St. Dymphna is the patron saint for people with mental illnesses and those who live and work with them. Legend has it that she was born in Ireland in the seventh century A.D., the daughter of the King of Oriel. Her mother died when she was barely a teenager and her father, in an unusual grief reaction, decided that Dymphna should be his next wife because she looked so much like her mother. She asked for forty days to consider this proposal but used the time to leave the country in the company of a priest, Father Gerebran. They traveled to the continent and stayed in the town of Geel, near Antwerp in what is now Belgium. Her father was enraged at her departure. He followed her and found her and, when she wouldn’t cooperate with his incestuous plan, he beheaded both Father Gerebran and Dymphna.

       In the aftermath of her father’s madness, and her resistance to it, St. Dymphna became revered for helping those suffering from mental disorders. In the thirteenth century, a church was built around her memorial and pilgrims came to pray for her to intercede and give them relief from their symptoms and those of their family members. A hospital was built in Geel and the citizens invited people with mental illnesses who were stable to live in their community, residing with families and working in local businesses and on farms. This practice continues to the present day, although modernization has greatly reduced the number of families willing to open their homes to those who come for help. Here’s an article about this humane practice and its history.

       Family members know best what it’s like to live with someone with a mental disorder and they know better than anyone else the hardships and the rewards involved. They know that love is not always enough, that the right medications and treatment can be the only way to bring a troubled life into balance.

       However, Geel’s model of inclusion speaks to me about a way of being with people who have mental disorders. I do crisis evaluations for a living and one of the strengths of our office has always been that we try to talk to the people we see like they are, well, people. The symptoms of mental illness can be frightening to the public but those who suffer from them are usually more frightened than anyone else. By addressing the person who is at the center of the symptoms, professionals can sometimes connect on a deeper level than the clinical presentation.

       I don’t think of St. Dymphna as doing her intercession from some other realm but in the here and now, in the courage and patience of those who are forced to be “patients,” in the dogged loyalty of their loved ones, in the dedication and advocacy of the professionals who work with our fellow citizens who have these sometimes devastating, and life-threatening, illnesses. I don’t usually pray to saints because I think of them, like ghosts, as being the middle-management of the spiritual world but if St. Dymphna has any pull with the CEO, I ask her to use her fire to heal the people we encounter on every shift around the clock, every day and night of the year.

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