It is quite amazing that the residents of Geel continue to foster people with mental health issues. That’s a calling on Geel that has lasted over a millennium…it’s as though the Holy Spirit that touched Dymphna is still fresh, it is transcending time, making me think, yet again, that time is a strange and mysterious thing or as Dr Who puts it: it’s a wibbly wobbly timey wimey thing!!
That was my thought as well; that what residents of Geel continue to do points to God's hand at work in what I've often perceived as an increasingly secular culture.
A terrifying story! I was hoping she was going to heal her father from his madness.... but maybe a deranged mind is more difficult to heal than physical illnesses?
This is very similar to the French fairy tale Donkey skin. The fairy tale was written much later though. Makes me wonder if St. Dymphna was the inspiration.
I like the idea of people hosting other people in difficulty by extending temporary hospitality to them, opening up their homes to them. In Pasternak's "Doctor Jivago", Lara, after her bout with madness that leads her to mildly wound a political figure by shooting him is temporarily put up in someone's home while she sorts things out, and she recovers from this bout of madness without antidepressants, (anti)psychotic drugs, or any medication whatsoever.
I find that... inspiring. It makes me wish that we would throw the mental illness mindset out the window and try to find other ways of thinking about temporary bouts of madness that can resolve themselves without people ending up in institutions for the rest of their lives.
While it's good to see people's mental well-being getting serious consideration and space opening up for people to talk about it, I do worry that the constant public discussion of the "mental health crisis" is leading a lot of young people to essentially incapacitate themselves. This isn't saying they don't face real challenges, but framing their condition as a disease encourages passivity, downplays agency both for themselves and their communities. But I guess the Machine is there to pick up the slack.
I agree with everything in your comment here. I know young people, and older people too who have been diagnosed with mental illness and are... waiting for miracle drugs to appear on the scene to cure them, the way other people could wait ? for miracles to miraculously appear to miraculously cure them.
I am not against miracles, but I am against public health policies that encourage people to wait for them to happen in the public health context, moreover which denies and decries the very existence of faith and miracles.
We have a simplistic approach to passivity : being able to wait, to receive from others, to depend on them in certain circumstances can be a form of active and constructive "passivity", in a way. At least a passivity that does not encourage self destruction, and self hate. Depending on an impersonal state in institutionalized form is maybe not what we should be doing right now ? Maybe we have gone too far in this configuration ?
This takes me back 40 years at a time when I was in a grievous mental state caused by delayed grief, stress, and having no purpose in life. I was living then in a residence hotel, the kind of place no one ever plans on ending up in. Although I hadn't practiced my faith for a decade, one day I wandered into a church. Somewhere, perhaps in a basket or at the end of a pew, I found a little folder describing St. Dymphna and her intercessions for the mentally suffering. At the time, finding a folder on a saint I never heard of, but whose assistance I desperately needed, struck me as more than just serendipity, so I prayed most sincerely. The clouds eventually lifted, as the usually do, and I cannot say how much can be attributed to this kindly saint. All I can say is that wandering into that church and finding out about St. Dymphna was a turning point. I hadn't thought about St. Dymphna for years, and I smiled when I read your piece. Thanks for reminding me.
This is amazing. I work in the school system with young people who have intellectual disabilities, and often also mental health issues. Integration into school life is a big part of our focus. The story of St Dymphna and the city of Geel is deeply moving and makes me feel less lonely somehow. My province has a recent history of terrible abuses of disabled and mentally ill people. I’m used to feeling like I’m a sort of pioneer of something different. Maybe not the first generation to do so, but no more than the second. While that lends a certain passion and conviction to my work, it can also feel lonely and isolating, like people don’t really get it. Reading this story let’s me know there is a long tradition of people doing similar work. Than you.
My first post here. Very inspired by your writing. I am a doctor who works in a hospital system ( Steward HealthCare) with a mental health floor named after this saint. Sadly, the hospital was taken over by private equity ( should I say evil?) and is now bankrupt. The nuns were buried in the back and I’m sure await the resurrection of their bodies, but no hope for this PE hospital chewed up and spit out by the Machine.
We have a priest here in Texas who studied psychology before being ordained and felt a special calling to minister to those in mental distress. He named the newly built parish hall the St. Dymphna Center. Thanks for telling the whole story which I was unfamiliar with.
Wow, so amazing about her legacy in Geel! The first part of her story is a well known motif in several fairy tales. I wonder if it was actually lifted from a much older tale, such as Allerleirauh.
Very uplifting to read this story of St. Dymphna, of whom I had never heard. Thanks, Paul.
It is quite amazing that the residents of Geel continue to foster people with mental health issues. That’s a calling on Geel that has lasted over a millennium…it’s as though the Holy Spirit that touched Dymphna is still fresh, it is transcending time, making me think, yet again, that time is a strange and mysterious thing or as Dr Who puts it: it’s a wibbly wobbly timey wimey thing!!
That was my thought as well; that what residents of Geel continue to do points to God's hand at work in what I've often perceived as an increasingly secular culture.
This is a good prayer. Just quit using antidepressants, so I'm hanging my virtual rag at this well.
A terrifying story! I was hoping she was going to heal her father from his madness.... but maybe a deranged mind is more difficult to heal than physical illnesses?
This is very similar to the French fairy tale Donkey skin. The fairy tale was written much later though. Makes me wonder if St. Dymphna was the inspiration.
I like the idea of people hosting other people in difficulty by extending temporary hospitality to them, opening up their homes to them. In Pasternak's "Doctor Jivago", Lara, after her bout with madness that leads her to mildly wound a political figure by shooting him is temporarily put up in someone's home while she sorts things out, and she recovers from this bout of madness without antidepressants, (anti)psychotic drugs, or any medication whatsoever.
I find that... inspiring. It makes me wish that we would throw the mental illness mindset out the window and try to find other ways of thinking about temporary bouts of madness that can resolve themselves without people ending up in institutions for the rest of their lives.
If only we could be more... charitable.
While it's good to see people's mental well-being getting serious consideration and space opening up for people to talk about it, I do worry that the constant public discussion of the "mental health crisis" is leading a lot of young people to essentially incapacitate themselves. This isn't saying they don't face real challenges, but framing their condition as a disease encourages passivity, downplays agency both for themselves and their communities. But I guess the Machine is there to pick up the slack.
I agree with everything in your comment here. I know young people, and older people too who have been diagnosed with mental illness and are... waiting for miracle drugs to appear on the scene to cure them, the way other people could wait ? for miracles to miraculously appear to miraculously cure them.
I am not against miracles, but I am against public health policies that encourage people to wait for them to happen in the public health context, moreover which denies and decries the very existence of faith and miracles.
We have a simplistic approach to passivity : being able to wait, to receive from others, to depend on them in certain circumstances can be a form of active and constructive "passivity", in a way. At least a passivity that does not encourage self destruction, and self hate. Depending on an impersonal state in institutionalized form is maybe not what we should be doing right now ? Maybe we have gone too far in this configuration ?
This takes me back 40 years at a time when I was in a grievous mental state caused by delayed grief, stress, and having no purpose in life. I was living then in a residence hotel, the kind of place no one ever plans on ending up in. Although I hadn't practiced my faith for a decade, one day I wandered into a church. Somewhere, perhaps in a basket or at the end of a pew, I found a little folder describing St. Dymphna and her intercessions for the mentally suffering. At the time, finding a folder on a saint I never heard of, but whose assistance I desperately needed, struck me as more than just serendipity, so I prayed most sincerely. The clouds eventually lifted, as the usually do, and I cannot say how much can be attributed to this kindly saint. All I can say is that wandering into that church and finding out about St. Dymphna was a turning point. I hadn't thought about St. Dymphna for years, and I smiled when I read your piece. Thanks for reminding me.
This is amazing. I work in the school system with young people who have intellectual disabilities, and often also mental health issues. Integration into school life is a big part of our focus. The story of St Dymphna and the city of Geel is deeply moving and makes me feel less lonely somehow. My province has a recent history of terrible abuses of disabled and mentally ill people. I’m used to feeling like I’m a sort of pioneer of something different. Maybe not the first generation to do so, but no more than the second. While that lends a certain passion and conviction to my work, it can also feel lonely and isolating, like people don’t really get it. Reading this story let’s me know there is a long tradition of people doing similar work. Than you.
My first post here. Very inspired by your writing. I am a doctor who works in a hospital system ( Steward HealthCare) with a mental health floor named after this saint. Sadly, the hospital was taken over by private equity ( should I say evil?) and is now bankrupt. The nuns were buried in the back and I’m sure await the resurrection of their bodies, but no hope for this PE hospital chewed up and spit out by the Machine.
Wonderful story, Paul. I knew the name but nothing else about St. Dymphna. Nice to see that her well is still getting a lot of "traffic."
Not sure why but can't like on this comment thread...just doesn't respond when I click on it......
We have a priest here in Texas who studied psychology before being ordained and felt a special calling to minister to those in mental distress. He named the newly built parish hall the St. Dymphna Center. Thanks for telling the whole story which I was unfamiliar with.
Thank you Paul! This story strikes particularly close to home for me at this moment and the beauty of what has been happening in Geel gives us hope.
What an incredible story!
Wow, so amazing about her legacy in Geel! The first part of her story is a well known motif in several fairy tales. I wonder if it was actually lifted from a much older tale, such as Allerleirauh.
O holy Saint Dymphna, please pray to God for us!