Fr. Bob Kus 
Today’s missionary hero was one of the greatest nurses of all time, Camillus.
Camillus de Lellis was an Italian who lived from 1550-1614. When he was 16, he became a soldier like his father. Camillus was a huge man, six feet six inches tall, and he had a very fiery temper. As a soldier, he lived a wild lifestyle of drinking and brawling and getting into all kinds of trouble. His biggest problem, however, was his addiction to gambling.
When he was 21, Camillus was admitted to a hospital in Rome because of a repulsive leg ulcer that never did heal. But because he was so quarrelsome, he was kicked out of the hospital. He went back to being a soldier.
By the time he was 24, Camillus’ gambling addiction made him lose everything he ever had including the very shirt off his back. Reduced to a pauper, Camillus remembered a vow he had made earlier in life to become a Franciscan. The Franciscans took him in as a laborer, but they let him go because of his incurable leg ulcer.
When he was 25, Camillus returned to the hospital where he had been kicked out a few years earlier, and there he began his amazing transformation. He began to care for the sick as a nurse, and he became incredibly angry at the poor nursing care that was being done there. Therefore, he set out to make some changes. He was so spectacular as a nurse, that he eventually became the hospital administrator.
During Camillus’ time in the hospital, he also studied for the priesthood and was ordained when he was 34 years old.
Camillus founded his own hospital, and he attracted men who also had a devotion to serving God by serving others in the sick. This group of men eventually became known as the Ministers of the Sick, priests and brothers who served the sick physically and spiritually. These men wore a large red Latin cross on their habit and on their capes.
Some of the Ministers of the Sick, who eventually came be known as the Camillian Fathers & Brothers, cared for plague victims. Many became contaminated by the plague and died. Others were sent to battlefields in Hungary and Croatia to care for the sick. Camillus and his followers had a special love for prisoners, people suffering from the plague, and soldiers.
Camillus instituted many modern nursing practices such as proper ventilation, good nutrition, and isolating persons with contagious diseases. Many of his principles are taught even today in schools of nursing.
Camillus insisted that his priests and brothers see Christ in every sick person, and he insisted on what he called “old-fashioned charity but with up-to-date technical skill.” His guiding principle was the words of Jesus, “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25: 40). At the time of his death, he had established fifteen houses of his congregation and eight hospitals.
Camillus was canonized in 1746. Today, St. Camillus is a patron saint of nurses, nursing administrators, hospitals, and the sick. St. Camillus’ feast day is July 18.
I miss my Camillus activities. I pray for the homebound seniors who long to receive Communion again. This ministry is such a blessing in our Parish.