Sunday, March 15, 2009

The Wearin' of the Green

I thought I'd give us a change of background in honor of St. Patrick's Day. We're back to the Celtic crosses and green, of course!

Saint Patrick's Day is well worth celebrating here because our blog's patroness, Saint Dymphna, was Irish. She was born in Ireland and her father was a pagan Irish king. Dymphna was secretly baptized a Christian. After the death of her mother, her father wanted her as his wife. She fled from him, but he eventually found her and had her killed when she continued to refuse his wishes.

Saint Dymphna is the patron saint of those who suffer from mental illnesses and their caregivers, mental health professionals, incest victims, loss of parents, and runaways.

Here are some links to learn more about Saint Dymphna.

Catholic Encylopedia on Saint Dymphna

The National Shrine of Saint Dymphna

Saint Charles Borromeo Church--Prayers to Saint Dymphna

How to say the Chaplet of Saint Dymphna

An interesting story of a non-believer who took comfort in St. Dymphna while struggling to find help for his mental illness.

2 comments:

TACParent said...

Nice changes. And St. Dymphna's is, of course, one of my favorites.

Staying in Balance said...

Mine too!

Dymphna's favorite quotes


"Slavery ended in medieval Europe only because the church extended its sacraments to all slaves and then managed to impose a ban on the enslavement of Christians (and of Jews). Within the context of medieval Europe, that prohibition was effectively a rule of universal abolition. "— Rodney Stark

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