St. Camillus relic in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - For the first time, the relic of the heart of St. Camillus de Lellis, patron saint of the sick, hospitals, nurses and healthcare workers visited Cebu.

The two-day pilgrimage started yesterday with a motorcade from the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) to Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, its first stop.

A Eucharistic celebration was led by Cebu Auxiliary Bishop Emilio Bataclan at the Cathedral filled with devotees from all walks of life especially the religious community.

Hundreds of devotees attended the mass and the veneration that shortly followed shortly after.

Pilgrims wearing surgical masks, while some on crutches patiently lined at the left side of the Cathedral where the veneration was placed to make way for first Friday mass.

From the Cathedral, another motorcade was held heading to the Daughters of St. Camillus Convent Chapel in San Jose, Talamban where a healing mass and prayer vigil followed.

Today, an early morning mass starts its second and last day followed by pilgrim veneration of the relic.

From there, another motorcade brings the relic of the heart to San Isidro Parish, still in Talamban where another mass will be officiated by Msgr. Carlito Pono at 11 a.m.

Pilgrims will be given time for veneration before it departs for the airport at 3 p.m.

Father Rolly Fernandez from the Order of the Ministries of the Infirmed, known in the country as Camillian priests, told reporters that the relic was only allowed to go on a pilgrimage in 2010.

“The pilgrimage only started in Peru in 2010. The relic was initially not allowed to travel because the heart is a soft tissue. It was only after a treatment that the relic finally was allowed to visit several countries,” Fr. Fernandez explained.

The Camillian father, who fetched the relic at the airport in Manila upon its arrival to the country from Thailand in February 18, said it has also visited Ireland, Brazil, and Germany.

In the Philippines, it has visited Manila, Baguio and Iloilo before Cebu and is set to also visit Calbayog in Samar, Davao city and Oriental province, Dagupan and will go back to Manila, Fr. Fernandez added.

Saint Camillus was born on May 25, 1550 at Bucchianico, Italy and was a soldier and gambler before being converted in  1575.

Upon conversion, he started serving St. James’s Hospital for incurables in Rome after being a patient of ulcerated leg and rupture that prevented him from walking.

He became a priest in 1584 and founded a congregation of priests in 1586 that was approved to become a religious order in 1591 called Ministries of the Sick.

The patron of the sick and healthcare providers died on July 1614 and was canonized in 1746.

His feast day was celebrated on his death anniversary.  (FREEMAN)