The battleground is Great Britain as David of Wales goes up against F.D. Maurice of the Church of England. A bishop beloved by the Welsh vs. a social activist and theologian beloved by Anglo-Catholics. The winner advances to take on Julia Chester Emery.
In yesterday’s match-up, a controversial pairing that brought together two ancient Egyptian ascetics, Antony of Egypt squeaked past Mary of Egypt 51% to 49%. People had a lot to say about this battle with a record number of comments recorded and if you thought your vote “didn’t really matter,” Antony prevailed by a mere 150 votes out of nearly 6,000 cast. He’ll go on to face Basil the Great in the next round.
Speaking of voting, you should know that the Supreme Executive Committee keeps former President Jimmy Carter on retainer as an impartial election observer. This is just a reminder that Lent Madness suffrage entitles you to ONE vote per day. Big Brother (in the form of the technophile member of the SEC — who used to work for IBM!) is watching. If you have more than one person (not including dog, cat, ferret, etc) in your household he/she/it can obviously also cast a vote on another device.
The elections so far have been clean but this is just a friendly reminder in light of yesterday’s very close battle. So, your Christian duty this Lent is to vote. Just don’t sin against God, the SEC, and the Lent Madness faithful and do it more than once.
David of Wales
The patron saint of Wales, David was a bishop of Menevia during the sixth century. Originally called to the monastic life, he ended up as a well-known church leader, teacher, and preacher. He founded numerous monasteries and churches throughout Wales and the surrounding areas. David also presided over two synods against Pelagianism (a heresy that denied the existence of original sin). The first synod was at Brefi around 560 and the second was at Caerleon (the “Synod of Victory”) around 569.
Legend has it that a miracle took place at the Synod of Brefi. While David was preaching a sermon in the village of Llanddewi Brefi, the place where he was standing rose up to form a hill, and a white dove landed on his shoulder. Commenters jest that the location of the miracle was already rather hilly, but the story is cherished as his best-known miracle. The white dove is seen as a symbol of his ministry. David is also associated with the leek, a symbol of Wales.
David lived a disciplined and ascetic life. His strict monasticism was modeled after the earliest Christian ascetics: hard manual labor without even the use of draught animals, silence, long hours of prayer, and a diet of bread and herbs without any meat and alcohol. No personal possessions were allowed.
Some accounts claim that David lived past the age of 100 years. His biographers described that the monastery was “filled with angels as Christ received his soul.” One biographer cited David’s last words to his community: “Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed, and do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us.” This entreaty is remembered as a well known Welsh saying: “Do ye the little things in life” (Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd).
Through the leadership of David, many evangelists journeyed throughout the British Isles and Brittany, spreading the gospel.
Collect for David of Wales
Almighty God, you called your servant David to be a faithful and wise steward of your mysteries for the people of Wales: Mercifully grant that, following his purity of life and zeal for the Gospel of Christ, we may with him receive our heavenly reward; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Frederick Denison Maurice
Frederick Denison Maurice was born in 1805. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge, with the intention of becoming a barrister or lawyer. He was ultimately unable to receive his degree, because as a Unitarian and a dissenter from the established church, he refused to subscribe to the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, which defined the doctrine of the Church of England. Maurice moved to London, where he began to write in support of social reforms.
It was during his time in London that Maurice converted to Anglicanism. In 1830, he left London to study at Exeter College in Oxford. By 1834, he was ordained as a priest and four years later he wrote his seminal work The Kingdom of Christ, in which he held that the Church was a united body, transcending individual sects, denominations, and disputes. While Maurice’s work would ultimately be an early source of Anglican ecumenism, it also roused suspicion among more conservative wings of the church. In 1846, he became a professor of theology at Kings’ College, London.
European society changed rapidly in the first half of the nineteenth century, as advances in industrialization ultimately led to the rise of a new middle class, which created new social tensions. During the same year that socialist Karl Marx famously called religion “the opiate of the people,” Maurice wrote, “we have been dosing our people with religion…when what they want is…the living God.” Later, inspired by the Revolutions of 1848, a wave of political upheavals across Europe, Maurice became one of the organizers of the Christian Socialist Movement, seeking to, as he said, engage in the conflict with “unsocial Christians” and “unchristian Socialists.” The Christian socialists sought to apply Christian principles to laissez-faire industrialism, advocating for a collective responsibility for the poor and those in substandard factory working conditions.
Unlike Marx, the Christian Socialists would advocate for the active involvement of the Church in improving the lot of the working class. Maurice’s book Theological Essays, published in 1853, ultimately cost him his job as a professor when it was viewed as being heterodox—too much at odds with the established Church. Using his existing knowledge and teaching experience to improve the lives of the working class, he founded the Working Men’s College to promote his ideals. Ultimately he returned to the academy, teaching in Cambridge from 1866 until his death.
Collect for F. D. Maurice
Almighty God, who restored our human nature to heavenly glory through the perfect obedience of our Savior Jesus Christ: Keep alive in your Church, we pray, a passion for justice and truth; that, like your servant Frederick Denison Maurice, we may work and pray for the triumph of the kingdom of your Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Vote!
David of Wales vs. F.D. Maurice
- F.D. Maurice (54%, 3,351 Votes)
- David of Wales (46%, 2,878 Votes)
Total Voters: 6,227
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I will “do the little things in life” and vote for beloved David of Wales, the patron saint of my beloved!
Christina, I have to vote for David of Wales to honor your husband, as well!
The socialist wants to vote for Maurice, but the Celt is voting for David.
Maurice all they way. He worked for the ‘little’ things….the poor.
Aww, Roxie… David was a true saint in situ, as great as Patrick, but without the PR. And he worked for the poor, too.
I agree, Eric.
And thanks for the justification, Bryan.
This is a terrible match-up for an early round, a bit like Duke vs. Kentucky in the 1st round of that other little bracket.
So true!!! So agree!!
I grant that we’ll all be speaking Welsh in heaven and that there is no better place on Earth than Wales for a good walk, BUT I just can’t pass up the chance to vote for F.D. Maurice. Unmentioned was his important influence on John Ruskin and George MacDonald!
The hyperlink in the Title of the email that went out this morning is incorrect. It is listed as: https://www.lentmadness.org/2013/08/david-of-wales-vs-f-d-maurice/
It should be /2014/
I fear that voting could be affected.
Thanks. Have no idea why that happened. Lent Madness gremlins I guess.
There are a couple of links that didn’t work from the email that was sent out. I needed to exercise diligence to get here today, which is perhaps part of the Lentend devotion?
I have been having the same problem. It would be nice to be able to vote from your e-mail.
Yes. I also had technical issues and had to be diligent to get here.
Me too!
For the first time, I also had trouble getting here today. The links aren’t working and error marks showing. Truthfully all was great before it was ‘fixed’….lol. I am loving Lent Madness! I hope in all the confusion my vote was only registered once. Maybe we can get things ‘fixed’ again tomorrow.
Same for me. I am not sure if my vote got counted, but I did vote.
I had the same problem. It took several tries to make the click to vote work.
Since the hyperlink in the email that went out this morning was incorrect, voting in this round could well be affected. Many folks might not know alternative ways to vote today. This seems unfair to the voters. I strongly suggest that today’s vote be nullified and that steps be taken to conduct a fair re-vote.
Don M.
I haven’t been getting my LM emails. I checked my spam folder, and they’re not there. Do you think that former President Carter could help me? Thanks in advance.
The link still doesn’t work. I’m getting the dreaded 404 — page doesn’t exist. The vote from Wales may be greatly affected as evening is approaching there!!!
I just tried it again and got the 404 page again as well. I think the e-mail with the link on it finally worked!!
Don’t know if anyone else has had this problem, but I haven’t been able to vote from ANY of the LM morning emails. Not a huge issue for me, since the LM page is bookmarked in my browser, but it is a small annoyance. A Lenten reminder to “go with the flow,” perhaps?
How do you bookmark the LM page? I would love to have that information.
I also had problems – got an ‘error’ notice – kept clicking around looking for a way to call in Jimmy Carter to check on things and lo and behold, was able to vote. Also worried about the effect on the bottom line.
I voted for FD Maurice because of his treatise. It is important to remember that the Church is one.
Totally agree! That’s why he gets my vote. That and the social justice and the church idea. It makes us what we are today to the world.
Ditto for me.
“Do ye the little things in life,” vs. a man who honored and sought to elevate those society regarded as of little account. Hmm, this is a tough one, and I admit I did a little extra research. I think David would be proud of my vote for F.D. Maurice.
well said. David would have been upset by the society of the era. Remember, this was also the time of British novelist Charles Dickens.
Well put. I started to vote for David and realized that simplicity was my reason. I am tired (literally) of keeping track of the needs of the world. Little things had great appeal, but conscience won out. The many have many little needs. I think David would have admired Maurice.
Yes, Bet! In this age of information I often feel “the world is too much with us”, or as Jesus said through ALWebber, “there’s too little of me.” So here’s to doing the little things and praying that all shall be well in the Ukraine, Somalia, Sudan, Congress…..
Well said and very convincing . . . a vote for Maurice after much debate.
No real contest for me, FD all the way.
loved the unsocial Christians and unchristian socialists!
This deacon absolutely adores F.D.Maurice!
“Do ye the little things in life” David has my vote today.
This was tough! My Welsh heritage calls for one thing, but F.D. Maurice is a fine person. Either way, a vote from me seems to be a Kiss of Doom. Not since Basil the Great has my vote found Lent Madness glory . . .
I’m a member of an Anglo-Catholic parish with a long history of service to the poor. While I never knew F.D. Maurice’s name before Lent Madness, it’s clear that we have been inspired by his work. It also seems that the problem of “unsocial Christians and unchristian socialists” (and capitalists) is alive and well today; we continue to have work to do.
Amen, and amen!
How true.
Pelagius got a bad rap, and since our own catechism relies heavily upon the idea of free will, it’s probably time to re-examine his “heresy.” His own writings stress God’s divine grace as motivating good works and that humanity is God’s good creation at base rather than solely defined by original sin. I think Augustine was just ticked that someone challenged him. So my vote has to go to Maurice… sorry, David!
Chana, you state what I’ve long wondered about–Pelagius’ getting a bad rap because of Augustine’s dominance, however well-deserved that dominance might have been. And it helps me move past my Celtic roots (well, they’re Scottish, anyway, not Welsh) and leanings to honor FDM’s great contribution to the church’s conscience. This is a really tough one, SEC!
Chana, you said what I was afraid to say because I didn’t want to identify as a “heretic”.
Amen, Chana!
Great point. Thanks.
I agree, Chana. I find myself agreeing with some of the heresies that have been beaten down in the past, even Arianism. I still wanted to vote for David because of my Welsh roots, but cast my lot with Maurice because of his social activism. A kind and loving heart always means more than defending religious orthodoxy, in my opinion.
Can’t vote, link doesn’t work!
Oh, boy, I can’t believe how tough the choices are already. I am stuck.
I wanted to vote for David because I like leeks, but I had to vote for FD because I like his advocacy for the Church’s involvement in working class issues.
Here, here!!
Dewi Sant! My Welsh ancestry demands it, but for most of my life he’s been high on my list of personal favourite saints.
I loved “Do ye the little things in life.” A great reminder that even the small things we do can make a difference. Besides my husband is 1/3 Welsh!! Go David!!
The bloggers are making voting extremely difficult. I have to admit my heart was torn on this one, but as other have said “Do ye the little things” won me over. However, “unsocial Christians and unchristian Socialists” will be making me grin all day!
I voted for Maurice because while the work of St. David brought Christianity to many, the work of Maurice will help it be relevant and continue today and the future. It was a tough choice, like most of them have been!
Could not vote for F.D. Maurice because I see today how such admirable missions as he had are distorted through time.
Based on one’s teachings being distorted over time by others, I imagine you’d vote against Jesus!
be nice
echo this!!
As Alan C said, Jesus’ teachings have also been distorted! For me, the point is that we need social activists in every generation to do Christ’s work of ministering to all who need help, material or spiritual. Sure, “the world” will always try to mock/derail/distort/co-opt the work, but it still needs to be done! If we could all live this way, Earth would be much closer to God’s Kingdom. Had to vote for Maurice.
I always hated the battle between Church and state, especially in the Episcopal Church. It is the little things that count. Thanks to David.
Argh, this one is tough. As an Orthodox Christian, St. David’s icon is set right behind my pew … my finger is just itching to vote for him. As an all-things-shared Canadian (and I learned so much about FDM! Thank you!), I really want to cast my vote for him. (Yesterday’s vote was so easy … ) Praying, pondering, going to Liturgy tonight … will await the “fullness of time.”
For me, the choice of F. D. Maurice was clear cut as I see more now than ever before the importance of ecumenicism (is that a word?) and of the role of the church in addressing systemic social and economic inequity and injustice.
It was a no-brainer for me after I read the biographies. One of the founders of ecumenicalism and the need for the church to be involved with the treatment of the working class. Also, his statement “we have been dosing our people with religion…when what they want is…the living God,” really spoke to me. I loved it. Thanks for letting me learn about both saints.
That line about “dosing” spoke to me too, although I haven’t voted yet!
It is the “little things” that so often count.
Both made this world better through their work and faith. I decided to go with the old timey sainty saint today, but at the moment he’s the underdog. It’s another case where I think these “opponents” would like one another and maybe share a piece of toast, if not an actual toast–some social little thing like that.
Current cones with clotted cream, to be sure!
Yes, current scones and currant events
Yet another difficult choice, but decided on David in honor of the Welsh descendants in my community.
Sounds like David of Wales did a whole lot of nothing… FD Maurice wouldn’t be out of place in today’s fight for the working poor! Vote FDM!
David of Wales. For the elderly & homeless with whom I work, doing the little things is what we advocate. For them it is important to recognize that ministry is made up of the little things of life and even at their ostation in life we can all continue to do the little things.
Ditto Ellen, people are hungry for the real living One.
(Hmmm…I’m with you, Trisha. I seem to have voted with the minority every time, save one. Why shd today be any different?)
Maurice seemed to be all over the map–law student, Unitarian, opposer of the 39 Articles; next paragraph of life, Anglican social reform theologian, scholar. With apologies to my Uncle Maurice, I voted for David. My life as a Christian seems to have been a striving to do “the little things” every day.
Anyone for Cawl cennin (traditional leek soup) for supper? allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/34247/cawl-cennin–welsh-leek-soup-.aspx
Now leek soup is a good idea! Even if I am leaning toward Maurice.
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” ― Mother Teresa. Reflecting upon nature: “In these little things a zest for life is engraved like filigree, a source without which everything would be insipid.” – Br. Roger. “Little things done out of love are those that charm the Heart of Christ.” – Theresa of Liseux. “Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
― Francis of Assisi. Joy, simplicity, do little things, faith…David of Wales is a wonderful part of a great cloud of witnesses, and so I made my little vote.
Voting for my brother in heterodoxy, F.D. Maurice.
I love “Do ye the little things in life.”. If we all did the little things the world would be a better place. David gets my vote.
The more I read the bio for F.D. Maurice, the more I liked him and what he was striving to do. And I really liked the collect as well. This was an easier decision than yesterday’s, for sure! Even my Jewish partner couldn’t stomach either of those Egyptians.
Since I don’t believe in original sin doctrine – and think Pelagius got a bum rap – guess I will vote against David though I love daffodils. What brought me back into the church was its social justice work – so Maurice it is.
I am having multiple problems with Lentmadness this year…there is NO vote button on the email I receive every morning. Normally I have to click on the “comments” to get this page so I can actually vote…this morning that didn’t even work…gave me a 404 error, page not available message. So, I had to navigate over to Facebook and find your morning post in order to vote.
Is there a way to fix the “vote” button on the email you send every day???
this is exactly what happened to me today too.
The daily title is a link. Click on that and you should get the text in a format that allows you to vote.
Maurice wrote, “we have been dosing our people with religion…when what they want is…the living God.”
Sounds kind of like where we are today! My vote’s with FD – a priest with the heart of a deacon.
A few less than charitable comments today toward another in the hermit/anchorite/monastic tradition. Praying and inspiring others to deeper faith might seem small, but great things can come of it. I suspect David was active in caring for others, etc. as his many monasteries would have been the source of such assistance during his day. Ultimately, we can do nothing good that doesn’t ultimately come from Christ’s love working through us. (All credit goes to him.) Thomas Merton pointed out that not everyone is called to be contemplative. I say let’s not throw stones so quickly a those who are. They will always be an important part of the church’s witness.
Thank you!
Amen.
Amen.
well spoken. we Americans are such activists and as much as we might give grudging assent to the power of prayer, deep down, we don’t believe it, we are suspicious of too much solitude, we want David of Wales to have crusaded against slavery of the Irish or the injustice towards girls and women. we also don’t understand the central healing and ministerial role monastic communities served for 1500 years of the church’s history. sigh, i fear no contemplatve saint will ever win a golden halo with Americans doing the voting.
Agreed. I have been surprised and intrigued to see how often I have sided with the mystics in this enterprise. And how often I am in the minority! Learning so much about the saints and myself…
I love approaching faith with an understanding that “the little things” add up, but I’m going with Fred today. The working class needed him then and perhaps he can inspire us to be more and more aware of those needs today. Plus I agree that meditating about “unsocial Christians and unchristian socialists” creates a good Lenten chuckle.
Another agonizing choice, so my vote could be based on trivialities: I’m very tempted to vote for David because his Celebrity Blogger wrote “Commentors” rather than the wretched “Commentators.” But I’m also a former Unitarian-turned-Anglican, so Maurice and I belong to the same tribe.
What finally decides my vote is Maurice’s witness in the modern era to being our brother’s keeper because he’s God’s beloved child, not because he has met some qualification based on our personal opinions.
Had to vote for the ole’ namesake.
On a different subject, I wonder if there’s been any consideration of recirculating previous contestants. I may be mistaken, but this year’s bracket doesn’t seem to have as many ancient saints as past years. At some point, every possible contender from the major feasts, lesser feasts, and Holy Women Holy Men will have been used, right?
it’s the little things…
David of Wales certainly set a great example in his time. However FD Maurice shines as a bright light in the miserable 19th century so I must vote for FD.
Voting for my namesake.
Voting for F.D., but will spend the next week learning to pronounce “Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd”.
Yeah, can we have a phonetic layout of that one, please??
And then someone should set it to music. Actually there probably already is a tune associated with it. Must look that up.
Please let us know what you find!
F.D. Maurice was grounded in eternal truths, yet ahead of his time. All honor to St. David, the patron saint of my Welsh ancestors, but Fr. Maurice gets my vote today.
Had to vote for David with Welch ancestors who would come out of hiding had I not!
Social reforms are wonderful ideals, but over zealousness has led our society to unfortunate dependence .
Love “do the little things” but FD is a long time hero for me so he got my vote.
My wonderful spouse is David, but I cast my vote for FDM, wish he could run for president! He apparently made such a difference in his world that wherever he walked, people saw a glow surrounding him.
Apples and oranges this morning……..
Sure, we can say how much FDM did but how do you compare a 19th century post enlightenment theologian and social reformer to a 7th century mystic and bishop? While I would disagree with David’s position on Original Sin, it is understandable that he came to such a conclusion in a pre enlightenment environment.
My vote needs to go to beloved David – the namesake of my church and patron saint of Wales. “Do the little things” and wear a leek on your cap on March 1st!
FDM is a man after my own heart – he stood up for the underdog, tried mightily, “failed” at one point by being tossed from his job for refusing to toe the unjust line, made lemonade out of lemons by creating a school for those underdogs,and never lost sight of his vision despite the difficulties. About two weeks ago, I read an article about things really creative people do. One item on the list: they fail, and then get right back up and keep trying. That’s what FDM did .. So he gets my vote.
It the age when we are looking at the movement from “religion” to “spirituality”, I can only vote for the very real and spiritual man – F.D. Maurice.
Had to go with Maurice. Pelagius was one of the true persons in Chrustianity.
I see this is the day my bracket goes down in flames. That’s what Iget for picking the saint I thouggt had the best chance over my personal choice.
Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd
Having a lot of Welsh in my ancestry, I thought this would be an easy vote. I had never heard of F.D. Maurice, but admire his passion for social justice issues and see his influence today in the emerging church movement. We need voices like his now as much as during the time he lived. Sorry, St. Dayffd – F.D. gets my vote!
FDM for me. I’m an Episcopalian who works at a Unitarian Universalist congregation (they assiduously don’t call it a “church,” and they think I’m a bit odd for wearing ashes on my brow from time to time). Today’s two saints would have an awkward cuppa together, don’t you think?
“Do the little things”….and you could have added: with all diligence and great love! That is how the little things add up to further the reign of God. David was a doer and my Welsh heritage continues to demand that of me. Dewi Sant!
David got me with “be joyful”. It’s an oft-forgotten command.
That 404 really put me off, but I finally got through by going back to the egg, or the chicken, whatever. I knew there actually were Comments, the screen was bulging. Another tough pick.
I must cast my vote in honor of my dear mentor and friend, Rev. David Keller (whose patron saint is David of Wales).
I was ready to vote for David (name of my son) until I read “he held that the church was a united body, transcending individual sects, denominations, and disputes.” YES!!! I have long been a proponent of ecumenism (yes, that’s a word), so that’s what won me over.
The “unsocial Christians” and “unchristian Socialists”– a true zinger–helped, and the comment about people wanting “the living God” rather than any particular outward show really speaks to our time.
David was right, though, about doing the “little things”–and I think Julia Chester Emery would agree.
Verdery, You are exactly on target. I am sure that David did many wonderful things, and we certainly need those folks. There are many more folks who need to be convicted to greater works in the name of Christ, so I vote for FDM.
I agree about the ecumenism. How badly this is needed today and the idea that all may be one. I don’t want to de-saintize David. I’m sure he was a great man of the church and we all stand on their shoulders. I just voted for FD because I pray we can all do greater things through Christ, and I think there is lots of work to do in the world. Separately, we can do little things. Together we can do great things.
While I’m extremely sympathetic to Maurice and originally considered voting from him when filling out my bracket, I opted for sentimentality and nostalgia, my affinity for all things Celtic, and my enjoyment of leeks and cheese-on-toast and cast my vote for Dewi Sant.
Hard choice today–St. David’s emphasis on the “little things” is close to my heart, but in this time when so many so-called Christians are fierce in their opposition to caring for those in need, F. D. Maurice’s Christian Socialism is sorely needed, so he gets my vote.
I will be cast out of the St. Davids’ Society of the Wyoming Valley if I don’t vote for Dewi Sant. Cymru am byth.
Toss-up for me on the merits so decision came down (for this retired Marine) to our close association with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (23rd Foot) and the exchange between our Commandant and theirs on 1 March, “… and St. David.”
Couldn’t get past David’s suspicious “association” with leeks, whereas F.D.’s efforts on behalf of the working class are stellar.
O ye of little faith, why do you persist in calling miracles “legends.”
Living in Wales as I do, I feel love and respect for Dewi Sant, but my vote has to go to F D Maurice, for his work, huis insights and his deep soirituality. “We have been dosing our people with religion…when what they want is…the living God” should be on the desk of all church leaders.
Haitian culture is abundant in symbolism and metaphor, a result of a community denied reading, writing and, as slaves, speaking. So, too, early Christian history is also steeped in repeated symbols and metaphors. It is my thought that symbols such as doves, olives, wine, and metaphor such as walking on water, 40 days and nights, etc., conveyed a specific concept or principle universally understood by largely illiterate community during that time. As beautiful and useful as this story tradition is much of the original meaning has been lost and, indeed, is often stagnant. I think this explains my increasingly apparent tendency to vote for reformers, educators and those relevant to their time in Christian evolution. I vote Maurice.
Well, I finally finagled around the “little things” to vote…getting better at technology, I guess. I am disturbed by the creeping petulance and disrespect creeping in….do we not need breakfast or brunch, dear ones? A little more compassion and respect for personal choices? Also remembering that it’s the MADNESS in LentMadness that’s the fun part. There’s also an OFF button. Be kind..it’s more fun!
Thank you. I have been tempted myself to say —Children! Children!
I live in a part of Kansas settled by many Welsh families. (Keeping up with the Joneses has real meaning here!) We’ve just celebrated St. David’s Day, so I’m voting for the Welsh saint as part of my regional heritage.
My husband’s name is David, and today is his birthday. As much as I admire FD, David gets my vote.
As much as I admire the writers of the 19th century who pushed the church outside its comfort zone, David is a sentimental favorite. I know him by his Welsh name of Dewi. The four patron saints of the British isles (Patrick, David, Andrew and George) are all sentimental favorites, and we are only a few days from Patrick’s feast day.
I applaud you choices today, if indeed you intended to take a referendum on the popularity of the traditional church vs the emerging church. I will be very interested in the out come
F. D. Maurice, “…beloved by Anglo-Catholics”?
I thought he was Broad Church.
Be that as it may, this Anglo-Catholic voted for him.
I think FD is terrific but my heart belongs to Dewi Sant.
It is so difficult to relate the events and people of the early church to those whose lives are documented in the post printing-press area. What was reported as mystical and miraculous then often has a very matter of fact text for someone who lived in the past few centuries, even if what they did and achieved was no less miraculous. In this case, I voted for St. David, for without his work, there would not have been the structure for Maurice to ultimately operate in; both to the glory of God and in Christ’s footsteps.
David for his simplicity and devotion. But what’s the deal about that hill? The dove is a nice touch though.
I’m liking the hill and the dove. So reassuring to have the cosmos confirm spiritual greatness. Or, it could be that my background in television loves when abstraction can be visualized and in a charming way. In either case, voted for David.
David’s story resonated in me. Do ye the little things… He got my vote.
David of Wales it had to be, if for no other reason than to honor my dear friend Rev. Petra, who is from Wales. I also appreciate “Do ye the little things in life”.
Remember just because the link in the email is bad, you can always go to the very easy to remember LentMadness.org & vote on the most recent match-up posted there. You can even bookmark the site, which works better on smartphones than certain news media sites I could name.
I have yet to receive an email. No sign of one anywhere. Please advise…..and fix!
This Celtic girl had to vote for David. I don’t want my Welsh great-great grandmother to start haunting me.
What’s with the “beloved of Anglo-Catholics” remark? Maurice wasn’t an Anglo-Catholic. Whoever wrote that has a very broad definition of Anglo-Catholicism, it seems to me.
Think theology, not liturgy. Think slum priest, and urban reform, and social justice.
If you say voting for ___ is a no-brainer, do I have no brain if I vote the other way? Keep in mind that we are expected to be loving faithful people throughout this Lent Madness 2014. Reread your comments to be sure they are kind. We are all following our hearts in our choices, and none of us are wrong.
Please contribute to the legal defense fund we have set up to help David file his election tampering lawsuit. I’m sure he is behind in the polls because of the broken VOTE button. David supporters were clearly more likely to be early risers, so may have gone about their days unable to vote and unaware of the repair.
Calling Jimmy Carter, calling Jimmy Carter!
9AM Eastern Time is midmorning here in Atlantic Canada and I voted for F.D. Now if only I could vote often as well as early…..
I don’t think it was the button, but the link to the page of the LentMadness.org website upon which the vote button is currently residing. See https://www.lentmadness.org/2014/03/your-vote-counts/ where The Rev. Scott Gunn wrote “In this morning’s email from Lent Madness global headquarters, there was a broken link to the voting page.”
Link to the page wasnt broken – looked like it went to a URL that included the text “lent_madness_party_paypal_fund”
I went with F.D. Maurice. I think a little heterodoxy goes a long way, as unquestioned orthodoxy can lead to stagnation. As a systems analyst, nothing strikes dread into my heart more than the response, to the question of why a process is done a certain way, of “Because we’ve always done it that way.” My Celtic heritage wanted to go with David, but I just thought Maurice was too important.
David, because , as Chesterton said, “Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved. ”
Yesterday’s comment in which I identified Antony as patron saint of pigs disappeared. I didn’t mean to be irreverent. I love the sometimes odd chains of association that assign a friend in Heaven to every earthly concern, including pigs. (Not so different from the strange ways in which we end up doing jobs we never imagined on earth.) Antony fought the devil in the shape of a pig, so he gets to be in charge of real pigs, and by extension other farm animals.
Today’s line-up presented a difficult choice for this loyal Welshman & Christian Socialist. But a 19th century Christian Socialist has to trump a semi-legendary 6th century Bishop, Welshman or not. By the way, your definition of the “British Heresy” Pelagianism, is rather an over simplification.
Maurice wrote, “we have been dosing our people with religion…when what they want is…the living God.”
and that did it for me. I enjoyed learning about both of them today.
I went on a pilgrimage to Wales a few years ago. It was wonderful. We stayed in the town of St. David and attended St. David’s Cathedral on Trinity Sunday. We visited a number of ‘thin’ places throughout the country – wells and very old churches. Back in the day, 3 (if I remember correctly) pilgrimages to St. David’s were equal to one pilgrimage to Jerusalem. My vote goes to David!
Heart (David) vs head (FDM) again for me today. Of course, those can be and assuredly are paired the opposite way for some! For my particular Lenten discipline, “be joyful” is the instruction I need to follow. And in some ways, I find FDM just a little too gratifying to my own politics: it’s almost too delightful to learn of someone like him. That’s on me, of course, not on him. But in favor of joy and against even the whisper of smug in myself, I vote David. (Also I’ve been to Wales and found it deeply moving, even as a feckless tween/teen. And I feel a sentimental attachment to the fictional Brother Cadfael.)
Yep, I can’t let go of F.D. Maurice. We need more like that. Even though my name in religion is Brigid, and a good friend has St. David for a patron, I can’t resist a leftie….
This just in from the “Really? Are You Still On That?” Department: The mysterious image from yesterday that was supposed to be Mary of Egypt really seemed more like dear little St. Agnes, who grew a hair leotard to protect her modesty when the bad guys dragged her out in public and tore her clothes off as part of their plan to humiliate and deflower her. But maybe it was Mary, in an ultrasuede scuba suit getting ready to walk on water. Now, off I go to get a life…
Well, Peg, as long as we’re backtracking to yesterday:
Athanasius writes that as an old man Antony beheld ” his sister grown old in virginity,
and that she herself also was the leader of other virgins “.
That doesn’t sound like someone who entered the house of virgins unwillingly.
Many thanks to Dr. Primrose for the link to Athanasius’s biography of Antony.
and that is just so sad….
Has someone already posted on the definition of “a house of virgins” at that time in history? If it was a convent, what more noble way was there for a woman to live out her life, and maybe even her own call, than in a chaste community of religious?
Type in: Monasticism: the Apostolic Life.
It briefly discusses the “house of virgins”. It was an early form of convent.
A tough choice. Politically and socially I side with Maurice, but this Celt has a warm spot in his heart for David of Wales. The Celt in me won.
This person of Welsh descent cast a difficult vote for F.D. I feel sure David will understand.
What a great quote: “we have been dosing our people with religion…when what they want is…the living God.” How true this is today, too!
Again this year I find it heartening to read so many thoughtful and caring comments.
I think Frances Perkins would approve F. D. Maurice!
No contest. F.D. Maurice changed my entire understanding of Anglicanism. He gets my vote every time.
“While Maurice’s work would ultimately be an early source of Anglican ecumenism, it also roused suspicion among more conservative wings of the church.”
Hmmm. Ever and always thus?
As a proud Scot, trying to decide between a Welshman or an Englishman was a tough choice 🙂
David’s written bio skewed the results towards Maurice, a person of all of us postmodernists can relate to more than a mytho-poetic figure David is portrayed as.
As a father of 4, I have to go with Augustine on original sin. Anyone who has observed infants and toddlers long enough knows it to be an empirical fact not a metaphysical theory.
As a mother, Montessori teacher, and Christian educator, I disagree! Any behavior less than stellar always seemed to me to have been learned. “Unless you become like a child, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. ” Doesn’t sound like they’re evil from the get-go to me!
I voted for FD Maurice, 19th Century prose and all. Here’s a dynamite quote from him:
“My great wish is to show you, that the Anglican Church was led, not by reason of any peculiar excellence or glory in the members or teachers of it, but by a course of providential discipline, to put worship and sacraments before views, to make those acts which directly connect man with God the prominent part of their system, – that which was meant to embody the very form and meaning of Christianity, – and those verbal distinctions which are necessary to keep the understanding of men from error and confusion, as its accessory and subordinate part.”
Here it is, all you who would claim that FDM is not Anglo-Catholic.
That is a great quote, thank you.
Morris, I mean Maurice, gets my vote because of his social reform, but it’s a moot point since Julia Chester Emery is going to WIN the next round!
Hope voted today for the saint associated with doves and leeks. Mom made her look up “leek” in the dictionary since she first thought the guy from Wales was linked to “leaky doves,” meaning birds who continually have to go to the bathroom. Sigh.
Oh how I would love to vote for David of Wales as I am a great proponent of doing the little things in life. But as a social worker I just have to go with Maurice. When I read an èarlier comment that he influenced George MacDonald I was absolutely convinced I had made the right decision.
test
For you, David, saint of my partly Scotch-Irish heart.
I vote for ecumenism and Maurice. I think we need to remember that we are all one in Christ Jesus. I am certainly not de-saintizing David. He is a wonderful man upon whose shoulders we stand. But there is work to be done in the world, in God’s name of course, and Maurice directs us to that path.
Maurice wrote, “we have been dosing our people with religion…when what they want is…the living God.”
The Living God … oh, yes
Love it! “unsocial Christians” and “unchristian Socialists.”
What good is it to have a guy named Maurice in the bracket if no one speaks of the pompatus of love?
thanks for bringing me back in time. i loved that line in the song~!
David gets my vote. Anyone who stays on task for 100 years deserves it.
Wonder if the NSA is watching the vote as well as the former IBMer?
God bless and preserve Hope and Skye and their family. I wait for your wonderful posts, Mom. Thank you.
Looks like the Space Cowboy ( some people call me Maurice), stuffed the ballot box! Ah. The pompatus of love!
Oh, I am laughing so hard!! Pompatus of love!!!! What a great way to end this day!
Hi, I am not getting e-mail notices although I have entered my e-mail address many times. Now I have to slog through face book and get distracted.
Wow, this was a tough one for me: I’m an ecumenical ecclesiologist with a theology blog named for joy and a devotion to the Holy Spirit! (the dove, of course) I knew nothing about either saint coming in (except maybe, vaguely, that David was the patron saint of Wales), so I had no initial preference.
KEW’s helpful comment made me contemplate the temptation to self-satisfaction when encountering a saint or bible story that confirms our political views, so that inclined me towards David. So did considering joy as an interior disposition, since my Lenten journey this year is leaning internal rather than external.
But finally my decision was based on the fact that David faithfully shepherded his community for so many years, aware that he was a model for them, so that his parting injunction could be one of imitation in the little ordinary things.
After yesterday’s pitched battle of ascetics in Egypt, I planned to vote for the “”non-ascetic” saint today. And, then…it struck me (like a ton of bricks). St. David of Wales said, “Do ye the little things in life.” First, the words “do ye”—-indicate (or demand) : Go ye into all the world ….Get busy.
Second, “little things in life” can mean : Look carefully at the nuances (little things) of others. What might others need to draw closer to Christ? And what can you or I offer?
Little things can refer to acts of kindness. Perhaps we might say, “practice intentional acts of kindness”, rather than the popular, “practice random acts of kindness.” Intentional, not merely random.
Vote for David! [It’s a little thing.]
I’ve found these ascetics rather off-putting lately, esp since they remind me a bit of the US Congress. And Heterodoxy is simply another way of saying the losing side. We’ve gone down quite a few rabbit-holes over original sin so I sort of like Pelagius. My favorite lexicon candidate in this evening’s conversation is “ecumenicism” which I would define as something like “working toward unity in diversity while always a bit cynical that we might choose peace at any price.” Let’s hear it for the cynics in the group who wonder about the “silent curriculum”. While pedagogy is valuable, unless the debaters can shelve their tomes & go make meatless tacos or egg rolls & chicken fried rice to hand out at the homeless shelter, neither Maurice nor Jesus would be pleased.
What Martha Frances praytell is a “meatless” taco? I’ve never seen a taco w/o meat. I’ve seen them in fish, beef, pork, chicken, & egg+sausage, but never meatless.
Curiously yours,
Maurice inspires me. I read The Kingdom of Christ in seminary and find myself called back to it again and again.
You all seem to forget that with out the pioneering saints like David where would be be…. For my Welsh husband and children and my Irish/Scotch-Irish ancestors!!
I do like the name David and am very sympathetic to the Welsh and I’m fond of leeks, but didn’t think those things were enough to gain a vote. For his competitor, I most definitely admire any defender of the working class- but didn’t think that by itself was enough to move to the next round either. I will abstain on this particular bracket, I think.
Due to some important medical appointments, I didn’t get to check Lenten Madness for a couple of days. So I lost my vote, but I favor David of Wales despite my admiration for Morris and all cats. I’m currently rereading one of Elizabeth Goudge’s historical novels which is partly set in Wales, so I’m more conscious than usual of David’s work and the power of Celtic spirituality.
Rev Lucy, I am so drawn to your posts today! You are an Elizabeth Goudge fan as well? Which book is this? I love her for her connections to Wells and Ely, but especially Wells (not Wales!).