“Commitment is doing what you said you would do, after the feeling you said it in has passed.” (St. Camillus)
Suggested Prayer: Pray for the grace and fortitude to joyfully honor all your commitments this week.
Suggested Activity: Find some way to serve those in need of spiritual, physical, or emotional help this week.
Did You Know: Saint Camillus
St. Camillus de Lellis (1560-1614) was a wild undisciplined youth who became a battle-hardened soldier with a violent temper and gambling addiction. His bad behavior with a persistent war wound in his leg, left him in poverty. He found work doing odd jobs at a Capuchin friary. Gradually the influence of the friars inspired him and he experienced a true conversion. He moved to Rome and worked in a hospital that cared for patients with incurable diseases. Later he became director. Seeing that patients often received poor care from the hospital staff, he devoted his life to providing excellent care for the sick, in whom he saw the face of Christ.
He established a religious order of men committed to helping patients who were most ill, even at the risk of their own well-being, known as the Order of St. Camillus, or the Camillians. He studied for the priesthood and was ordained at age 34. His order gave medical treatment to anyone in need of treatment, hospital or battlefield. The Camillians developed into a worldwide relief effort of medical workers who seek to follow Christ through ministering to the sick. The large red cross on his habit became the international symbol of charitable medical aid.
