Check out this piece of art I found on the street in New Orleans!
My guess is it was part of a costume or handmade float in a recent Mardi Gras walking parade like Chewbacchus, Krewe Boheme, or Krewe du Vieux. Why anyone would get rid of it is a mystery, but the ephemeral nature of Mardi Gras is part of the fun. Once a year, we come together to create and celebrate for a short season before putting away our costumes and décor until next spring. I think Saint Dymphna would appreciate the healing qualities of creative community.
In a weird bit of kismet, I just finished a novel where Saint Dymphna haunts the protagonist. In Mr. Flood’s Last Resort (aka The Hoarder outside the U.S.) by Jess Kidd, the saint’s presence (she’s one of several, but a particular favorite) is a clue to Maud’s personal connection to the murder mystery. I loved how Kidd balanced suspense with offbeat characters and Mr. Flood’s massive, messy Victorian manor while also touching on the painful topic of male violence against girls and women. Jess Kidd always nails serious subjects handled with grace and a bit of humor, and her books are some of my absolute favorites.
But why does Saint Dymphna keep coming up? I did a little research on Wikipedia, Catholic Online, and Britannica and found she’s the patron saint for anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses, as well as for survivors of abuse and incest. Her life was pretty intense, so be warned that the following description touches on a lot of the things she’s known for.
Legend says that Dymphna (her name translates to “little poet”) was born sometime in the 7th century in Ireland to a Celtic chieftain and a devout Christian mother. At an early age, Dymphna decided to join a convent rather than marrying, but when she was fourteen her mother died and her father kind of lost his mind. He (and his advisors, apparently) decided that because Dymphna resembled her mother so much, he ought to marry her. His own daughter. Vile.
To escape her monster of a father, she fled overseas with “her confessor Father Gerebernus, two trusted servants, and the king’s fool” to the town of Geel in what’s now Belgium. And what did this runaway princess with trauma in her past do once she landed? Built a hospice for the poor and sick where people were integrated into the community as part of their healing process. It was a huge success, but because Dymphna had used coins from her homeland to help the people in her new home, her father found her. She refused to return with him as his wife, so he beheaded her with his sword. She was only 15. No word on whether he received any justice for his crime, but as we know, rich, powerful men don’t always suffer appropriate consequences for the harm they cause.
The people of Geel, however, continued to follow Dymphna’s example of extending support to people in need. To this day, Geel is “a model of psychiatric care” because people who could use extra support are placed with local families and integrated into the community. Geel’s early adoption of deinstitutionalization has been a great success for centuries. Centuries!
So here’s a little prayer to Saint Dymphna on behalf of anyone who needs support with their mental health or in overcoming abuse. May we all not only survive but thrive, and like Dymphna find the grace to extend a hand to others in need.