THE incorruptible heart of St. Camillus de Lellis, patron of the sick, nurses and hospitals, will be in Bacolod City on March 11-12.
The relic will arrive at the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corporation (Bredco) port at Reclamation Area, Bacolod City.
The Camillians-Philippine Province invites everyone to participate, celebrate and join the journey of St. Camillus’ heart.
Visitation schedule
On Day 1, March 11, 2019, the relic is expected to arrive at Bredco Port by 9 a.m. and it will be brought to Dr. Pablo O. Torre Memorial Hospital (Riverside) by 10:30 a.m.
By 12:15, a welcome mass will be offered at the San Sebastian Cathedral which will be officiated by Bacolod Catholic Bishop Patricio Buzon and the veneration will follow until 12 midnight.
On Day 2, March 12, 2019, from San Sebastian Cathedral, the relic will be brought to the Doctor’s Hospital, then to Corazon L. Montelibano Regional Hospital by 10:30 a.m. and leaves for the airport by 12 noon.
Background
St. Camillus de Lellis was born at Bocchianico, Italy. He fought for the Venetians against the Turks, was addicted to gambling, and by 1574 was penniless in Naples. He became a Capuchin novice, but was unable to be professed because of a diseased leg he contracted while fighting the Turks. He devoted himself to caring for the sick, and became director of St. Giacomo Hospital in Rome.
He received permission from his confessor (St. Philip Neri) to be ordained and decided, with two companions, to establish his own congregation -- the Ministers of the Sick (the Camellians) -- dedicated to the care of the sick. They ministered to the sick of Holy Ghost Hospital in Rome, enlarged their facilities in 1585, founded a new house in Naples in 1588, and attended the plague-stricken aboard ships in Rome’s harbor and in Rome.
In 1591, the Congregation was made into an order to serve the sick by Pope Gregory XIV, and in 1591 and 1605, Camillus sent members of his order to minister to wounded troops in Hungary and Croatia, the first field medical unit. Gravely ill for many years, he resigned as superior of the Order in 1607 and died in Rome on July 14, the year after he attended a General Chapter there. He was canonized in 1746, was declared patron of the sick, with St. John of God, by Pope Leo XIII, and patron of nurses and nursing groups by Pope Pius XI. His feast day is July 18th. CNC