A Continuous Pathway…with St. Camillus de Lellis
By Ivana Barbara Torto

Celebrations for the official opening of the jubilee year for the fourth centenary of the death of St. Camillus de Lellis have taken place during these exciting days of July. The Committee for the Celebrations of 2013 has wanted to proceed on a pathway of reflection and of growth, since its inception until today, together with the Camillians, the Order of the Ministers of the Sick, which St. Camillus strongly wanted in the renewal of the society of his time. The Camillian Cultural Association, which the committee wanted to call itself to make clear its intentions, has been at work this year, establishing goals with a programme that was planned from the outset and which has been enriched on the way with constant meetings, moments of listening and reflection, and exchanges of ideas and points of view with associations and institutions present in the local areas. The constant cooperation between the committee, the Camillian community of Bucchianico, the Camillian Generalate House (in particular with the Superior General Fr.  Renato Salvatore and the Consultor General Br. Luca Perletti), the Camillian Provinces, the young people of the Secretariat of the Sanctuary of Bucchianico, the town council of Bucchianico and pro-loco, the Unitalsi and the whole of the community of Bucchianico, allowed the implementation of a large number of initiatives not only in the local area of Bucchianico but also beyond, outside our town and our region of Abruzzo (the School-Project, pilgrimages in some of the most important Camillian localities, research, publications and cultural meetings to disseminate the Camillian message and Camillian thinking today, special days such as the World Day of the Sick, the veneration or holy relics, etc.).
From every reflection there always springs a change: the population of Bucchianico this year has been faced with a number of variations in the ordinary programme for the feast day of St. Camillus celebrated by the local population because of an extraordinary event, that of the opening of the jubilee year in the birthplace of this saint, presided over by the bishop of the archdiocese of Chieti Vasto, Msgr. Bruno Forte, by the Superior General Fr. Renato Salvatore, and by a strong representation of the Order of the Ministers of the Sick.
St. Camillus made possible this journey made up of a search for the values of spirituality in today’s society in order to overcome certain stereotypical forms which at times make us lose the original meaning of things. A pathway of reflections means this: to rediscover the essence of the message of St. Camillus. It was touching for the inhabitants of Bucchianico, the fellow townsmen of this saint, to take part in the March of Charity with thousands of people; to pray together with the faithful of the Company of  Castellara in a church full of people and one that was full of human warmth, in front of the showing of the statue of St. Camillus, the ‘Healer’; to see the musical ‘Camillus, Soldier of God’ in a square that contained, in the seats alone, 900 people, and many others standing who filled the sides and the space behind the church of the sanctuary; to be present, or to follow from their own homes, the Holy Mass celebrated in Piazza S. Camillo and broadcast by Rai Uno at an international level; to listen to the concert of the military musical band of the Guardia di Finanza (an exceptional event) which performed, at 22.00, in memory of the death of St. Camillus, the hymn ‘Above in Heaven’ (for tenor, soprano and a band); and it was also very fine to take part in the procession of 15 July with the statue and the relic of St. Camillus, with a moving and massive presence of the faithful, accompanied by the musical band of the city of Lanciano which preceded the  procession and appeared in the square while the statue, at the back of the procession, was still beginning its entrance into the belvedere (an unforgettable and moving moment); to enjoy the fireworks which were artistically produced in a harmonious arrangement of music and colours, being invited to an emotional reflection on good and evil; and, lastly, it was enjoyable to relax with a cool evening walk in the square, at the last appointment of this edition of the Feast of St. Camillus 2013, with the orchestra of the singer Massimo Di Cataldo.
St. Camillus, during a week when the weather forecast was not very  encouraging, protected his Bucchianico and his people with rays of the sun, which allowed the taking place of all the events that had been organised. Each moment witnessed the return of good and favourable weather, until the last moment of everything. May God bless, with His intercession, all those who work for the good of their neighbours, in name of the Charity and the Love that every person can cultivate in his or her daily life! Just as in every moment of prayer and thought we repeat: ‘long live St. Camillus’.