As a school family, we are bringing focus to the virtues. Stemming from the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, we name two virtues each month to discover and strive to live out. Additionally, we learn about a saint who embodies those particular virtues.

For the month of May, we are focusing on the virtues of Self-Control Comman.  We celebrate Saint Dymphna on May 15th.

Saint Dymphna’s Story

St. Dymphna, a beautiful, young Irish princess from the 7th century, is most commonly known as the patron saint of those with nervous and emotional disorders. With many miracles attributed to her intercession, particularly at the site of her martyrdom, many people facing the challenges of mental illness seek her as a source of prayer, comfort, and reassurance that they are in God’s hands.

St. Dymphna was born in the 7th century to a pagan king, Damon, and his Christian wife. It is said that St. Dymphna’s mother was very beautiful, and when she died at a young age, Damon was inconsolable. The king’s court tried to come up with a solution that would help him to deal with his grief and be happy again. They suggested he remarry, and he decided this was a great idea – but only if the woman was as beautiful as his first wife had been. Damon and his court searched far and wide for a woman whose beauty would equal that of St. Dymphna’s mother; however, they were unable to find anyone.

The king’s inability to find a new wife weighed heavily on his mind. The more he searched and came up empty the worse his grief became. Consequently, his mental health began to suffer, and he started entertaining the possibility of marrying his daughter, St. Dymphna, the only woman whose beauty was comparable to her mother’s. St. Dymphna, then about age 15, refused her father’s advances. She had made a vow of virginity, pledging herself wholly to God, at age 14. She told her father she could not agree to his desire to marry her. When he became enraged at her rejection, St. Dymphna fled with her spiritual director, Fr. Gerebernus, to Belgium, where they thought they would be safe from the king’s violent anger.

St. Dymphna’s father was furious that his daughter had fled from him. Since St. Dymphna had not told anyone where she was going to, the king sent his court out to search for her. Her location was discovered when the king’s men came across an innkeeper who recognized the coins that they paid with as coins he had recently received as payment. At this time in history, foreign currency was not widely recognized, since long-distance travel was difficult and costly (which meant many people were unable to travel very far). Since the innkeeper remembered the coins of Damon’s kingdom, the king’s men knew St. Dymphna must be close. They sent word to the king that his daughter had been found.

Damon joined his men in the town of Gheel, Belgium, where St. Dymphna had been found. He tried to persuade St. Dymphna to join him as his wife, but again, she refused. The king ordered that his men kill Fr. Gerebernus and St. Dymphna as punishment for disobeying him. The men beheaded Fr. Gerebernus, but were unable to harm the princess. The king was overcome with fury, took his sword, and beheaded his own daughter.

The residents of the town of Gheel buried Fr. Gerebernus and St. Dymphna in a cave. They had grown to love St. Dymphna as a good and holy young woman who had taken care of the poor and sick while living in Gheel. Years later, the townspeople decided to give St. Dymphna and Fr. Gerebernus a more proper burial location. When they uncovered the cave where they had been buried, it was discovered that two stone sarcophagi now enclosed their bodies. One of these was marked with a red tile labeled “Dymphna.” In 1349, a church was built in honor of St. Dymphna in Gheel. Those who visited the church (which was at the site of her martyrdom), reported many miraculous healings, particularly of those afflicted with epilepsy and mental illness. When this church burned in the late 15th century, a new church was built in her honor. Dedicated in 1532, the Church of St. Dymphna has been a popular site of pilgrimage for those suffering from mental, nervous, or emotional illness for hundreds of years. 

Saint Dymphna is a Patron Saint of:

Mental Illness

-Courtesy of Catholic Saint Medals