Camillus de Lellis

Born 25 May 1550, Camillus de Lellis spent his youth as a soldier and gambler before a chronic leg wound landed him in a Roman hospital. What he witnessed — neglect, cruelty, indifference — turned him. He became a Catholic priest and in response founded the Camillians, a religious order devoted entirely to care of the sick. Pope Benedict XIV beatified him in 1742 and canonized him four years later in 1746. He died 14 July 1614, and is now invoked as patron of the sick, hospitals, nurses, physicians — and against the gambling that once consumed him.