St. Camillus de Lellis founded the Order of the Ministers of the Sick (also known as Camillians) in 1582. At first, he visited the sick with his companions. They strove to serve Christ in the sick. They made their bed, performed deeds of charity, and prepared them to receive the sacraments.

A few years later, Camillus got a bigger house for his community, and, according to Butler’s Lives of the Saints, he “ordained that the members of his congregation should bind themselves … to serve persons infected with the plague, prisoners, and those who lie dying in private houses.”

In 1591 and 1601, some members of the congregation accompanied the troops into Hungary and Croatia, so forming the first recorded “military field ambulance.”

A large red cross was chosen by Camillus as the distinguishing badge for the members of the congregation to wear upon their black cassocks. The symbol of red cross was later adopted as the international symbol of medical care. 

During the Battle of Canizza in 1601, while the members of the congregation were busily tending the wounded on the battlefield, the tent in which they had all of their equipment and supplies was burned to the ground. Everything in the tent was destroyed except for the red cross of the habit belonging to one of the members. This event was taken by the community as manifesting divine approval of the red cross symbol.

Butler’s points out that Camillus made it the chief end of his community “to afford or procure the sick all spiritual succour, discreetly to suggest to them short acts of contrition and other virtues, to read to them, and to pray for them. For this end he furnished his priests with proper books of devotion, especially on penance and on the sufferings of Christ; and he taught them to have always at hand the most suitable ejaculations extracted from the psalms and other prayers. But dying persons were the principal objects of his zeal and charity.”

The members of the congregation risked their lives to tend the sick during plagues, and some members died after contracting diseases. They were considered “Martyrs of Charity” by the community, which commemorates them annually on May 25. Camillians also celebrate the feast day of “Our Lady, Health of the Sick” on Nov. 16 each year.

Camillus treated the poor with great kindness and generosity. He did not wait for the poor to come to him but went out to search for the poor to help them. He said, “If no poor could be found in the world, men ought to go in search of them, and dig them up from underground to do them good, and to be merciful to them.”

Camillus showed kindness even to animals. According to a biography, one time “he came across a dog with a broken leg. He cared for it and fed it regularly; when he had to leave the place, he asked others to continue to look after it. ‘I, too, have had a bad leg,’ he said; ‘and I know the misery of not being able to walk. This is a creature of God, and a faithful creature, too. If I am as faithful to my master as a dog is to his, I shall do very well.’”

Camillus continued to suffer from his leg wound, and as he got older, he experienced more health issues. According to Butler’s, “When he was not able to stand he would creep out of his bed, even in the night, and crawl from one patient to another to exhort them to acts of virtue, and see if they wanted anything.” He died on July 14, 1614, at the age of 64.


卡米諾斯成立護病修會                                                                 

聖卡米諾斯(又稱聖嘉民.列理斯)於1582年成立靈醫會(廣為人熟悉的嘉民會)。他首先和同伴們探訪病患者,繼而以服侍他們作為侍奉基督,行愛德工作:為他們整理床舖、幫助他們妥善領受聖事。

過了不久,卡米諾斯為他的團體,覓得較大的院舍。根據畢肋的「聖人生平」記載:卡米諾斯要他的修會會士們,必須服侍那些傳染病人、囚犯,和在家中等待最後時刻來臨的臨終病人。

1591年至1601年間,靈醫會會士,曾跟隨軍隊到匈牙利和克羅地亞,那是首次「隨軍救護」的記載。

卡米諾斯選擇了一個紅色的大十字印在黑色會衣上;後來這紅十字成了醫護的標徵。

1601年加尼沙戰役中,靈醫會的物資帳蓬被炮火擊中,一切化為灰燼,只剩下一名會士會衣的紅十字標徵;會士們視這是天主認可「紅十字」標徵的顯示。

畢肋的「聖人生平」又指出,聖卡米諾斯要會士們著救助重病人靈性上的需要,謹慎地勸誡他們發悔改的心和修德,給他們朗讀聖書,為他們祈禱。為了裝備會士們,卡米諾斯向他們提供合適閱讀的熱心虔敬書冊,特別有關悔改和基督苦難的內容,教導他們如何熟悉地引用聖經及禱文中適合的熱心短誦;不過,他們的熱心和愛心,仍緊繫於垂死的病人。

傳染病肆虐期間,有些負責護理的靈醫會會士都因染病而死,均被視為「愛德的殉道者」,每年的5月25日會舉行紀念儀式。每年的11月16日,靈醫會會慶祝「病人之痊」聖母瞻禮。

靈醫會沒有忽略貧窮的人,對他們施以仁愛與慷慨。聖卡米諾斯不待被要求,而是外出尋找探訪他們;他嘗道:「假如你找不到貧窮的人,出去尋找他們吧。不惜翻土尋根把他們領出來,以向他們行善、憐憫他們。」

卡米諾斯亦善待動物。有自傳記載:有次他看到一頭跛犬,動了憐心,恆常照顧及餵養牠;即使他要離開那地方,他仍托人看顧牠;他說:『我也曾殘跛,知道不能行走是怎樣的難受。牠同是天主的創造,忠誠的受造物。假如我像牠對主人般忠誠,我會幹得很好。』

實際上,卡米諾斯持續受著腿的傷患折磨,加上年紀漸長,健康屢屢出現問題。畢肋的「聖人生平」寫道:「當他不能站立,他會爬出床,即使在夜間也由一個病人爬到另一個病人以勸勉他們修德,並看看他們有什麼需要。」

卡米諾斯死於1614年7月14日,年六十四歲。