Patroness of mental and emotional illness

For anxiety, depression, and the strain of caring for someone ill.

St. Dymphna was a seventh-century Irish girl killed by her own father, who had lost his reason after his wife’s death. Since the Middle Ages she has been invoked for mental and emotional suffering, and the town of Geel in Belgium, which holds her shrine, has cared for the mentally ill in family homes for seven hundred years.

Prayer for Each Day

Good St. Dymphna, great wonder-worker in every affliction of mind and body,
I humbly implore your powerful intercession
with Jesus through Mary, the Health of the Sick,
in my present need [name it].

St. Dymphna, martyr of purity, patroness of those who suffer
with nervous and mental afflictions,
beloved child of Jesus and Mary,
pray to them for me and obtain my request.

You are filled with compassion for those in need;
you know what it is to be afraid,
and what it is to be failed by those who should have protected you.
Be with all who suffer in mind and heart tonight,
and with those who care for them. Amen.

A Word on Seeking Help

Mental illness is illness. Praying this novena and seeing a doctor are not alternatives — the Church has never taught that they are, and Catholic hospitals have treated psychiatric patients for centuries. If you or someone you love is struggling, ask for medical help as well as praying for it. If someone is in immediate danger, contact emergency services or a crisis line in your country.

About This Novena

Her feast is 15 May. Geel’s practice of boarding the mentally ill with ordinary families, rather than confining them, began as a response to pilgrims who came to her shrine and stayed. It is still running, and is studied worldwide as a model of community care.