Maria Domenica Brun Barbantini

After the loss of her son, Maria Domenica walked the streets of Lucca to care for sick and dying women who had been abandoned. In 1817, she founded the Pia Unione delle Sorelle di Carità, which was approved in 1819. In 1824, she established a monastery of the Order of the Visitation in Lucca. On January 23, 1829, she founded the first community of the Sorelle Oblate Infermiere, which became a religious congregation in 1841 under the protection of Mary Most Holy Addolorata and Saint Camillus. In 1842, the institute was aggregated to the Order of Ministers of the Sick (Camillians). On March 23, 1852, the congregation received the decree of praise from Pope Pius IX under the name of Suore Ministre degli Infermi di San Camillo.

Maria Domenica Brun Barbantini dedicated the rest of her life to the formation of her sisters and the service of the sick, facing slander and financial difficulties. She died peacefully in Lucca on May 22, 1868. After her death, the cause for beatification was introduced. The heroic nature of her virtues was recognized, and the investigation into a miracle attributed to her intercession (the unexplained healing of a sick person) was validated on December 12, 1986. The miracle was successively approved by the medical board, the theologians, and then the cardinals and bishops in 1994, leading to the signing of the decree by Pope John Paul II on December 15, 1994.

Maria Domenica Brun Barbantini was solemnly proclaimed blessed by Pope John Paul II on May 7, 1995, in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican. During his homily, the Pope presented her as a "vigilant and caring image of the Good Shepherd," highlighting her concrete love for the marginalized and the sick. Her liturgical feast is set for May 22, the day of her birth into heaven.

Maria Domenica's spirituality is centered on the Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows (the Addolorata). She taught her sisters to see the face of the suffering Christ in every sick person and to serve them at the risk of their own lives. During the exhumation of her remains, her brain was found intact and perfectly preserved; this relic is kept at the motherhouse in Lucca. Today, the Ministering Sisters of the Sick of Saint Camillus (or Barbantines) continue her work in Italy, Brazil, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Kenya.