|
Camillus
de Lellis, who was extremely tall (over 6 and a half feet),
lived in Italy in the sixteenth century. He led a frivolous
youth before becoming a soldier. His leg was injured while fighting
the Turks, which ended his military career, and he became a
compulsive gambler. He was destitute by the time he was twenty-five
and he turned to the Church. He was denied priesthood because
of the festering sore on his leg and he went to Rome and began
working in a hospital for the terminally ill. He was known to
crawl from bed to bed caring for the dying and was eventually
ordained. He founded a congregation of male nurses called the
Camellians, Servants of the Sick. The Camellians revolutionized
hospital hygiene and diet and banned the common practice of
the day of burying the sick alive. Camillus resigned as Superior
of the Order in 1607 and died that same year in Rome. He is
also the patron of male nurses, hospitals and the sick; his
feast day is July 14. |
To
order
click on one of
the links below
|
 |
| St.
Camillus de Lellis
Patron St. of
Gamblers |
|
