After Saint Dymphna’s death, some lunatics wandered in the countryside of Gheel in Belgium. They slept there and woke up cured. Since then she was called the “patron saint of people afflicted with mental and spiritual afflictions” (Saint Dymphna, www.saint-mike.org). Many miracles were recorded at her shrine in Gheel.
Beautiful and holy
Dymphna was born in Ireland in the seventh century. His father, King Damon, is a pagan, and her mother, a Christian, had her baptized secretly when she was young. He mother died when Dymphna was 14.
The king was inconsolable and was advised by the court to marry again. He consented but the new wife should resemble her first wife. It was a futile search and it was suggested that he could marry Dymphna who had a striking resemblance with her mother.
When the illicit marriage was proposed, Dymphna confided her concern to Father Gerebern, her confessor. She was advised to explain to his father how “sinful and horrible” is the proposal “but his father was deaf to her arguments,” according to Joan Carroll Cruz in Secular Saints.
Aware of the king’s temper and vindictiveness, Father Gerebern, two trusted servants, the king’s jester and Dymphna escaped and landed in Antwerp, Belgium. They settled in Gheel near the Shrine of Saint Martin of Tours, according to Franciscan Mission Associates.org.
In Gheel Dymphna built a hospital for the sick and the poor using her money (Saints Fun Facts, Saints and Angels).
The spies of King Damon informed him of Dymphna’s place. The king again pleaded that they get married but she would rather die. The furious king ordered his men to kill her and her companions. Father Gerebern and her companions were killed, but were adamant to harm the princess. The angry king drew his sword. Dymphna’s head which fell on his feet. She was barely 15 then.
Invoked in Mental Afflictions
The bodies were left exposed for days for fear of the king. Afterward, they were buried in a simple tomb and later transferred inside a chapel. The men tasked to dig the bodies were surprised to find them inside a tomb of white stones.
A legend said they were reburied by angels spread. A red stone on the breast of Dymphna was also found. The stone was hung around the neck of people who made nine days novena in the shrine to be cured, according to Cruz.
In 620 Dymphna was known as Lily of Eire and a church was built in her honor. However, a fire destroyed it in 1489. A new magnificent church was built in 1532.
Houses for mentally ill patients were also built near the church, said in St. Dymphna.www.saint-mike.org. The facilities were considered Model of Community Recovery by Geel Bel and J. Goldstein of the Psychology Department of Stanford University.
Dymphna received her crown of martyrdom in 620. She is invoked by those afflicted with mental disorders.
Father Gerebern was also canonized. His relics are in Sonsbeck Germany. He is invoked by people suffering with fever and gout. He is the patron saint of Rhineland, Germany.
Both saints are honored on May 15.
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Damo-Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and of Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.