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Church of Santa Maria Maddalena (Tomb of St. Camillus of Lellis)

Saints & Tombs Not Applicable
Rome, Italy 17th century Feast day: July 14

The burial place of St. Camillus of Lellis.

St. Camillus of Lellis →
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The Story

The Church of Santa Maria Maddalena, a short walk from the Pantheon in Rome, is the burial place of St. Camillus de Lellis, founder of the Ministers of the Sick, known as the Camillians. The church was entrusted to his new congregation, which rebuilt and enlarged it in the seventeenth century; its exuberant facade is often cited as the finest example of Rococo architecture in Rome. Camillus (1550–1614) began life far from sanctity: a soldier of enormous stature, an inveterate gambler, and for a time a laborer with an incurable leg wound. After a profound conversion in 1575 he gave himself to the care of the sick in Rome's hospitals, where he was appalled by the neglect patients suffered. He founded a congregation of men vowed to serve the sick even at the risk of their own lives, and his followers wore a large red cross on their cassocks — a sign that predates and is said to have inspired later symbols of medical care. Camillus and his companions served plague victims, the wounded on battlefields, and the dying in their homes, and he is honored as a pioneer of organized nursing. He died in Rome on July 14, 1614, and was canonized by Pope Benedict XIV in 1746. Together with St. John of God he was later declared a patron of the sick, of hospitals, and of nurses. Today pilgrims venerate the saint's remains at the Maddalena and can see rooms associated with his life adjacent to the church. The site remains the spiritual heart of the Camillian order, whose members continue his ministry to the sick around the world.

Church Recognition

St. Camillus de Lellis was canonized by Pope Benedict XIV in 1746 and named a patron of the sick, hospitals, and nurses; the Church of Santa Maria Maddalena, served by the Camillian order he founded, is his recognized shrine and resting place.

Catholic Teaching

The shrine of St. Camillus points to Christ's command to care for the sick as an act done to Christ Himself (Matthew 25:36) and to the Church's teaching on the dignity of the suffering and the corporal works of mercy (CCC 2447); venerating his relics expresses the communion of saints (CCC 946–962).

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Practical

Additional Information

Pilgrims visit the tomb and relics of St. Camillus at the Maddalena, near the Pantheon in Rome's historic center, along with memorabilia of the saint kept by the Camillian community. Devotion peaks around his feast on July 14, and the church is a natural stop for those praying for the sick, for healthcare workers, and for happy deaths.

Go Deeper

Learn more through the Camillian order (Ministers of the Sick), which maintains the shrine and publishes lives of its founder; see also the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the works of mercy (CCC 2447) and the anointing of the sick (CCC 1499–1532), and standard biographies of St. Camillus de Lellis such as that in Butler's Lives of the Saints.

Location

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In the Area

Other sacred sites within 40 miles.