Do you know much about this wonderful Irish saint?

St. Dymphna has been a favorite saint of mine since I was a young girl. I remember reading about her in one of my saint books as a child. Her story made a stark impression on me and I never forgot it.

About St. Dymphna

Dymphna was a princess by birth, raised by a Christian mother. But at 14 her mother died. Her father, Damon, became mentally ill after her mother’s death and not being able to find a wife, her father began to pursue her instead.  Dymphna and her confessor, St. Gerebran, tried to escape but were found in Belgium and Damon had the priest beheaded. After Dymphna would still not return with him, he struck off her head.

This beautiful martyr is often pictured holding a book (bible) with a shamrock, and a white lily for her defense of her purity.  Sometimes she also wears a crown, holds a candle or the sword by which she was martyred.

Patron of those with nervous and mental afflictions.

None of us know what it’s like to live with someone who is suffering from mental affliction- until we do. Whether it be something easy to “put your finger on” or something not fully diagnosed, when you love someone who is suffering, it’s painful. Often you may feel you bear the brunt of the problem, being the person closest to them.

No situation is really the same and the spectrum of difficulty can range. I can tell you that it requires a great deal of patience, fortitude, forgiveness and humility to love your way through it. Sometimes there is little compassion because when people are behaving inappropriately, it’s just not acceptable-and rightfully so.

This walk of life requires more from us than we normally have the skills and abilities to manage. I find that faith helps a great deal. God stretches us and challenges us to be big people. In addition to expert help and family support, Saint Dymphna is a good patron to go to for help through prayers and intersession.  If you or someone you love is struggling from mental/neurological disorders and ailments this is the saint for you. Some disorders that this wonderful saint is help for are: Alzheimer’s, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, epilepsy, anxiety  disorders, and so on.

Saint Dymphna’s shrine is in Gheel, Belgium where she was martyred.

Saint Dymphna Pray for Us

Please share your experiences of St. Dymphna with me.

The post St. Dymphna- Patron of Mental Disorders appeared first on Dymphna's Song.

In order to bear good fruit we must stay connected to Christ no matter where we go or what we do. I also tied in the idea of each one of us being loved and treasured by God by adding the names to the vine.

[tweetthis]Create an I AM the Vine Activity for kids with this bulletin board idea.[/tweetthis]

I Am the Vine Activity for Kids

To create the vine all you need is:

• brown roll of paper- I used mailing/shipping paper
• used grape leaves & grapes (fake of course)
• stapler for bulletin board or safe/removable tape for a wall

To create the vine and branches start at the middle bottom and gently twist the paper. Make the base of the vine wide and as each branch branches off it gets more narrow. Eventually, each branch ends at a point. I tore the paper into different sizes as needed and used a more flat and wide paper at the bottom. Then add grapes and leaves about by stapling them on the branches.

To create the name tags you need some cardboard cut into small name plates, foam letters, and string. I had the children add the foam letters to the name tags for their names. In order to keep it visually pleasing, I limited the colors to green, purple, and white. They then added a neutral string to the name tag that we used to hang it from the vine with tacks. You could also staple them.

Through all this we discussed what it means to be connected to the vine and what we do to stay connected. We also discussed how that because we are all connected to Jesus, the Vine, that we are all connected also to one another.

You can read the vine scripture passage in John Chapter 15.

 I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. ~ John 15:5

Have an idea like this to share for celebrating Lent? Leave a comment or link with the Walk with the Saints Lent Link Up!

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[tweetthis]Walk with the Saints #Lent Link Up. Come and link up your Lenten journey posts! [/tweetthis]

One thing I’ve always loved as a homeschooler as well as a CDD teacher has been the teaching of the lives of the saints.The children benefit so much from reading about their lives and stories. And I feel that it also gives them a peak at true discipleship, and what that really means.

Saint Reading

Mechanical Man and I have been reading this year from 57  Stories of Saints. It’s a very good book for middle schoolers that can be read independently but that graduates them up from many of the children’s saint books. The black and white illustrations are updated and beautifully done. Last year, we read a great deal on Maximilian Kolbe in our homeschool but more recently have been reading about St. Xavier and just this last week on St. Patrick.

Saint Bulletin Board

Around the time of All Saints Day last year, I created this board for my CCD class from an old saint book that I had. I used it to teach about the Church Militant, Triumphant, and Suffering. I simply cut around the pictures in the book and arranged them behind the cloud. It was very easy to put together.

I’ve always loved the verse, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that it set before us.” Hebrews 12:11

So as we begin Lent, may the communion of saints be with us and may we hold the desire to deepen our life with Christ deep in our hearts. There, may it grow ever greater and overflow from our lives to those of our children, friends, and community.

Walk with the Saints Lent Link Up

A few of us Catholic Homeschool Moms have gotten together to share what we are doing with our children this Lent and created a first ever Walk with the Saints Link Up!  Join myself,  Jen of Forever and For Always, No Matter What, and Meredith of Sweetness and Light all Lent long by linking up your favorite saint posts, activities, or projects!

We would love for you to link up your old and new saint related posts and children’s activities. Some ideas for posts to link would be:

• Service projects for Lent
• Your saint book basket post
• Saint lessons and activities for your homeschool or CCD Class
• Tea time with Saints activities
• Saint color pages and curriculum ideas
• Saint crafts and hands on activities
• Saint prayer posts

There really is no limit to what you can link as long as it’s part of you and your children’s Walk with the Saints! *Note- if you link up here, you are giving us permission to feature your post ( if chosen) with one featured image for the next link up.

Please, related and genuine posts only; we reserve the right to delete posts that are not appropriate.

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