Brother Camillus Impacts Students’ Lives One Fist Bump at a Time

If you take a walk around campus, you’re likely to find Brother Camillus Chavez, FSC, giving out fist bumps to students on their way to class. For more than 40 years, Brother Camillus has taught meditation at Saint Mary’s and continues to make an impact on students’ lives. This fall, Brother Camillus will offer weekly guided meditation sessions to help students live stress-free lives. 

“Bienvenidos a todos, welcome to all for Hispanic Heritage Month,” shared Brother Camillus. “I invite you to my Wednesday meditation sessions at 11:30 a.m. and noon [in the Brother’s Chapel] for half hour meditation sessions. Learn to relax, cut down stress and anxiety, sleep better, and improve your grades.”

Brother Camillus will also offer one-on-one 15-minute meditation sessions on Thursdays from 1 to 4 p.m. Sign-ups are available in the Mission and Ministry Center. Vaccinations are required to attend either group or individual meditation sessions. 

Brother Camillus has mentored generations of Saint Mary’s students, especially Latinx and students of color. In 2019, the Institute for Latin American and Latino Studies (ILaLS) announced the Brother Camillus Chavez ILaLS Student Award to provide financial support for students who are studying Latinx diasporas or Latin America, and awarded the scholarship to five Saint Mary’s students last spring. 

ILaLS Director and Spanish and Latin American Studies Professor María Luisa Ruiz described why it was important to name the ILaLS Student Award after Brother Camillus. “One of the things that we talked about at the institute was the need to look back at the presence of people of color on campus. And in particular, Latinos at Saint Mary’s—and of course, Brother Camillus has been at the institution going on 50 years.”

“I did a few interviews with him just to ask him about his recollections at Saint Mary’s,” Ruiz continued. And it became very clear that he just has connections with so many alumni and he has influenced and impacted so many students, both in his classes and his support of students who still reach out to him. We wanted to both honor his legacy while also recognizing Latino students as integral to Saint Mary’s.” 

Carlos Mongalo ’11, Saint Mary’s alumnus and CEO of Glowry Collection, thanked Brother Camillus Chavez for guiding him on his spiritual journey at Saint Mary’s and beyond: “I’ll never forget one thing he told me: ‘The purpose of life is...to let God live inside of you and then let God live through you, and let him do what he wants to do in the world through you, to use you as a vessel. And over time, he’s going to keep polishing your heart, and you’re going to shine like a diamond.’  

“I never forgot that. Ever since then, I started getting deeper into searching for God and reading the Bible,” said Mongalo. “And I think everything has happened because of God, because I don’t know how else I achieved all of this.”

For questions about Brother Camillus’ guided meditations, contact Sally Jamison (sjamison@stmarys-ca.edu). To learn more about the Brother Camillus Chavez ILaLS Student Award, click here.