A saint for psychiatric help

It is my firm conviction that life in Carmel is good for a person’s mental health.  For example, our trust in the Divine Providence helps alleviate the anxieties which constantly threaten our sanity in our daily lives, even if it does not entirely remove them.  Some time ago I knew a priest who had worked at the Dympna Centre in London, and I learnt from him that the Centre (now apparently closed) was involved in counselling.  Today I see that according to the Vatican website it is the feast of the extraordinary Saint Dympna (also known as Dymphna) who is said to have been killed by her own father at the age of fifteen in Geel in Belgium (though she was Irish by birth).  I looked her up on Wikipedia and found – to my astonishment - the following: ‘In 1349, a church honouring Dymphna was built in Geel. By 1480, so many pilgrims were coming from all over Europe, seeking treatment for psychiatric disorders that the church housing for them was expanded. Soon the sanctuary for those considered "mad" was again full to overflowing, and the townspeople began taking them into their own homes. Thus began a tradition for the ongoing care of those with psychiatric conditions that has endured for over 500 years, and is still studied and admired today. Patients were, and still are, taken into the homes of Geel's inhabitants. Never called patients, they are called boarders, and are treated as ordinary and useful members of the town. They are treated as members of the host family. They work, most often in menial labour, and in return, they become part of the community.  Some stay a few months, some decades, some for their entire lives. At its peak in the 1930s, over 4,000 'boarders' were housed with the town's inhabitants.’  There is more information to be found if you look up ‘Geel’ in Wikipedia.

Intercessions:

Louise Aldred OCDS RIP – a long-time member of the Nottingham Secular community

Brian Davis – cancer

Marie, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him) - cancer

Siena, Elara – sick children

Wojtek – massive heart attack leaving him incapacitated

David - housebound

Sophia – blind infant

Rebekah – in hospital