A Soldier Surrenders: the Conversion of Saint Camillus de Lellis: a Novel / Susan Peek

This is the story of the dramatic conversion and inspiring goodness of the soldier Camillus de Lellis who lived in the late 1500's, and became the founder of the religious order known then as "Ministers of the Sick", and today now called the "Hospitallers". The story of St. Camillus is one that is filled with an intriguing combination of drama, military battles, sickness and disease, conversion to God, and great charity for countless suffering people, be they dying soldiers, prisoners or patients in the hospitals that he founded.

Camillus is a saint that anyone can identitfy with since he was a very worldly man, a huge man at 6 foot 6 inches height, a soldier who fought against the Turks, and one who had a terrible addiction to gambling that continually reduced him to poverty and shame. He also suffered tremendously throughout his life from various ongoing ailments including a crippling leg disease for 46 years, a rupture for 38 years, chronically painful feet problems, and a distaste for food that caused him an inability to retain it. None of his own great sufferings kept him from always thinking of others first, and striving to serve the many sick and dying people under his care.

He eventually conquered his personal weaknesses like gambling, but not without a long and constant struggle, an example of perseverance that will inspire anyone with their own personal moral, spiritual or physical struggles. God rewarded him with many followers who joined his order to serve the sick and dying, as well as great spiritual gifts including prophecy and miracles. St. Camillus was a forerunner of the work of the International Red Cross, and he used that same symbol for his own religious order. Pope Leo XIII canonized him in 1746 and declared Camillus the Patron of the Sick.

"This novel for young adult readers will introduce them to a great saint, a physical giant who had to contend with many personal struggles, much weakness and repeated failures, before becoming a moral giant. The story of Camillus De Lellis's conversion will leave no reader unmoved." -- Michael O'Brien

Susan Peek attended St. Mary's Academy in Kansas, and after graduation entered the Carmelite convent for a short period, where she learned about St. Camillus and developed a lifelong devotion to him. She later realized her calling to marriage and now lives in New Zealand where she and her husband Jeff home school their ten children. She is the author of another historical novel, Crusader King.