He tries to found a brotherhood for them. They put obstacles in his way. Not even Saint Philip Neri, who appreciated him very much, understood him. In 1584 he was ordained a priest. He leaves the hospital, and with a small group, settles next to the Magdalena church. Pope Sixtus V approved them as a society without votes, to dedicate themselves to the sick. Camilo had many conflicts, external and internal, in his task. He even left the generalship of his Order. But he always maintained the charisma: SERVE CHRIST IN THE SICK. With his wound, with a hernia, with two boils, with a weak stomach, he spent long hours with the sick, caring for them like a mother, helping them to die well, forgetting about himself, barely eating or sleeping. This is how his priesthood lived. He considered service to the sick as a liturgical action. He took the sick man in his arms as if he were handling the body of Christ. He caressed the face of the sick man as if it were the sacred face of the Lord. Totally exhausted, he fell seriously ill. On July 16, 1614, "his homeland" flew to heaven, as he said. Benedict XIV canonized him in 1746. Together with Saint John of God, he is patron of the sick and nurses.