(1550-1614) Camillus was an Italian army officer with a serious gambling addiction. Eventually, he went to Rome for treatment of a leg injury, became a student, and had Saint Philip Neri as his confessor. Camillus became a priest and founded the Congregation of the Servants of the Sick (the Camillians or Fathers of a Good Death) that cared for the sick at home and in hospitals. He honoured the sick as living images of Christ, and hoped that the service he gave them did penance for his wayward youth. Saint Camillus was reported to have the gifts of miraculous healing and prophecy.

Saint Camillus had the drive to make up for where he went wrong in his youth. Recovery can give us the same drive. We can make service and giving back a prayer of amends for our past. You don’t have to be formally working a Step 9 or Step 12 to do right by others.

“Brother, if you commit a sin and take pleasure in it, the pleasure passes but the sin remains. But if you do something virtuous, even though you are tired, the tiredness passes but the virtue remains” (Saint Camillus de Lellis).

Reflection by Brad Farmer