\n \n \n \n | \n City of God in Exile \n St. Camillus of Lellis, Confessor\n 2026-07-18 - Time after Pentecost - Double - white \n | \n \n \n \n \n \n Today in the Roman Year \n Pentecost teaches that the Holy Ghost does not create private religious enthusiasm detached from doctrine, worship, and authority. He gathers, sends, teaches, and strengthens the visible Church. The remnant must therefore seek fire without disorder and zeal without novelty. Choose one known duty and obey it without delay or complaint. \n \n Roman Martyrology - July 18 \n The feast of St. Camillus de Lellis, confessor, - founder of the Clerks Regular ministering to the sick, whose birthday is the 14th of July. Leo XIII. declared him Celestial Patron of hospitals and the infirm. — At Tivoli, in the time of the emperor Adrian, St. Symphorosa, wife of the martyr St. Getulius, with her seven sons, Crescens, Julian, Nemesius, Primitivus, Justinus, Stacteus, and Eugenius. Their mother, because of her invincible constancy, was first buffeted a long time, then suspended by her hair, and lastly thrown into the river with a stone tied to her body. Her sons had their limbs distended by pulleys and bound to stakes, and terminated their martyrdom by different kinds of death. The bodies were subsequently taken to Rome, and were found in the sacristy of St. Angelo in Piscina, under the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IV. — At Carthage, St. Gundenes, virgin. By order of the proconsul Rufinus, she was four different times stretched on the rack for the faith of Christ, horribly lacerated with iron hooks, confined for a long time in a filthy dungeon, and finally put to the sword. At Dorostorum, in Mysia, in the time of Julian the Apostate and the governor Capitolinus, St. JEmilian, martyr, who was cast into a furnace, and thus received the palm of martyrdom. — At Utrecht, St. Frederick, bishop and martyr. — In Spanish Galicia, St. Marina, virgin and martyr. — At Milan, in the reign of Maximian, the holy bishop Maternus. For the faith of Christ and the church entrusted to him, he was thrown into prison and often scourged. Finally he went to his rest in the Lord with a great renown for his repeated confession of the faith. — At Brescia, the birthday of St. Philastrius, bishop of that city, who in speech and writing combated heretics, especially the Arians, from whom he suffered much. Finally, he died in peace, renowned for miracles. — At Metz, in France, St. Arnulf, a bishop illustrious for holiness and the gift of miracles. He chose an eremitical life, and ended his blessed career in peace. — At Segni, St. Bruno, bishop and confessor. — At Forlimpopoli, in Emilia, St. Ruffillus, bishop of that city. \n \n Highlighted Saint \n St. Camillus de Lellis\n Confessor and servant of the sick. \n St. Camillus de Lellis was converted after a life marked by disorder and military hardship, then gave himself to the service of the sick with extraordinary tenderness. He founded the Clerks Regular who minister to the sick, teaching his sons to serve the suffering as Christ Himself. His witness teaches that infirm bodies are not burdens to be hidden; charity bends near sickness, especially near death. \n In exile, sickness can become lonely. Ask St. Camillus for a Catholic instinct toward the infirm: practical charity, patience, and reverence. \n \n Breviary Witness \n Mercy at the bedside of the suffering.\n Matins - St. Camillus de Lellis \n \n \n - The Breviary remembrance of St. Camillus presents a converted soldier who became father and servant to the sick.
- His religious work shows that bodily misery is not beneath supernatural charity, and that the sick and dying must not be abandoned.
\n \n Recover a Catholic instinct for the sickbed. Visit, pray, provide for the sacraments, and remember that charity becomes most serious near death. \n \n From Matins \n The servant who saw Christ in the sick.\n Matins - Second Nocturn - St. Camillus de Lellis, Confessor \n Roman Breviary and St. Augustine, Proper lessons for St. Camillus and Tract on St. John \n “As though he saw Christ Himself in His suffering members.” \n \n \n - The Breviary remembers St. Camillus as a converted soldier whose wounds and failed attempts at Capuchin life were governed by providence toward service of the sick.
- In the Hospital for Incurables he became father and servant of the patients, making beds, cleansing wounds, praying with the dying, and studying as an adult so he could better help souls.
- His congregation bound itself to serve the sick, even those stricken with plague, while the Gospel lesson places his charity under Christ's command to love one another as He has loved us.
\n \n Serve suffering bodies as members of Christ. St. Camillus teaches practical charity, reverence for the dying, perseverance under pain, and love that does not flee danger. \n \n Truth of the Faith \n The Sacraments Are Instruments of Christ\n The sacraments are outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace; they are not symbols invented by the community. \n Mark of the Church: Holy \n Defender: St. Thomas Aquinas \n Catholic defense: Because Christ instituted the sacraments, the Church must guard their matter, form, minister, and intention with holy fear. \n Error to resist: Resist sacramental casualness, especially the idea that good intention can repair invalid rites or invented forms. \n Continue study \n \n Prayer \n O Lord, do not permit me to admire truth without submitting to it. Give me the courage to obey what Thou hast already made known. \n | \n \n \n | \n
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