St. Dymphna, the Church and Mental Illness

I chanced upon an interesting article on St. Dympha, traditionally the patron saint of the mentally ill: St. Dymphna: Out of the Shadows of Mental Illness

(Via Patheos.)

There are several parts to the article. The beginning details a man’s history with mental illness, his treatments and how he ultimately discovered the strength of the Catholic Church in helping to deal with it.

One quote: “In time, he found a way to manage his illness. He started a family and returned to the faith he had abandoned, finding new peace and unexpected strength in the Church… ‘Prayer, faith, the Church, the Eucharist: all those things kind of gave me a floor that I could stand on.'”

As a part of his reliance on the Church to help him with his illness, he discovered St. Dymphna. The rest of the article is an overview of St. Dymphna’s life and legends, followed with a testimony of his growing prayer life and developing faith.

St. Dymphna had been critical in his spiritual development. I highly recommend this piece.

Are you a creative Catholic? "The Catholicpunk Manifesto" is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone, perhaps yourself, who might like Catholic devotionals for alcoholics? Please take a look at my books! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

4 Comments

Comments are closed.