Chapter 27: The Leper

CAYITTO ROIG was a prosperous rom seller in a seedy suburb of S. Paulo. His jovial and good-natured manner won him many customers, and, being a faithful son of the Church, his conscience did not worry him much. A little extra devotion to the Madonna, with a special Mass or two, covered a multitude of sins; and to kiss the cross and the few images in his possession meant many days of indulgences, so what was there to fear? Camillo had been a sacristan in his own country of Spain, and knew all the tricks of the trade; he hated the Protestants, too, and that must surely outweigh many of his sins; but he was a leper! For many years he had sought deliverance, had traveled far and wide, and, had spent large sums of money, all to no effect; and his scarred and bloated face grew worse and worse.
In the till of his drawer he kept half a dozen little saints, on whom he lavished much affection; and very often when nobody was looking Camillo would pull out these saints and cover them with kisses. The spirit of idolatry, with its strange, fascinating power, had gripped the man’s soul — he was a leper indeed!
Yes, he hated the Protestants; and whenever any discussion took place over his counter Camillo soon damped the rising interest betrayed by any of his customers. He also had a very summary way oi dealing with colporteurs or Gospel tract distributer; for whom he had a special contempt, at once consigning all their literature to the flames, as “Mother Church” advises.
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“Will you accept one of these little books?” It was a very pleasant-faced, smiling young lady who addressed him, with a very nice voice, too — at least, so Camillo thought; so he accepted the proffered Gospel with a good grace, and the lady passed on.
It was a pretty little book, with a picture on the cover — a Gospel prepared by the Scripture Gift Mission — and it happened to bear the name of his favorite saint, though whether this was John the Baptist or John the Evangelist he was not sure. So on this account, and because of the lady’s smile, he kept the book.
A few days later, out of curiosity, he started reading the first chapter. At once an inexplicable sensation thrilled his mind, and though he could barely understand what he read he felt a deep Conviction that it was the Word of God.
Camillo read the Gospel through, and it haunted him day and night. Do what he would, he could not drown the impression made. There was the address of a Gospel Hall stamped on the back cover of the book, and several times he resisted an impulse to go there. At last his state of mind was such that he threw all pride to the winds, and crossed to the other side of the city where the hall was situated. He heard the Gospel preached for the first time, drank it in thirstily, and a few weeks after was truly converted.
Camillo at once made short work of his little saints, but he did not see how he could abandon his livelihood. Soon after, a baptismal service was announced, and he applied as a candidate, but found to his sorrow that he could not be accepted until he had abandoned his rum selling. This he endeavored to do, but could not find a purchaser.
On the eve of the baptism, however, Camillo suddenly resolved to forsake all for Christ’s sake. He did so at a great sacrifice; and the following day he was baptized with some fifteen others in the Tiete River.
The day after his baptism Camillo stood at the mirror prepared for his morning shave. He almost dropped the razor in amazement, and called out excitedly to his wife: “Look at my face! I’m healed! glory to God!” The ugly sores on his face were gone, and the bloated appearance had vanished! He stripped and found the same thing had taken place all over his body. He was healed — healed on the occasion of his baptism I knew Camillo before the event, with the tell-tale sores on his hands and face, and since that eventful day I have known and traveled with him for years; and I can affirm from intimate knowledge of the man that, explain it as you may, he has not a trace of the foul disease upon him up to the present day, ten years later.
Camillo was severely tested after this, for everything to which he turned his hand failed, until his capital was exhausted; and then God led us to try him as a colporteur. His success was immediate and sustained, and he is now perhaps the best colporteur of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Brazil. He has also been signally used of God in the conversion of hundreds of Roman Catholics especially through open-air preaching.
The following is a typical incident taken from a Bible Society’s report: “In one town, where Senhor Camillo was offering; the Scriptures, a man exclaimed, ‘Were not you along with an Englishman, in the public square at A — some years ago, when the people of the place wanted to kill you both for selling the Bible and preaching the Gospel?’ Senhor Camillo replied that he was indeed the person referred to. Thereupon his questioner heartily embraced him, and recounted how the Englishman, being surrounded by the mob, had begged them to wait until he and his companion had prayed; and that while the two knelt to pray aloud for the conversion of the people who, through ignorance, were about to commit a great crime, the people round them took off their hats and knelt down also, and so desisted from their evil intent. The man who recounted this incident is now a Christian; his family are also converted, and quite a number of people in that town are on the side of the Gospel.”
The many remarkable experiences of this bright-faced, lion-hearted man would fill a volume; and yet it can all be traced back to a lady’s smile and that little book — “The Gospel according to John.”