# Saint Dymphna



## ShafferNY (Nov 11, 2003)

Has anybody heard of her?

I recently came across her while doing a search for something else on the internet. She's the patron saint for the mentally ill.

I'm not a follower of any religion, but if there was one person I was going to pray to it would be her.


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## JustBen (Jan 13, 2004)

Saint Dymphna was the daughter of an pagan Irish chieftain and a Christian mother. She was raised in the faith by her mother, and had a good friend and spiritual director, an elderly priest called Gerebran. Her mother was very beautiful and loved by all, most especially by her husband, the chieftain Damon.

When Dymphna was fourteen years old, her mother became ill and died. Damon was so torn by grief for his dead wife that he became mentally ill and lost all reason. In an attempt to bring him out of his madness and grief, his advisors recommended that he find another, as beautiful and good as his late wife to marry. Damon sent representatives throughout the country, searching for one who was beautiful, good and would consent to marry him. No-one could be found. Then Damon saw Dymphna walking by and realised that she was the perfect replacement for his wife. He decided to marry his daughter. Dymphna was horrified by this suggestion, and refused. She fought off her maddened father and fled the castle with Gerebran.

They made their way across the sea to Belgium, hoping to elude Damon's search. But following their trail, Damon caught up with them in Gheel. He had Father Gerebran beheaded and repeated his demand that Dymphna marry him. When she refused, he drew his sword in a rage and struck off her head. She was barely fifteen when she was martyred in defense of her purity and chastity.

The spot where Gerebran and Dymphna were killed became a shrine, and Saint Dymphna is invoked as the patron of those suffering from nervous and mental illnesses. Treatment centres and a fraternity under her name sprang up around the place. A church bearing her name was consecrated in 1532, and still stands today. (Source: http://www.domestic-church.com)


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## Caedmon (Dec 14, 2003)

Cool, I did not know that.


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## stillwaters (Feb 21, 2005)

that was really interesting!

:thanks


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## ShafferNY (Nov 11, 2003)

Yeah, that's about the same thing I read. There are a few subtle differences in the story depending on where you read it, but the main theme of the story stays the same.


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## glittergaze (May 4, 2005)

:thanks :int


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## wilard (May 14, 2005)

Quite a sad story... :um


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## ketchup (Jun 1, 2005)

ShafferNY said:


> Has anybody heard of her?
> 
> I recently came across her while doing a search for something else on the internet. She's the patron saint for the mentally ill.
> 
> I'm not a follower of any religion, but if there was one person I was going to pray to it would be her.


Just to make this clear. Saints are not gods. We believe that when you pray to a saint, your asking the saint to pray for you to the Christian God. Since these people are in heaven, we believe they are closer to God than we are so their prayers are more powerful. Do not make these people deities because the prayers won't be answered directly by the saints but by the Christian God.

God Bless.


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## ShafferNY (Nov 11, 2003)

I think that all depends on what religion you blong to. Some religions believe you can pray to anyone in the afterlife. Take Wicca for example. 

From a Christian stand point you're correct.


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## cyndy (Jul 28, 2009)

in my recent search for finding the true faith for me, i came across St. Dymphna and immediately fell in love!!! i had no idea there was a patron saint for people who suffer like us and so many others. i was raised lutheran and am now episcopalian. both demononations do use saint intercession and i have since gotten myself a St. Dymphna medal and relic. i pray for her intercession every day and hopefully, God will hear these prayers...no, i know He hears them. even as a placebo effect (though i believe it to be much more) it certainly helps.


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## bezoomny (Feb 10, 2007)

Saint/Blessed Christina the Astonishing is also a patroness of the mentally ill (technically not a saint, she's never been formally beatified). They're the only two that I know of.

_Born to a peasant family, orphaned as a child, and raised by two older sisters. At age 21, she experienced a severe seizure of what may have been epilepsy. It was so severe as to be cateleptic, and she was thought to have died. During her funeral Mass, she suddenly recovered, and levitated to the roof of the church. Ordered down by the priest, she landed on the altar and stated that she had been to hell, purgatory, and heaven, and had been returned to earth with a ministry to pray for souls in purgatory.

Her life from that point became a series of strange incidents cataloged by a Thomas de Cantimpré, Dominican professor of theology at Louvain who was a contemporary who recorded his information by interviewing witnesses, and by Cardinal Jacques de Vitny who knew her personally. She exhibited both unusual traits and abilities. For example, she could not stand the odor of other people because she could smell the sin in them, and would climb trees or buildings, hide in ovens or cupboards, or simply levitate to avoid contact. She lived in a way that was considered poverty even in the 13th century, sleeping on rocks, wearing rags, begging, and eating what came to hand. She would roll in fire or handle it without harm, stand in freezing water in the winter for hours, spend long periods in tombs, or allow herself to be dragged under water by a mill wheel, though she never sustained injury. Given to ecstasies during which she led the souls of the recently dead to purgatory, and those in purgatory to paradise.

People who knew her were divided in their opinions: she was a holy woman, touched of God, and that her actions and torments were simulations of the experiences of the souls in purgatory; she was suffering the torments of devils - or she was flatly insane. However, the prioress of Saint Catherine's convent testified that no matter how bizarre or excessive Christina's reported actions, she was always completely obedient to the orders of the prioresses of the convent. Christina was a friend of Louis, Count of Looz, whose castle she visited, and whose actions she rebuked. Blessed Marie of Oignies thought well of her, and Saint Lutgardis sought her advice._


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## shyshisho (Apr 19, 2009)

Benedict Joseph Labre is another patron saint of the mentally ill. He was a postulant at various monasteries but his nervous disorders always got him turned out. He finally gave up and became a holy tramp.


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## cyndy (Jul 28, 2009)

this is all so fascinating to me. thank you for posting about these people who prove we have never been alone!!!


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