San Camilo de Lelis (1550-1614) was an Italian mercenary who, after a youth marked by military life and gambling, underwent a profound spiritual conversion. Prevented from joining the Franciscans due to a chronic injury, he worked at the hospital of San Giacomo in Rome, where he discovered the harsh conditions of the sick. Guided by St. Philip Neri and moved by a vocation of service, he founded the Order of the Siervos de los Enfermos (Servants of the Sick), known today as Hospitalarios, whose members were the first to wear the red cross on their habits. Lelis dedicated his life to the compassionate care of the ill and those in need. He was canonized in 1746 and proclaimed patron saint of the sick by Leo XIII.