Cellebroeders, nurses with true contempt for death

The Celle brothers, better known today as Alexians, had been active as nurses since the first plague epidemic in the 14th century, a role they would continue to fulfill in the following centuries. For Diest there is a document in 1375 that speaks of '.. den Cellaerde die heit gemeinleed den Lollaerde' and which states that Geeraert van Blanclare donates a house to the Cellebroeders on the Lange Steenweg. This house was located 'benedens de Steenwech op den Demer' (Koning Albertstraat). Apparently more donations came and the brothers were able to expand their property with a monastery and in 1481 with the consecration of a chapel of the Holy Sepulchre of Christ.

In 1778 the monastery and the church were thoroughly renovated. In 1797, the Cellebroeders were first driven out of the city, but were able to return on the recommendation of the municipal administration and settle elsewhere in the city, namely in the old Mariendal monastery of the regular canonesses of St. Augustine. After all, there was a need for dedicated and competent nurses.

In many cities, the cellebroeders had the monopoly of the care of the dead: from laying, wrapping to burial. Very little is known about their plague treatment except a brief treatment of the subject in the "Cort verhael oft tractaet vande contagieuse sieckte de peste", a brochure written by Jan Vander Linden in 1632: no bloodletting, but sweat drinks, strict isolation, no coughing and each other's "asem did not containn".

In 1635, the epidemic was so bad that no wood for coffins was available. Therefore, on the advice of the cellebroeders, the city purchased a black robe to lay over the body of the deceased at the funeral.

Curiously, the work of the cellebroeders was not always appreciated by the city population. He feared that they were spreading the disease. For example, in nearby Sint-Truiden, in 1519 the city council came up with an emergency measure against people who attacked the health workers. Anyone who abused the cellebroeders in word or deed, or called them at night, was obliged to go on a pilgrimage to Santiagio de Compostela.

The archivist of Tongerlo Abbey, Adriaan Heylen, recounts in his 'Historical treatises on the Kempen', how cellebroeders with leather robes hung around the city in the 17th century to track down the plague sufferers and bring them to the plague house. Many brothers would fall victim to this. When the disease subsided in Diest, they moved to Lummen and stayed there until the disease disappeared. In 1693, after the battle of Neerwinden, they would go to the battlefield to care for the wounded and bury the 27,000 dead.

In addition to these activities, in the 16th and 17th centuries, the care of mentally ill, character-impaired and difficult-to-educate young people also occurred occasionally. This became the main mission of the Alexian brothers, especially from the 18th century onwards.

In the chapel in Diest, Saint Lucia was worshipped against the 'red course'. The sick who came on pilgrimage were given a red thread that was worn on a scapular.

Jan Rymenams