St. Camilla was born out of wedlock of a noble mother and a gentleman of the court. She was raised in the court and received an education. She was not particularly religious and made fun of the nuns and the friars.
During the Lent of 1479, Varano listened to a sermon of Observant Franciscan friar Francesco of Urbino, whom she described as "the trumpet of the Holy Spirit". This sermon struck her deeply. After another sermon by the same friar (with whom she secretly corresponded) on the feast of the Annunciation, 24 March 1479, she then took a vow of chastity; she was 21 at the time. At this same time, she also began to increasingly hear voices inside her telling her that her only hope of salvation was to become a nun.
Varano then had a bitter internal struggle, while dealing with sneers and gossip behind her back by members of the court, and her father initially opposed her wish to enter into consecrated life, wishing her to marry. After a confession of her sins to a certain Friar Oliviero on Saturday within the Octave of Easter, 17 April 1479, she decided that she would enter the Poor Clare monastery at Urbino, which was under the reform of the Strict Observance of the Order.
During the next two and half years before she entered the monastery, she reported having very deep conversions with Christ, and she received many divine visitations. She claimed that Jesus had given her 'three fragrant spring lilies': an intense hatred of the world, a heart-felt humility and a burning desire to endure evil. She composed her first written work in this time, a Lauda (Praises), which was about the joy she felt in knowing that Christ loved her. She claimed that she once saw Christ (in answer to her desire to see Him), but she saw only His back as He was walking away. She also experienced seven months of severe physical illness and depression.
On 14 November 1481, Camilla entered the monastery of the Poor Clares at Urbino and took the name Baptista. Eventually she was elected abbess of her monastery. She was instrumental in establishing other Poor Clare Monasteries. Eventually she died of the bubonic plague on May 31, 1524, at the age of 66. The day fell on the Feast of Corpus Christi that year.
Pope Benedict XVI canonized her in 2010. Her feast is kept on May 31.