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Saint Camillus de Lellis 400th Anniversary of Death Issued - 08/28/2014 Face Value €0.70 Perforation: 13 ¼ x 13 ¼ The postage stamp shows a painting of “Saint Camillus de Lellis” giving service to the plague-stricken. Saint Camillus de Lellis was born in 1550 and died in 1614. He had a troubled youth, and as a young man he was known to have a violent temper and reckless habits. He served in the Venetian army where he incurred a permanent leg injury. Shortly after his military experience, he got a menial job in a Capuchin friary. A saintly friar spoke to him, saying, “God is everything. The rest in nothing. One should save one’s soul which does not die”. While working at the friary, Saint Camillus had a conversion of heart. He determined that his true vocation was to be a servant of the sick and infirmed. He wanted to become a friar but the order rejected him because of his leg injury. Camillus traveled to Rome and found work at Saint James Hospital for the incurable. With others he found ministry success. In Rome, he met Saint Philip Neri, who became his spiritual director. He eventually was ordained in 1584 and, shortly thereafter founded the Order of Clerks Regular, Ministers of the Infirm (M.I). The order is known as the Camillians, and obtained the approval by Pope Sixtus V in 1586. Their vows are poverty, chastity, obedience and corporeal and spiritual assistance to the sick regardless of the danger to one’s own life. Members of the order are identified by a large red cross on their cassocks. The Camillians gave service to soldiers in time of wars and to communities in time of plagues, epidemics and disasters. They did this at the peril of their own lives. Annually, on May 25 the order commemorates the “Camillian Martyrs of Charity”, priests and brothers who died after contracting diseases and those who gave their life in giving service to those involved in war and disasters. Benedict XIV canonized Saint Camillus in 1746, and in 1886, Leo XIII proclaimed him patron of all hospitals and of the sick. Today, the Camillians serve world-wide, with posts in Rwanda, Sudan, the Philippines, and Haiti, as well as in the United States. It has approximately 1,100 priests and brothers. Two congregations of the Camillians for women were created in the 19th century, and secular institutes were established in the 20th century. The mission of the Camillians remains the same since its founding: “Think well, Speak well. Do well. These three things, through the mercy of God will make a man go to Heaven.” References: Technical Details: Scott Catalogue - 1569 Date Issued - 28 August 2014 Face Value - €0,70 Perforations - 13-1/4 x 13-1/4 Printing Process - Offset Printer - Cartor (France) Max Printed - 100,000 |
