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==Life==
The story of St. Dymphna has been preserved in a thirteenth century life written by a canon of the Church of [[w:Aubert of Avranches|St. Aubert]] at Cambrai and commissioned by the Bishop of Cambrai, Guy I (1238-1247). The author expressly states that his work is based upon oral tradition and a persuasive history of inexplicable and miraculous healings.<ref>[http://www.saintsmaryandmarthaorthodoxmonastery.org/newsletter_Jan2006.html SAINT DYMPHNA WONDERWORKER OF GHEEL, May 15TH]. Saints Mary and Martha Monastery, Wagener, S.C.. Newsletter, January 2006.</ref>
Born in Ireland, tradition holds that she was the daughter of a pagan Irish King and his Christian wife. When she was only fourteen, her mother passed away. Her father driven mad by grief and mental illness started to make awkward sexual advances towards her. She was forced to flee to Belgium accompanied by her confessor [[priest|father]], St. [[Gerebernus]]. Her father, Damon, sent soldiers and eventually found them. Confronting them at Gheel, he ordered his soldiers to slay Gerebernus and begged Dymphna to return with him to Ireland. When she refused, he decapitated her in a rage. Locals later buried the two bodies. A few years later, they decided to make a better burial site and found two tombs where they had buried them.
Their [[relics]] were discovered at Gheel near Antwerp in the thirteenth century. The burial place of Dymphna has long been associated with accounts of miraculous cures of mental illness. An infirmary was built there in the 13th-century and to this day Gheel hosts a world-class sanatorium.
==SourceReferences== <div><references/></div> ==Sources==
*[http://orthodoxengland.org.uk/saintsd.htm Orthodox Europe: Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome]
*[http://www.saintsmaryandmarthaorthodoxmonastery.org/newsletter_Jan2006.html SAINT DYMPHNA WONDERWORKER OF GHEEL, May 15TH]. Saints Mary and Martha Monastery, Wagener, S.C.. Newsletter, January 2006.
==External links==
[[Category:Saints]]
[[Category:Saints of the British Isles]]
[[Category:Wonderworkers]]