Kamil de Lellis MI (born May 25, 1550 in Bucchianico, died July 14, 1614 in Rome) - Italian Catholic priest, founder of the Order of Regular Clerics Serving the Sick (Camilians), saint of the Catholic Church. He was born on May 25, 1550 in Bucchianico, in the Kingdom of Naples. Just before Kamil's birth, his mother (Kamila de Compellis) had a dream in which she saw her son at the head of a group of men with red crosses on their chests; she was sure that her son would become a criminal (red crosses marked criminals sentenced to death and led to execution).
Kamil came from a noble family. His father (Giovanni de Lellis) was a soldier in the service of Charles V, where he achieved the rank of colonel, but he died during the preparations for the campaign that ended with the Battle of Lepanto. Kamil, like his father, became a soldier and in the years 1569-1574 he fought against the Turks in the army of Venice.
Kamil led a lavish lifestyle. After wasting all his wealth, he became a beggar. When he asked for alms in front of the Capuchin church in Manfredonia on November 30, 1574, the monastery's prosecutor, Antonio di Nicastro, offered him a job building a Capuchin monastery. Kamil agreed to this proposal, wanting to break with his current life once and for all. On February 2, 1575, he experienced a miraculous conversion. He wanted to become a Capuchin, but due to unhealed wounds he had to give up. He went to Saint James' Hospital in Rome, where he found his vocation. Due to a wound on his leg, he spent 4 years in hospital. His confessor and spiritual director was Saint. Philip Neri.
In 1582, he founded the order of Regular Clerics Serving the Sick (Camilians). On May 26, 1584, he was ordained a priest in the Basilica of St. John Lateran. On December 8, 1584, he took monastic vows. In addition to the three basic vows: chastity, poverty and obedience, he introduced a fourth vow regarding total dedication and helping people who are sick, including infectious diseases. On March 18, 1586, the Camillian community was approved by Pope Sixtus V with the document Breve "Ex omnibus", and on September 21, 1591, Gregory XIV granted the Camillians the rank of an order in the bull "Illius qui pro gregis". Kamil became the first general of the order. On December 8, 1591, he solemnly renewed his monastic vows, together with his 25 brothers. On November 2, 1607, he resigned from the office of General of the Order. He died on July 14, 1614 in Rome.
During Kamil's lifetime, his brotherhood ran 65 hospitals throughout Italy. The work performed in these facilities was so hard and risky that during the founder's lifetime, 100 brothers died from infections from patients.