St. Camillus de Lellis - July 18th

 

 Today is the feast St. Camillus de Lellis the patron of doctors, nurses and the sick. Born in Italy, he fought for the Venetians against the Turks. At one time, he was addicted to gambling, and by 1574 was penniless in Naples because of his gambling.

From the time of his youth, St. Camillus led a loose life. One day when he was on the road returning from San Giovanni Rotondo, by an inner illumination he saw the wretched state of his soul. It was like being struck with lightning. Such fear seized him that he fell on his knees and began to weep and sob loudly for a long time. He said, “What a wretch I am! What a miserable wretch! Why did I not know the Lord before? Why have I been so deaf to His calls?”

For a full hour he was beside himself, plunged in purifying tears of grief. He understood the priceless value of that ardent repentance. He tried to reflect back to see how he happened to receive such an immense grace on that day, and he remembered that it was February 2nd, the day honoring the Blessed Virgin’s Purification. Then he exclaimed, “Oh! Today is February 2nd, the Feast of Our Lady’s Purification. Now I know who won this great grace for me.”

Although he became a Franciscan Capuchin novice, he was unable to be professed due to his diseased leg which was caused by his fighting the Turks. He devoted himself to caring for the sick, and became director of St. Giacomo Hospital in Rome. He received permission from his confessor (St. Philip Neri) to be ordained and decided, with two companions, to found his own congregation, the Ministers of the Sick (the Camellians), dedicated to the care of the sick. They ministered to the sick of Holy Ghost Hospital in Rome, enlarged their facilities in 1585, and used the latest medicines and techniques saving the lives of many. He founded a new house in Naples in 1588, and attended the plague-stricken aboard ships in Rome's harbor. And in Rome, in 1591, the Congregation was made into an order to serve the sick by Pope Gregory XIV, and so, Camillus sent members of his order to minister to wounded troops in Hungary and Croatia, the first field medical unit.

Gravely ill for many years, he resigned as superior of the Order in 1607. On his deathbed, thoughts of his sins committed during his youth assailed him. The saint took a picture of the crucifixion with Mary at the foot of the Cross and, with ardent passion, prayed to the Virgin of Sorrow to intercede for him. He died in Rome on July 14^th, contemplating serenely the Mother of mercy. He was canonized in 1746, and declared patron of the sick, with St. John of God, by Pope Leo XIII. He was then declared patron of nurses and nursing groups by Pope Pius XI. Today, may we turn to Mary, the Mother of the Sick, and with the humble prayers of St. Camillus, the patron of doctors, nurses and the sick to obtain healing and mercy for all the sick.