LITANIES

Litany of Saint Dymphna

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 Mother of God, pray for us.
Health of the sick, pray for us.
Comforter of the afflicted, pray for us.
Our Lady, Help of Christians, pray for us.

St. Dymphna, virgin and Martyr, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, daughter of royal parents, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, child of great beauty of soul and body, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, docile to the lessons of thy pious mother, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, obedient to thy saintly confessor, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, who abandoned the court of thy father father to
escape the danger of impurity, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, who chose a life of poverty on earth so that thou might lay up
treasures in Heaven, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, who sought consolation at Holy Mass, Communion and prayer, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, ardent lover of the Divine Bridegroom, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, devoted to the Mother of God, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, beheaded by thine own father, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, Martyr of holy purity, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, brilliant example of Christian youth, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, renowned for many miracles, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, glory of Ireland and Belgium, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, full of compassion for those in need, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, protectress against all nervous and mental disorders, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, consoler of the afflicted, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, friend of the helpless, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, comforter of the despondent, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, light of those in mental darkness, pray for us.
St. Dymphna, patroness of those who suffer with nervous and mental diseases, pray for us.

That we may love the lord our God with all our hearts and above all things,
pray for us.
That we may hate sin and avoid all occasion of sin, pray for us.
That we may carefully preserve the virtue of purity to our state, pray for us.
That we may receive the Sacraments frequently, pray for us.
That we may obtain the spirit of prayer, pray for us.
That we may be humble and obedient, resigning ourselves to God's Holy Will,
pray for us.
That we may learn to have confidence in God during our afflictions, pray for us.
That we may obtain the grace of final perseverance, pray for us.

In moments of temptation, pray for us.
In times of sickness, disease, war, and persecution, pray for us.
In our last illness, pray for us.
And at the hour of our death, pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, spare us O Lord
Lamb of God, Who takes 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.

Pray for us Saint Dymphna, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us Pray.

O God, since Thou didst give St. Dymphna to Thy Church as a model of all virtues, especially holy purity, and willed that she shouldst seal her faith with her innocent blood and perform numerous miracles, grant that we who honor her as patroness of those afflicted with nervous and mental illness, may continue to enjoy her powerful intercession and protection and attain eternal life. Through Christ our
Lord. Amen.

St. Dymphna
Martyr and Patron of Those Afflicted with Mental Disorders
d. 650, Feast Day: May 15

St. Dymphna is known for her intercession regarding mental illness and nervous disorders. The life of St. Dymphna was written by a priest in the middle of the 13th century. Under Bishop Guy I of Cambrai (1238-47), Pierre, a canon of the Church of Saint Aubert at Cambrai, wrote a "Vita" of the Saint, from which we learn that she had been venerated for many years in a church at Gheel (province of Antwerp, Belgium), which was devoted to her. The author expressly states that he has drawn his biography from oral tradition. He relates that St. Dymphna had been venerated for many years in a church dedicated to her in Gheel (a province of Antwerp, Belgium). Here's how he relates her life.

St. Dymphna was born in Ireland at the end of the 6th century. Her father was a non-Christian king but her mother was Christian. When Dymphna became a Christian she had to be secretly Baptized. At the death of her mother trouble began for Dymphna. Her own father decided to marry her as he desired her for her extraordinary beauty. Dymphna fled with a priest named Fr. Gerebernus, her counselor and protector. Their boat landed in Antwerp. They made their way to St. Martin of Tours' Church in the village of Gheel. They took refuge there. Here the two thought they were safe from Dymphna's father.

When the Irish king heard his daughter had escaped across the sea he went after her. He traced the two of them from the foreign money that Dymphna had spent along the way. The king finally arrived at their hiding place and proposed his offer again to his daughter. Fr. Gerebernus rebuked the king for his shameful conduct and urged Dymphna to remain steadfast in her refusal. The king saw that he was getting nowhere so he ordered his servants to kill the priest, which they did. Then, shortly afterwards, Dymphna and the priest were beheaded by her own father.

The body of Dymphna was buried in the church at Gheel. In 1489 the Church of St. Dymphna at Gheel was destroyed by fire. A new church was built in 1532 and is still there today. The Saint always was invoked as the patroness of the mentally ill. Between the years 1604 and 1668 the Bollandists (a group of Jesuits in Belgium who write authoritative lives of the Saints) published numerous accounts of cures through her intercession. Later, a house for the mentally ill was built at Gheel that had as many as fifteen hundred patients. In Gheel there is also a fraternity under her name.

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