…you may have a patron in St. Camillus de Lellis.

St. Camillus was born on May 25, 1550, at Bucchianico, which is now in Abruzzo, then part of the Kingdom of Naples. His mother was about 50 when she bore him, and died when he was 12. His father was in the military and seldom home. He grew up neglected by the family.

He enlisted in the military and had a commendable career, having been wounded in the Battle of Lepanto. He suffered a wound which refused to heal and eventually left military service when his unit disbanded. He served as a day laborer for a while, and at this point I suggest that you look up his bio in the links I’ll list at the end of this post.

St. Camillus had, according to several “lives of the saints” bios I’ve read on him, an addiction to gambling. Apparently he wasn’t good at it, losing most everything he owned. In 1575 he had a religious conversion and this led him to enter into a life of service to the sick and terminally ill. He helped reform the care of such people, who previously had been neglected or cared for by less-than-diligent people. He wound up founding an order that was a precursor to the Red Cross.

He led an ascetic life, performing penances and other mortifications. His devotion to the sick and the dying, coupled with his Faith enabled him to abandon his prior worldly life.

St. Camillus de Lellis on Catholic Online

St. Camillus de Lellis on American Catholic

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