Camillus de Lellis, M.I., (25 May 1550 – 14 July 1614) was a Roman Catholic priest from Italy who founded the Camillians, a religious order dedicated to the care of the sick.

De Lellis had his father's temper and, due to his mother's age and retiring nature, she felt unable to control him as he grew up.

Having gambled away all his possessions, De Lellis took work as a laborer at the Capuchin friary at Manfredonia;[3] he was constantly plagued, however, by a leg wound he received while in the army, which would not heal.

In the meantime, he continued to follow a strict ascetic life, performing many penances, such as constant wearing of a hairshirt.

Eventually he felt called to establish a religious community for this purpose, and that he should seek Holy Orders for this task.

Neri, his confessor, gave him approval for this endeavor, and a wealthy donor provided him with the income necessary to undertake his seminary studies.

His experience in wars led him to establish a group of health care workers who would assist soldiers on the battlefield.

In 1586 Pope Sixtus V gave the group formal recognition as a congregation[1] and assigned them the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Rome, which they still maintain.

Camillus showed a like charity in Rome when a pestilential fever swept off great numbers, and again when that city was visited by a violent famine.

At that time they established a fourth religious vow unique to their Order: “to serve the sick, even with danger to one's own life.

"[6] In 1594 De Lellis led his religious to Milan where they attended to the sick of the Ca' Granda, the main hospital of the city.

During the Battle of Canizza in 1601, while Camillians were helping with the wounded, the tent in which they were tending to the sick and in which they had all of their equipment and supplies was completely destroyed and burned to the ground.

Everything in the tent was destroyed except the red cross of a religious habit belonging to one of the Camillians who was ministering to the wounded on the battlefield.

[7] Throughout his life De Lellis' ailments caused him suffering, but he allowed no one to wait on him and would crawl to visit the sick when unable to stand and walk.