St. Camillus de Lellis was addicted to gambling in his younger years, but by keeping himself occupied with hard work, he was able to cooperate with the grace of God, replacing a bad habit with good.
After repenting, Camillus went to the hospital of S. Giacomo in Rome, where he asked to be admitted as a patient and a servant. He worked hard in the hospital and was able to stay away from gambling.
In Rome, Camillus had St. Philip Neri as spiritual director, and he made progress in his spiritual life.
After working at the hospital for four years, his wounded leg appeared to have been cured. Camillus once again tried to join the Franciscan Capuchins. St. Philip tried to dissuade him, but he would not listen. Scarcely had he entered than the wound broke out afresh and he was told to leave.
The next year, he tried to join the Franciscan Observantines of Ara Coeli, but was again refused. When Camillus returned to the world, Philip Neri welcomed him and said, “God bless you, Camillus, did I not tell you?”
Camillus continued to serve at the hospital of S. Giacomo as superintendent. One evening in a hospital ward, the thought occurred to Camillus that good nursing depended on love, and the more it was independent of mere wages the better it would be. If he could gather men about him who would nurse for love then he might hope to raise nursing to the standard he desired.
Camillus carefully invited five men from among his fellow-servants in the hospital to live according to his ideal. He felt that this group should include not only nurses, but priests as well. He decided to study to become a priest so he could have more to offer the sick.
First, he asked a chaplain of the hospital to teach him Latin during his leisure hours; later, he entered the Roman College as a student. He was 32 years old and six-and-a-half feet tall. The boys in the school nicknamed Camillus the “Late Arrival” and would offer him their services to help him in his lessons. Finally, in 1584, at the age of 34, Camillus was ordained a priest.
Archbishop Alban Goodier, author of the book Saints for Sinners, described the life and trial of the new priest: “He took a house by the Tiber, in the lowest and most pestilential part of the city, and there set about the service of the sick wherever he might find them.”
One incident here is worthy of mention; it is said to be the only occasion when St. Philip Neri made a mistake in the diagnosis of anyone entrusted to his spiritual care.
So long as Camillus was safe at his work in the hospital of S. Giacomo, St. Philip was pleased with him; when he heard that Camillus had left the hospital and taken up his abode in the lowest quarters of the town, he was not a little distressed.
Knowing Camillus’s past and his propensity for gambling, Philip was very concerned that the new surroundings would only revive old temptations. Moreover, he was convinced this new departure was only another mark of that restless and obstinate nature which had already made his penitent seek in vain for admission among the Franciscans.
He spoke sharply to Camillus, advising him for his own security not to give up the work he was doing at S. Giacomo; if he disobeyed, Philip would be forced to give up on him.
Although Camillus respected Philip as a father, he held firm, insisting he was following the vocation he was called to by God. From that moment, for a period at least, Philip Neri and Camillus de Lellis took separate paths.
As we see, there are times when even saints disagree.
卡米諾斯投身照顧病人
聖卡米諾斯年青時沉迷賭博；後來用勤奮工作，在天主聖寵下把惡習戒除。
悔改後的卡米諾斯，走進羅馬的聖雅各醫院，再一次要求被接收為病人，同時也願意充當醫院僕役。他辛勤工作，因而離開了賭博；加上他在羅馬時，得到聖斐理.乃立神父作他的神師，使他的靈修得以改進。
在醫院服務四年後，卡米諾斯的腳部傷患，看似痊癒，他不聽從聖乃立神父的勸阻，再嘗試加入方濟嘉布遣會修道。甫進入修院未幾，腳傷暴發，被修院要求離開。翌年，他向阿拉科利的方濟會叩門被拒。卡米諾斯只得把修道的念頭放下，而聖乃立歡迎他說：「天主祝福你、卡米諾斯。看，我不是早給你說過嗎？」
卡米諾斯返回聖雅各醫院並當上主管。一個黃昏，在病房裡，一個念頭在卡米諾斯腦海中閃過：良好的護理在於愛心，不去計較工資多少。他想到把那些以愛心投身護理的人結集起來，以提供更高的護理質素。
經過細心挑選，卡米諾斯從他所屬的醫院員工中召集了五人，按他的指引渡內修外侍的生活；同時他想，這批人士不應該只是護理人員，應該要有神父。於是，他決定深造晉鐸，冀為病者服務得更好。
卡米諾斯首先利用空閑，跟醫院院牧學習拉丁文，稍後進入羅馬學院進修。由於他六呎半的高個子，已經是三十二歲了，被同學們給他外號「遲來者」，又願意替他補習。1584年，三十四歲的卡米諾斯如願晉鐸。
他在城內最低下的迪伯市的一所房屋內，對每位病者提供護理。阿爾邦.高迪厄總主教在他的著作指出：聖斐理.乃立可能唯一一次錯誤地判斷他的神子。事情是這樣的：本來，聖乃立神父看到卡米諾斯在聖雅各醫院工作得相當穩定，非常放心。當他聽得卡米諾斯竟然辭掉那份工作，轉宿到城內最低下的角落，感到不能認同。
聖乃立深知卡米諾斯的過去，怕他生活在低下的環境，會重新沉迷賭博；認為是他不安於本份和固執，遂對卡米諾斯嚴詞苛責，強調是為他的未來，好好留在聖雅各醫院工作較穩妥；聲明如果他不聽便放棄他。雖然卡米諾斯敬愛聖乃立如父，但他堅持自己的理念是正確的、是天主的聖召；因此，他唯有暫時與聖乃立分離。可見聖人們之間有時也會有各異的主張。