Holy Dymphna

The Sainte Dymphna (also Dymfna , Dimfna , Dympna or Dimpna ) is holy a Martyr 7th century, probably born in England. It is the holy owner of the town of Geel in Province of Antwerp in Belgium. She celebrates on May 15th. She is also the owner of the mentally ills and the professionals of this type of disease.

Biography

According to the tradition, Dymphna was the girl of the pagan king Irish Damon and of a mother Chrétienne of a great beauty. His/her mother made baptize Dymphna by the Gerebernus Father secretly. Whereas the girl was still a child, his/her mother died. His/her father was desperate and sought a new wife as beautiful for it as his late wife. But nobody could replace his late wife. Made insane of sorrow and on the opinion of its advisers, he wanted to marry his own daughter who resembled her mother so much. Dymphna flees, with its confessor, the Gerebernus Father, towards the continent of Europe. They arrived in Flanders and were established in a small vault in the forests of the Campine. Both settled there and occupied the poor and the needy ones. The vault of H.Martinus of Geel will become quickly known then. His/her father continued them and after a few years it found them in the marshes. He wanted to again oblige Dymphna to marry it. But its answer was nonclear and Net. This answer made his/her father furious and he decapitated it. Its soldiers also decapitated the Gerebernus Father.

The historical base for this tradition is dubious. There exist variations of this legend and it has also equivalents in other European countries. Dymphna enters the history at the 13th century thanks to a bishop charged to write his biography.

Its Reliques would have been transferred towards Geel (that of Gerebernus towards Sonsbeck close to Xanten (Wesel (district) in Germany) - its head would be however still with Geel). On its tomb, cures serauebt carried out and that attracted pilgrims, especially mentally ills, towards Geel. This devotion is at the base of the center of family care for the psychiatric patients with Geel. During the XXe century, this system of care fur taken again by the state and extremely extended. In 1970, there were approximately 1700 patients with Geel, 1350 at the families of reception and 350 in center of closed care.

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