Saint of the day · July 14
St Camillus de Lellis
Tuesday, week 15 in Ordinary Time
Liturgical colour : Green
St. Camillus de Lellis (1550-1614) was an Italian priest and the founder of the Order of Clerics Regular, Ministers of the Infirm, commonly known as the Camillians. Born in the Kingdom of Naples, Camillus came from a tumultuous background, including a long struggle with gambling and military life, before discovering his vocation to serve the sick. Profoundly moved by the suffering of the ill and the conditions of hospitals in his time, he initiated a new religious community dedicated to caring for the sick—especially those whom others neglected. The Camillians took a fourth vow in addition to poverty, chastity, and obedience: service to the sick even at danger to their own lives, particularly remarkable during outbreaks of plague and disease in Renaissance Italy. St. Camillus was renowned for his practical compassion and organizational skills, creating better standards for hospital care and personal dedication to those in pain.
The Church remembers St. Camillus for his extraordinary charity and his innovative approach to health care as an expression of Christian love. He is one of the patron saints of the sick, hospitals, and health care workers, and his legacy is a reminder of the Church’s enduring commitment to ministering to the suffering. His spiritual insight saw Christ in every patient, and he exhorted his followers to serve "as a mother cares for her only sick child." St. Camillus’ memorial invites the faithful to imitate his compassion and to offer loving presence to all who suffer.
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Mass readings
"If you do not believe, you will not stand firm" — Is 7, 1-9
In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah,
Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel,
went up against Jerusalem to attack it,
but they were unable to mount an assault against it.
The house of David was informed
that the Arameans had taken position in Ephraim.
Then the heart of the king and the heart of his people were shaken
like the trees of the forest shaken by the wind.
The Lord then said to Isaiah:
"With your son Shear-Jashub (that is, "A-remnant-shall-return"),
go meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool,
on the road to the Fuller's Field.
Say to him:
"Stay calm, do not be afraid,
do not lose heart
because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood,
on account of the burning anger of the king of Aram
and the king of Israel,
Yes, Aram has planned your ruin,
together with Ephraim and its king.
They have said:
Let us march against the kingdom of Judah,
to make it afraid,
and we will force it to surrender;
then, we will install the son of Tabeel as king over it.
Thus says the Lord God:
This will not last, it shall not happen,
that the capital of Aram is Damascus,
and Rezin is the chief of Damascus,
that the capital of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the son of Remaliah is chief of Samaria.
– In sixty-five years, Ephraim, crushed,
will cease to be a people.
But as for you, if you do not believe,
you will not stand firm."
– The word of the Lord.
Ps 47 (48), 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6,7-8
Great is the Lord, highly praised,
in the city of our God,
his holy mountain, lofty and beautiful,
the joy of all the earth.
Mount Zion, it is the pole of the world,
the city of the great King;
God is revealed in its palaces,
a true stronghold.
See, the kings had allied themselves,
they advanced all together;
they saw, and suddenly astounded,
seized with panic, they fled.
And behold, trembling seized them:
pains of a woman in labor;
a wind blowing from the desert
broke the ships of Tarshish.
"On the day of Judgment, Tyre and Sidon and the land of Sodom will be treated less harshly than you" — Mt 11, 20-24
At that time,
Jesus began to reproach
the towns where most of his miracles had taken place,
because they had not repented:
"Woe to you, Chorazin!
Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the miracles done among you
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
those cities would have repented long ago
in sackcloth and ashes.
So, I tell you:
on the day of Judgment,
Tyre and Sidon will be treated less harshly than you.
And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven?
No, you will go down to the realm of the dead!
For if the miracles performed in you
had happened in Sodom,
that city would still be standing today.
So, I tell you:
on the day of Judgment,
the land of Sodom will be treated less harshly than you."
– Let us acclaim the word of God.
Liturgical texts: © AELF — aelf.org