"In Brabant, the memory of the holy virgin and martyr Dympna, the daughter of an Irish king, who was beheaded by order of her father for having confessed the Christian faith and preserving her virginity." This notice is today in the Roman Martyrology. St. Dympna was a royal princess, her father was a pagan, but her mother a Christian; she was baptized without the knowledge of the father as soon as she had become old enough to understand the truth of the Christian faith. From that hour she renounced all worldiy pleasures, honors and riches, and aspired only after heavenly treasures. Soon after she also consecrated her virginity to God by vow in consideration of the priceless worth of virginal chastity. After her mother's death her father desired to marry again as he, however, believed that there was not a more beautiful princess than Dympna, he conceived the unheard-of thought of marrying his own daughter. Dympna was horrified at such an incestuous demand, and reproving her father for his design, said that such godlessness had not been heard of since the world was created. Her father, however, persisted and pursued her with flatteries, caresses and promises and finally with menaces.

Dympna told him fearlessly that she was a Christian and had vowed to remain a virgin, but that even if this were not the case, she would die rather than consent to his desire. She pictured to him, with unanswerable eloquence, the terrible scandal he thought of giving to his subjects, the indescribable infamy of the vice, the presence of God, the account he had to render before the throne of the Almighty, the horror of dying in sin, and finally a whole eternity in the unending torments of hell. But the father, blinded by his passion and deaf to all her remonstrances, was not frightened, but said to her, full of rage: "You shall be obedient to my wishes, I demand it of you, and it shall be as I say." The chaste princess fearing that he might use violence, raised her eyes towards Heaven and calling on the Almighty more with sighs and tears than words, she said to her father: "If I must obey you, grant me a delay of forty days." The wicked father was content, not imagining the intention of the chaste princess. Dympna immediately sought the advice of Geribert, a very pious priest, who had baptized her, and asked him what she should do in this terrible emergency. The priest said that the only means to save herself was by flight, and that he would safely conduct her to some other land. This answer quieted her. Providing herself with money, she changed her clothes, and leaving her father's palace, accompanied by the priest and a faithful servant, went on board a boat, and under the guidance of the Almighty, arrived happily at Antwerp. Thence she went to Gheel, a village not far off, where she had two huts built, one for herself, the other for the priest, and lived more an angelic than a human life.

The father, on being informed of his daughter's flight,stormed and raged like a maniac, and sent his servants to search everywhere for her. As, however, all their endeavors were fruitless, he went himself, with several servants, on board of a ship and directed by Providence, landed at Antwerp. He then again directed his servants to all the neighboring villages to inquire for his daughter. Two of them came to the inn from which Dympna sometimes procured her food. When they paid for their dinner which they had taken there, the inn-keeper, looking at the money they gave him, said: "I have often seen such money as this, but do not know its exact value." The servants, surprised at these words, asked of whom he had received it, and inkeeper revealed to them what he knew. Supposing that the stranger was she whom they were seeking, and having learned where she lived, they hastened to the king, and made him acquainted with what they had heard.

The king, rejoicing at the news, went without delay to the indicated place, where he found his daughter. At first, Dympna became pale with fear when she saw her father, but raising her heart to God, she was filled with heroic firmness. The king reproaching her with her flight, repeated his former wicked desire, commanding the Geribert to advise Dympna to consent. "What," exclaimed the pious priest; "you expect me to advise her to commit so horrible a crime! I had rather die a thousand deaths. I, however, advise, admonish, nay, command you, O King, in the name of the Most High, to abstain from your godless design that you may not draw upon yourself the vengeance of heaven."

The King, incensed beyond endurance at these words, dragged the priest out of the room, and had him cut to pieces. He then again pressed his daughter, not only with flatteries and caresses, but also with the most frightful threats, to assent to his wishes. As she, however, more heroically than ever resisted him, and with her eyes raised to heaven, repeated that she much preferred death to such a life, he became enraged to such a degree, that he commanded his servant to behead her, not only because she was a Christian, but also for not obeying her father. Others say that the father himself murdered her, as his servants refused to commit the crime. Be this as it may, however, it is certain that she ended her life by the sword. The murderer, leaving the two bodies swimming in blood, departed; but the inhabitants of the neighboring villages respectfully buried them, and as God soon honored their graves with miracles, the clergy determined to exhume the holy remains.

When they began to remove the earth they came to two coffins of white marble, which seem to be made by human but by angelic hands. In one reposed the body of St. Geribert, which they brought first to the city of Xanthen, and later to Santbeck, in the Dutchy of Cleves. In the other where the remains of St. Dympna and a purple precious stone upon which the word Dympna was written in distinct letters. Her body remained at Gheel until, after some years, the Bishop of Cambray again disinterred it, and placing the relics of the Saint in a casket wrought of gold and silver and ornamented with precious stones, deposited it in a church built to the memory of St. Dympna. This holy virgin and martyr is represented as holding the Evil Spirit bound in chains, to show how great a power God gave her over evil spirits, as at her tomb many that were possessed were released.

The father of St. Dympna endeavored to tempt his daughter to the most horrible crime, and became her murderer when she refused to consent. Thus far will an impure, uncontrolled passion bring any one. No crime is so detestable or dreadful that an immoral person may not fall into it. "If any one allows himself to be carried away by such a passion," says St. Chrysostom, "Satan will lead him into as many and as great vices as he pleases." The mind becomes blinded, the will hardened; and this in such a maner, that he neither listens to exhortations nor remonstrances, and defies even hell with all its torments. He refuses to do penance because he immagines that he cannot change his vicious conduct. "Lust has perverted thy heart;" said Daniel (Chapter xiii.), to one of the two wicked elders who would have induced the chanste Susanna to stain her pure life. A soft heart becomes deluded, stubborn, and inpenitent. And what will be its end? "Whoever indulges himself in impure love and remains long to it," says St. Rupert, "continues to sin as long as he lives, because the impure fire never says: it is enough. Lust is a vice which satisfied," and as St. Peter say, " a sin that ceaseth not" (II. Peter, chapter ii.). This is why men addicted to it are its slaves even in their old age, and cease not to sin until they cease to live. What else, however, can follow such an end except the beginning of endless torments? Hence, O Christian, let not unchaste love, so dangerous, so destructive, ever take possession of you, but if it has already carried you away, tear your heart forcibly away from it. As yet you are able to do it, if you earnestly desire. God will not withhold his aid, if you fervently pray to Him.

St. Dympna consented not to the horrible desire of her father: neither flattery, nor promises, nor menaces could change her, and she preferred rather to die than to offend the Almighty. Although God, for her own greater merit, as well as to make her an example to others, permitted her to be murdered, He on the other hand honors her chaste body with great miracles. The joys of which her soul now partakes in heaven, words cannot express, nor the mind comprehend.

It sometimes happens that a person is tempted to the vice of impurity by one to whom he owes respect and obedience whose favor and good-will is of importance to him, and who is able to injure him greatly if his wishes are not consented to. He is urged by flatteries, promises, and threats. How should he act? He should follow the example of St. Dympna. He must set aside all respect, and refuse obedience, as in such cases, no one is bound to obey. The favor of no one, whoever it may be, is of such consequence as the favor of the Almighty; and He can punish much more severely when you offend Him, than the men of the whole world combined. God promises you a greater reward, if you are obedient to Him, than any man can give you if you consent his wicked desires. The menaces of the Most High are much more to be feared than those of men. All that a man can threaten you with is temporal, and has regard to the body, but the menaces of God regard soul and body, and are eternal. Hence-God is to be loved, feared, and obeyed more than any man. "Let our only fear be, to fear anybody more than God," says St. Gregory Nazianzen. "I do not regard the menace of men," writes St. Augustine, "but rather turn my eyes upon Thy promises and menaces, O God! than upon the promises and menaces of men."

Lord, God Who has graciously chosen St. Dymphna to be the patroness of those afflicted with mental and nervous disorders, and has caused her to be an inspiration and a symbol of charity to the thousands who invoke her intercession, grant, through the prayers of this pure, youthful martyr, relief and consolation to all who suffer from these disturbances, and especially to those for whom we pray.

We beg You to accept and to satisfy the prayers of St. Dymphna on our behalf. Grant to those we have particularly recommended patience in their sufferings and resignation to Your divine will. Fill them with hope and, if it be in accord with Your divine plan, bestow upon them the cure they so earnestly desire. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

O God, Source of our salvation, who in the midst of a pagan people didst enlighten St. Dymphna by the true faith, which she professed under the guidance of her holy confessor, Gereberne, with such constancy that she suffered martydom, we beseech Thee through the intercession of these two saints that Thou wouldst deign to strengthen our faith which Thou hast given to us so that by wisely subjecting our souls to Thy supreme authority, and by faithfully regulating our lives by our faith we may honor Thee with our whole heart and soul until the hour of our death, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

O almighty and infinitely good God, who hast promised eternal salvation to those who obey Thy commandments and profit by Thy grace, we beseech Thee, through the intercession of St. Dymphna, who fled from the danger of sin by quitting the palace of her father and, hoping thereby to gain eternal salvation, journeyed to Brabant and took the vow of poverty, grant that we also who are striving for eternal happiness may overcome all obstacles in the pathway of virtue and may attain eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

O God of love, most perfect Being, Creator of all that is good and beautiful, deign to help us by Thy powerful grace through the intercession of St. Dymphna, who in her youth loved Thee above all creatures and who loved her neighbor as herself for Thy sake as the image and likeness of Thee, so we may faithfully adhere to the two commandments of charity not only in word, but in action and in truth, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

O God, our Creator and supreme Master, we beseech Thee through the intercession of St. Dymphna, who served Thee with great zeal even in her childhood, hearing Thy word with great delight, assisting at holy Mass with great respect, and receiving Holy Communion from the hand of St. Gereberne with tender devotion that Thou wouldst grant us the same virtue of piety so that having honored Thee during this life as our Creator we may possess Thee hereafter as our final reward through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

O God, Ruler of the universe, who allowed St. Dymphna to discover an efficacious means of avoiding the criminal intentions of her father, deign to grant through the merits of Thy holy servant, that we may become simple as doves and wise as serpents so that through prudent advice and sound judgment we may perceive that which is to be avoided and that which is to be followed in order happily to achieve the great work of our salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

O God, Source of eternal justice, we supplicate Thee through the intercession of St. Dymphna, who in order to render to Thee that which is Thine, fled from her country and her father, that Thou wouldst deign to make us seek after justice so that we may perform rightly our duties toward Thee as we see them, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

O God, Rewarder of those who remain firm in their good resolutions, we beseech Thee through the meditation of the merits of St. Dymphna, who through love of virtue had the courage to suffer privation, persecution and even martyrdom, that Thou wouldst grant us fortitude so that we may courageously and perseveringly overcome ourselves and finally conquer the enemy or our salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

O God, who made St. Dymphna so resplendent in the virtue of temperance that she mastered sensual inclination and tempered the use of earthly goods, uniting with this the beautiful virtues of modesty, docility, and holy humility--which last is called the foundation of all virtue because it banishes from the soul pride, an obstacle to grace--we beseech Thee through the intercession of St. Dymphna that Thou wouldst deign to guide and direct us so that, being preserved from all nervous disorders, we may come to a happy end in the good counsels Thou hast given through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

O God, Lover of innocent souls, Who gave to St. Dymphna the virtue of angelic purity which rendered her reserved in all her actions, so modest in her dress, so attentive in her conversation, so circumspect in her bearing that she shed her blood to preserve this precious virtue, we beseech Thee that Thou bestow upon us the virtue of chastity so that we may enjoy peace of conscience in this life and the pure eternal joys of heaven hereafter through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, have mercy on us!
Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, hear us!
Christ, graciously hear us!
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us!
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us!
God the Holy Ghost,
Have mercy on us!
Holy Trinity, one God,
Have mercy on us!


Holy Mary, Virgin and Mother of God, conceived without sin,
Pray for us. *


St. Dymphna, *
St. Dymphna, noble by birth but more noble in virtue, *
St. Dymphna, docile to the lessons of your pious mother, *
St. Dymphna, obedient to your saintly confessor Gereberne, *
St. Dymphna, who abandoned the court of your father to escape the danger of impurity, *
St. Dymphna, who chose a life of poverty on earth so that you might lay up treasure in Heaven, *
St. Dymphna, who sought consolation in prayer and devout attendance at holy Mass, *
St. Dymphna, brilliant example of Christian youth, *
St. Dymphna, who died a martyr, beheaded by your own father, *
That we may be humble and obedient, placing no trust in ourselves, *
That we may carefully preserve the virtue of chastity according to our state of life by avoiding all dangerous occasions of sin, *
That we may persevere in our Faith, *
That we may learn to have confidence in the Lord during our afflictions, *
That we may obtain the spirit of prayer, the source of all graces, *
That we may love our Lord and God, with all our heart, above all things, *
That we may receive the grace of final perseverance, *
St. Dymphna, Patroness of Gheel, *
St. Dymphna, Protectress against all nervous disorders, *
St. Dymphna, Consoler in all afflictions, *
St. Dymphna, renowned Performer of many miracles, *
In moments of temptation, *
In times of contagious disease and sickness, *
In times of persecution against the Faith, *
In times of war, *
In our last illness, *
At the hour of our death, *


Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord!

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord!

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us, O Lord!


Christ, hear us!
Christ, graciously hear us!
Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, have mercy on us!
Lord, have mercy on us!

Our Father, etc.

V. Pray for us, St. Dymphna,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.


Let Us Pray

O God, we beseech Thee through the intercession of St. Dymphna, glorious model of all virtues and powerful patroness of the afflicted, who did seal with her blood the love she bore Thee, her eternal Spouse, to hear our prayer and to grant relief to those in our midst who suffer from emotional, nervous and mental afflictions, so that by imitating her virtues and seeking her protection we may obtain peace of soul on earth and eternal happiness in heaven. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.