St. Dymphna was an Irish virgin martyr who is revered as the patron saint of people with mental disorders and epilepsy and victims of incest. Her feast day is celebrated on May 15. Popular legend describes her as the daughter of a pagan Celtic chieftain and a Christian mother. According to the legend, her mother died when Dymphna was young, and as Dymphna grew up she developed a remarkable resemblance to her mother. At some point, she was secretly baptized as a Christian. Meanwhile, her father was advised by his counselors to marry his daughter because of her resemblance to his dead wife. When the chieftain proposed to his daughter, she fled his incestuous desires with her priest and confessor, Gerebernus, and some companions to Antwerp (in modern-day Belgium). They later settled some 25 miles (40 km) east in Geel (Gheel), where they built a habitation near a chapel dedicated to St. Martin of Tours and lived as hermits. Enraged by the flight of his daughter, Dymphna’s father pursued her and found her in Geel. When she and Gerebernus refused to return with him to Ireland, he ordered his attendants to execute the priest, which they did by beheading him. The chieftain then beheaded his daughter. She was 15 years old. The date of her martyrdom is given as May 15, but some religious texts note it as May 30. Most accounts say she lived in the 7th century, but some propose that she lived in the 5th or 6th century or as late as the 9th. After their deaths, the bodies of Dymphna and Gerebernus were placed in a cave in Geel. It is said that when their remains were discovered numerous people with epilepsy or mental illness were cured of their conditions. Another story claims that several people suffering from insanity were healed by sleeping on the same spot where she had been killed. On account of these miraculous healings, Dymphna is revered as the patron saint of people with epilepsy and mental health conditions, including anxiety disorders.
0515 St Dymphna 2p SMC 8.5 x 11 R1R 20241227Prayer to St. Dymphna (Patron Saint for mentally ill)
Saint Dymphna
Lord, our God, you graciously chose St. Dymphna as patroness of those afflicted with mental and nervous disorders. She is thus an inspiration and a symbol of charity to the thousands who ask her intercession.
Please grant, Lord, through the prayers of this pure youthful martyr, relief and consolation to all suffering such trials, and especially those for whom we pray.
(Mention those for whom you wish to pray).
We beg you, Lord, to hear the prayers of St. Dymphna on our behalf. Grant all those for whom we pray patience in their sufferings and resignation to your divine will. Please fill them with hope, and grant them the relief and cure they so much desire.
We ask this through Christ our Lord who suffered agony in the garden.
Amen
A PRAYER TO ST. DYMPHNA
Good Saint Dymphna, great wonder-worker in every affliction of mind and body, I humbly implore your powerful intercession with Jesus through Mary, the Health of the Sick, in my present need. (Mention it.) Saint Dymphna, martyr of purity, patroness of those who suffer with nervous and mental afflictions, beloved child of Jesus and Mary, pray to Them for me and obtain my request.
(Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be.)
Saint Dymphna, Virgin and Martyr, pray for us.
A Prayer Entrusting A Loved One To The Intercession Of St. Dymphna
Saint Dymphna, Virgin and Martyr, pray for us.
Lord Jesus Christ,
You have willed that St. Dymphna should be
invoked by thousands of clients as
the patroness of nervous and mental disease,
and have brought it about that her interest
in these patients should be an inspiration to
and an ideal of charity throughout the world.
Grant that through the prayers of this
youthful martyr of purity, those who suffer
from nervous and mental illness everywhere
on earth may be helped and consoled.
I recommend to You in particular
(Here mention those you wish to pray for).
Be pleased to hear the prayers of
St. Dymphna and of your Blessed Mother
Help of the sick and Comforter of the afflicted,
on behalf of those whom I recommend to the
love and compassion of Your Sacred Heart.
Give them patience to bear with their affliction and resignation to do Your divine will.
Give them the consolation they need and especially the cure they so much desire, if it be Your will.
May we all serve Your suffering members with a charity which may merit for us the reward of being united forever in Heaven with You, our Divine Head, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever.
Amen.
I turn to you, dear virgin and martyr, confident of your power with God and of your willingness to take my cause into your hands.
As patroness of the nervous and emotionally distressed, I firmly hope that through your kind intercession He will restore my lost serenity. Please gain for me the grace that He may expel from my soul the evil spirt of depression, hatred, fear and any other negative forces that may dwell within. May He speak to my heart and reassure me: “My peace I give you. Let not your heart be troubled nor let it be afraid.”
Pray for me, dear St. Dymphna, that my nervous and emotional turmoil may cease, and that I may again know serenity and personal peace. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Novena for Anxiety and Depression to St. Dymphna Prayers
Father in Heaven, thank You for always hearing me. Thank you for never leaving me. Thank you for Your nearness.
We’re grateful that You’ve given us St. Dymphna to intercede for us, for everyone who suffers with mental illness, with depression, anxiety, epilepsy, and more… Thank you for giving us someone who can relate to us, who can understand our sufferings.
St. Dymphna, please pray for us.
You know suffering well, as you lost your mom at such a young age. Please pray for us to be consoled in our suffering.
Please also pray for… (mention your intentions here).
St. Dymphna Novena Prayers
O God, Source of our salvation, in the midst of a pagan people, Thou didst enlighten St. Dymphna by the light of the true faith, which she professed under the guidance of her holy confessor, Gerebran, with such constance that she suffered martyrdom. Through the intercession of these two saints, we beg Thee to strengthen the faith which Thou hast given us, so that by wisely subjecting our souls to Thy Supreme Authority, and by faithfully conforming our lives according to our faith, we may honor Thee with our whole heart and soul until the hour of our death. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Pray the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be five times
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