Having made a personal vow of virginity, she refused to marry, or to sacrifice to idols. She was tried, tortured, and sentenced to death for her faith by the prefect Sapricius. The pagan lawyer Theophilus said to her in mockery, “Bride of Christ, send me some fruits from your bridegroom’s garden.” Before she was executed, she sent him, by a six-year-old boy who is thought to have been an angel, her headress which had the fragrance of roses and fruits. Seeing this gift, and the miraculous messenger who brought them, Theophilus converted, and was martyred himself.
Her parents, Saint Flavian of Acquapendente and Dafrosa of Acquapendente, were martyred in the persecution of Julian the Apostate, and Vivian and her sister Demetria were turned over to a woman named Rufina who tried to force her into prostitution. Upon her continued refusal, Vivian was imprisoned in a mad house, then flogged to death.
A church was built over her grave, in the garden of which grew an herb that cured headache and epilepsy. This and her time spent with the mentally ill led to her areas of patronage.
Daughter of a pagan Irish chieftain named Damon, and a beautiful devoted Christian woman whose name has not come down to us. Her mother died when Dymphna was a teenager. Her father searched the Western world for a woman to replace his wife, but none could. Returning home, he saw that his daughter was as beautiful as her mother, and maddened by grief, he made advances on her. She fought him off, then fled to Belgium with Saint Gerebernus, an elderly priest and family friend.
Dymphna’s father searched for them, and his search led to Belgium. There an innkeeper refused to accept his money, knowing it was difficult to exchange. This told Damon that his daughter was close - it would be unusual for a village innkeeper to know a lot about foreign currency, and his knowledge indicated that had recently seen it. The king concentrated his search in the area. When he found them in Gheel, he beheaded Gerebernus, and demanded that Dymphna surrender to him. She refused, and he killed her in a rage.
When she was seven years old, Genevieve met Saint Germanus of Auxerre on his way to England. Germain befriended her because of her insistence on wanting to live her life for God, and prophesied her future sanctity. She took the veil at age 15. Prophesied invasions and disasters for Paris. Could read consciences and calm the possessed. When Paris was besieged by the Franks, she encouraged its defense, organized prayers for God’s protection of the city, and led an expedition for food to relieve the siege. Caused a church to be built on the tomb of Saint Denis. In 1129, the procession of her relics through Paris is believed to have ended an epidemic.

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