Saint Camillus de Lellis was born on May 25, 1550, in Bocchiavico, Abruzzi, Kingdom of Naples, Italy. He was founder of the Congregation of the Servants of the Sick and Poor (the Camellians).

He was very hot-tempered, just like his father, and his mother was mostly unable to control him as he was growing. She died in 1562 and Camillus was taken care of by other family members who continually neglected him.

At the age of sixteen years, he joined the Venetian army and fought against the Turks. It is in these wars that he was wounded in the leg and this wound would not heal. In 1575, his unit in the army was disbanded and after that, he gambled all his possessions. Having been left penniless, the Capuchin friary at Manfredonia gave him a job as a laborer. The guardian at the friary counseled, preached and persuaded him to stop gambling. In 1575, Camillus had a religious conversion and wanted to enter the novitiate of the Capuchin friars, but because of his incurable wound in the leg, he was denied admission.

He went to Rome and started working as a caregiver in the San Giacomo Hospital. During the time at the Hospital, Camillus continued with his strict and pious life, full of penance, under the guidance of the local priest Saint Philip Neri.

His call to take care of the poor and the sick continued to manifest itself. He organized a group of other pious men and guided them on how to serve God through taking care of the sick at the hospital. Camillus eventually felt the desire to establish a religious community to take care of the sick, and consequently, with the approval of St Philip Neri, started his seminary studies. In 1584, he was ordained as a priest.

In 1586, Pope Sixtus V gave the Camillians (or Order of Clerics Regular, Ministers to the Sick) formal recognition as a congregation. They have a vow that says “to serve the sick, even with danger to one’s own life.” Till date, the large Red Cross on their cassock remains their Congregation symbol as a universal symbol of service and charity. It is said that the Cross spoke to Camillus, and asked him, “Why are you afraid? Do you not realize that this is not your work but mine?” This Red Cross symbol is now being used by the Red Cross Movement.

The Camillians took care of the victims of the Bubonic plague and it was at this time that the residents of Rome recognized Camillus de Lellis for helping to control the plague in the city of Rome. He was occasionally referred to as the “Saint of Rome”.

Despite his ailing leg, he would not delay anyone when they went to take care of the sick and wounded. He would crawl when his leg wouldn’t support him. In 1607, he resigned as Superior General of the Order and took the lower rank of Vicar General.

The Camillians order had spread all over Italy and on one occasion in 1614, while on a tour to inspect all the hospitals of the Order in Italy, Camillus fell ill and died in Genoa, Italy on July 14 1614.

His remains are located in the altar in the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Rome, Italy.

Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
2. Saint Cyrus of Carthage
3. Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain
4. Saint William Breteuil
5. Saint Justus

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