(Photo by The Dark Queen – Unsplash)
By Holly Gustafson
If you’re looking for a patron saint to guide you in your mental health journey, there are plenty to choose from. St. Dymphna is probably the most well-known, or at least the most official, of the mental health patron saints, but she is only one of many. St. Christina the Astonishing was so named because she seemed so strange, and was considered to be insane; St. Therese of Lisieux likely had OCD, depression, attachment disorder and separation anxiety; and Edith Stein (turned St. Benedicta of the Cross) experienced a prolonged period of time during which she longed for her own death – “I gradually worked myself into real despair,” she expresses, “I could no longer cross the street without wishing that a car would run over me…and I would not come out alive.”
But for me, who has experienced bouts of anxiety, depression, and panic disorder throughout my whole adult life, one who best fills the role of patron of mental health is the relatively unknown Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta.
Luisa Piccarreta is a 20th century Italian who was known as the Little Daughter of Divine Will. She experienced plenty of suffering (as most saints do), including ailments that were poorly diagnosed by medical professionals and even less understood by those around her. Despite physical, mental, and spiritual, sufferings, however, Luisa remained prayerful and devoted to the will of God; and it was in this will that she found safety and rest.
“Storms have no strength to upset souls filled with God even slightly, because there is no strength that can defy God. As the soul detects the storm, she puts the virtues in order, and goes to nest in the inmost depth of God,” says Luisa. “It is then that the soul enjoys more peace, and rests, tranquil, in the bosom of God.”
As a “Servant of God,” Luisa Piccarreta is just at the beginning of her journey to sainthood (if all goes well, she will be made Venerable, then beatified, and finally canonized a saint), so her life and writings are still under review, but her words of finding rest in the nest of God, to me at least, ring true. In my most recent experience with mental illness, while I grappled with depression and anxiety, and struggled to read scripture or pray, I felt – inexplicably – at peace, as though God had made for me my own little nest to rest. “Oh Jerusalem, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,” lamented Jesus (Luke 13:34), and it’s this image, of God as nest, and Christ tucking me ever so gently under his wing, that accompanied me, comforted me, and healed me, as I journeyed through mental illness to the other side.
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Holly Gustafson will be sharing her experience of finding peace in the midst of mental health challenges on Tuesday, May 17th at 7:00pm at Christ the King Hall. Everyone is welcome to attend (spouses, family, friends, and caregivers). Register HERE |
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Holly Gustafson lives with her husband, James, and their five children, in Regina, where they attend Christ the King Parish. Holly received her Masters in Linguistics at the University of Manitoba, and now pursues her love of language through art, writing, public speaking, and unsolicited grammatical advice. The best advice she ever received was from her spiritual friend, St. Faustina, who told her that when in doubt, “Always ask Love. It advises best.” |
