Today marks the fourth and final matchup of the Elate Eight as Anna Alexander takes on Eglantyne Jebb. To make it this far, Anna made it past Peter Claver and Edith Cavell while Eglantyne cruised past both Seraphim of Sarov and Catherine Winkworth.
Yesterday Maria Skobtsova swept away Martin de Porres and will face Esther in the next round. So the Faithful Four is nearly set: Maria, Esther, Richard Hooker and…today it’s your job to complete this sentence!
Then take a deep cleansing breath and get ready for the last three battles of Lent Madness 2018. On Monday and Tuesday it’s the Faithful Four. And then on Spy Wednesday the scene will be set as we collectively crown the Golden Halo winner. The end is near!
Anna Alexander
As we have learned, Deaconess Alexander exemplifies the pursuit of brotherly love no matter your circumstances in life.
Let’s step back in time as we walk through the Georgia Kudzu to find the church where Deaconess Anna Alexander is buried and where she spent much of her ministry:
Good Shepherd Church and School is such an awesome vacation destination that our own Presiding Bishop Michael Curry took time out of his busy schedule to visit the place of Deaconess Alexander’s ministry. He gives it a Bishop’s “thumbs up” and now all Episcopalians across the globe will be flocking to this new “must-do” locale:
Although he gave the school his enthusiastic bishop approval, Bishop Curry is probably thankful he didn’t have to sit in these desks as a student. You can almost hear the voice of Deaconess Alexander telling her class to “pipe down.”
Deaconess Alexander’s former students can attest that her love for them was tempered by an indomitable will that brooked no argument. These students were here to learn to read, write, and love the Lord.
If you find yourself on a pilgrimage to George, make sure you take some mosquito repellent. You’ll thank me later. Not only does it repel mosquitos, but chiggers too!
While in town, make sure you try some sweet Georgia peaches:
…Nothing could be finer.
And stop at the corner to grab some Hot Boiled Peanuts. We are sure they were Deaconess Alexander’s favorite.
Finally, when the heat gets so hot you want to slap a brother, grab yourself some sweet ice tea, a rocking chair, and a fan; set yourself down and say a little prayer for people like Deaconess Alexander who has taught us how to be better people, just by her example. Vote #TeamAnna
Eglantyne Jebb
“The world is not ungenerous, but unimaginative and very busy,” Eglantyne Jebb famously said.
So Jebb became the first to take out full-page newspaper advertisements to promote the work of a charitable organization for Save the Children, which she founded in 1919 in England. She also became the first to enlist celebrities to promote a cause.
Save the Children and its supporters continue that imaginative tradition with their own saintly kitsch.
You can celebrate Jebb’s life’s work and Christmas at the same time every December 15 on Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day. That’s British for “Ugly Christmas Sweater Day,” and it’s celebrated by wearing your kitchiest knits — and donating £2 to the organization. Also for the occasion, Save the Children sells “Jumper for Joy” buttons, tote bags emblazoned with cats and dogs in their own festive apparel and — of course — tea towels.
In the meantime, you can don fan-created “Keep Calm and Save the Children” T shirts, hoodies, baby onesies and aprons sold on The Keep Calm-O-Matic, which marries the ability to sell your own customizable products with the British motivational poster popularized by a million Pinterest knock-offs. You can even get it printed on a teddy bear or a smartphone case.
Or you can give yourself a pedicure featuring some Save the Children nail art.
There is, sadly, a dearth of kitsch featuring Jebb herself, but you can take in a one-woman show about her life. The play, simply titled “Eglantyne,” was written and performed by Anne Chamberlain. It premiered in New Zealand in 2014 and since has toured the United Kingdom, including a stop at Jebb’s childhood home.
The gardeners among us also can grow their own Eglantyne roses, something to keep in mind should Jebb go on to face Phocas the Gardener in the Faithful 4.
Anna Alexander vs. Eglantyne Jebb
- Anna Alexander (55%, 3,457 Votes)
- Eglantyne Jebb (45%, 2,845 Votes)
Total Voters: 6,302
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There’s no voting buttons ….
Maybe because it’s such a tough choice!?
Almost as hard as yesterday’s pair!
OMG!!! Ms. Courie you had me at KUDZU!!! And ‘ so hot you need to slap a brother?’
I LITERALLY FELL ON THE FLOOR!! God bless you!!
God Bless you ALL!!! I LOVE LENT MADNESS!❤️
no voting link
Now we can”t vote….have you gone Russian on us?
I cannot VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTE!
Ohhhh I get it. We’re writing our votes in today and they’re just gonna tally them all up at the end. Ever the innovators at Lent Madness. Ok then.
Anna
Must be a Russian hack
We will need voting buttons in order to choose between these two great women.
Oh no, it’s a conspiracy!
No voting buttons!
??..Are we voting today or not?!!…
Where are the voting buttons?
Anna gets my vote!!
Have the Russians hacked Lent Madness?
The powers that be may be sleeping at the helm…WAKE UP and let us vote!!
Must have worked…voting button appeared at same time as my post!!
HA!!!!
When somethings wrong it must be my fault. We need a saint to carry that burden!
Hahahaha!
Saint Bonnie? Hmmm…not bad! I’d vote for a saint who bears the burden for everything that goes wrong–provided she remembers to carry that burden to the cross and leave it there!
#SaveTheChildren
Save the Buttons!
Both endured great hardship achieving their goals. Eglantyne Jebb’s Save the Children is the more lasting legacy.
Save the children is awesome, but Anna Alexander worked against the odds for many years among poor, rural blacks, giving them an education and then getting them in to college and tech schools and finding scholarships. She depopulated the community one car load at a time, taking her students away to new lives with expanded opportunities, and she did it because she loved Jesus. Eglantyne did brilliant work, but I stand with The Deaconess.
ditto
Agreed! My vote is for Anna, all the way!
Deaconess Alexander has my vote! Let’s hear it for Anna and the Diocese of Georgia!
Agree! Anna’s is very much a lasting legaccy. Anna all the way (since Peter is out of the running).
Yes. I couldn’t vote this morning but everything worked okay later. Anna for the Halo.
Go Deaconess!
Where is my vote button?
The vote button came. I voted. Left the site and came back amd there was a vote button so I figured thst my vote wasn’t taken. Tried again and it said I had already voted. Really I am not trying to cheat.
I will miss the kitsch round, only four short days, and today’s were most creative.
Sadly, Phocas did not get this far—although the Eglantyne rose is beautiful. Alas I reflect back over everything Deaconess Alexander did, and gave her my vote. Thanks for the mosquito/chigger repellant reminder for my pilgrimage.
Don’t think we can go wrong for our golden halo winner, what a line up!!
I didn’t have any prob with voting buttons, the Russians missed me.
Faithful through out her lifetime, Anna definitely belongs in the Faithful Four.
I’m with Anna. Her country didn’t support as an African American and her church didn’t support her as a female. Yet she persevered! I support Anna!
I agree, Montie, but it was still hard to choose between women of such strength abd faith –
While you’re dealing with technical issues. I wish it were easier to go back and read previous biographies. I got started late in Lent and knew nothing about Anna Alexander. After finally finding and then pressing the “older” button a multitude of times I was able to see and support her. Go, Anna! You rock!
In the introductory paragraph, the highlighted names of those each saint has bested are links to the earlier write-ups 🙂
And the Bracket page has a list of results of each previous matchup that links back to the post of that matchup.
Doing a little research and review while waiting for the vote buttons to appear, I had to change my mind and vote for Anna. Look at this! Anna’s saint status may be upgraded in July!
“The Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music voted to recommend that the Episcopal Church add Deaconess Alexander to Lesser Feasts and Fasts (Major Feasts are those like Christmas and Easter). A vote on that larger recognition for this Saint of Georgia will come during the General Convention meeting in Austin, Texas, July 5-13, 2018.”
Perhaps the Golden Halo will help swing the vote for her — she deserves it! For me, it’s Anna Alexander from now on, all the way to the Golden Halo!
Like
Anna, again and again.
I’ll make a donation to Save the Children in honor of the most worthy Eglantyne Jebb, but vote for Deaconess Alexander, who started with very little and created so much, overcame hardness with softness, was able to do this in spite of immense cultural barriers, and comes from my home state of Georgia.
My thought after reading the info about Anna Alexander and Eglantyne Jebb is “that’s not fair” – I do not know what the Save the Children organization does. Even though there may be a “dearth” of info about Jebb, surely there is more about the organization she founded??
savethechildren.net for Save the Children International; savethechildren.org for the U.S. group. Google is our friend for saintly research.
http://www.savethechildren.org Excellent organization
Having nominated Eglantyne for the bracket I keep faith with her today. I am delighted to discover Anna Alexander andshe will make a worthy wearer of the golden halo if she prevails against the wonderful, Eglantyne, whose faith inspired her work. I love her rose, but not sure it merits the description kitsch, Christmas jumpers on the other hand…
Kudzu & sweet tea! That’s as southern as you get. Georgia needs a saint.
Go Anna All The Way.
Anna was a deaconess who put her life into trusting God and reflecting His love to her community. Her actions were always in the name of Christ. Who better to wear the golden halo?
Anna; soft overcomes hard
Thought our writers did a great job giving us charming writeups. Hard choice. I went with Anna, a true grass roots woman.
Tough choice today, as both are worthy. Anna got our vote, but Eglantyne’s a good eg.
I see what you did there. Lol!
Her strong message of learning and loving God gets my vote.
Anna Alexander (can’t abide that deaconess thing) would approve strongly, of a wonderful place n LaGrange Georgia called Biblical History Center. Go there and be steeped (just like the sweet tea) in the history and world of Jesus. No denomination clap trap — just Jesus. While in LaGrange, get extraordinary potato soup and peach cobbler washed down with sweet tea at Hog Heaven. Boiled peanuts while you wait — just throw the shells on the floor. Now that’s HEAVEN and she’d agree. Go Anna!
Really disappointed in the crop this year where minor women have blown out very important church influences, some with debatable faults. While we all fall short of the glory of God, the trend still seems to be politics verses worthiness, mimicking society. Sigh.
I agree Linda. Feels like “you go girl” seems to have trumped (oops… bad choice of words there) almost any other attribute this year, spiritual or otherwise.
minor women? If we had more “minor” women , or men or their ilk when ya get down to it, we wouldn’t be in the state that we are world wise. A minor woman would have smacked a few “major” men (in their own minds) up side the head and taught them manners/grace/courtesy/common sense/etc.
Right on, sister! I don’t see Anna or Maria S. or Eglantyne as “minor” in their faith, their works and their lasting influence.
Agreed. This apparent trouncing of Anna over Eg is a shocker.
Linda,
I’ve been somewhat disappointed in the outcomes of some of the matches. I was sad that Peter didn’t go further than he did. BUT: There are no “minor” men or women in God’s world. Peter and the other disciples/apostles were all “minor” people when Jesus chose them to follow him. For me, that’s one of the glories of the Christian message. Peter was an ordinary, unsung, and flawed human being called to do extraordinary things.
Both Anna, for whom I voted, and Eglantine are worthy indeed to be considered among the best and brightest.
If the PB visits Deaconess(Yech! with you Donna) Anna, that’s good enough for me. I grew up with an Eastern North Carolina priest who slaved and groveled and begged to get a camp for black Episcopal kids like me…..well, ME and others so that we could have summer camp experiences. What our Church denied us, clergy like Anna and Fr. Johnson from St. Mark’s in Wilson NC worked to provide. She gets my vote today and is a winner however the vote turns out. She’s MY LentMadness winner-Gold all the way !
I am personally thankful for deaconesses. It was a deaconess in the Bronx who brought my mother and her sisters into the church, so I can trace my own Episcopal roots back to her. I know the institution was unfair, but it was the best the church could do 150 years ago (not everyone approved), and the women who enlisted (I have met a couple) were proud of their service.
Yes, please do not disrespect deaconesses. Many of us who were born at the wrong time – too late to be deaconesses, too early to be deacons – would have given almost anything to be deaconesses. We love the Lord, and love a Church that didn’t/doesn’t always return that love
Anna is an inspiration to all Deacons! Go Anna – to the Halo!
Dearth of kitsch on these two! Both worthy women for whom I have voted, and today my vote goes to Anna for the tougher odds she faced.
Well, looking back means a clarification is in order,,,,the PB did NOT visit the late great Deaconess, but the site where she served. It is a little after my morning meal and while burping and belching , I lost my train of thought, He is not resurrecting, only visiting and praying over her remains and, I hope, praying she earns that golden crown.
I wish I could get that T-shirt for tomorrow’s march. I’ll buy them for my family and probably other stuff too. Save the Children is doing well. They are truly impressive with the sheer number of children they help globally. I’m sure they need money. But, hey, Anna used her gifts to the fullest and then some. I can’t imagine how many people she lifted out of poverty and ignorance over the generations. It was a miracle she was made a deaconess, as a black woman. I want to know more about her story. Now, she’ll be voted on at General Convention! Wow. Have to help that happen. Plus, two of my sons were born in Atlanta and one of them lives in Dawsonville. We have lots of relatives all over GA and they’re all coming to visit in June. Here’s to Anna!!!
I second the recommendation of mosquito and bug repellant when visiting the sights and sounds of the Georgia coast! Anna gets my vote!
Go inland — visit LaGrange and Biblical History Center. I’ve never had mosquities there
Our CBs really had their work cut out for them today! Good job! And what a challenge for Lent Madness voters: Two turn-of-the-century Anglican women who worked to better the lives of children. I predict there are a lot of heads exploding this morning over this decision. As for me and my house, we’re sticking with our fellow Georgian. Hooray Anna!
It was the comments today that decided my vote, because the kitsch didn’t grab me today (well, the comment about people being generous and the ugly jumpers were great, but that’s not my vote). Hearing from folks affected by Deacness Anna—now THAT was powerful.
yes!
both great, and I root for deacons, but Eglantyne worked for children and didn’t really like them, as I recall–loving your enemy is one thing, caring for the person who really annoys you because (well, fill in your own reasons)..I can think of a lot, and, alas, the people who embody them. But I do my best to care about them and see their worth. I think that’s what she did. Plus, I’m a knitter.
Agree with you on that.If you’re going to help save the children,you need to love them for who & what
They are,the children can be future priests,nuns,deacons. Who to say future politicians or president.
You can’t have an organization to help kids but to dislike them.
My vote is for Anna all the way
Anna Fitch Courie did an excellent write up in terms of promoting Georgia tourism, but this Anna made no mention of kitsch in relation to that Anna.
Emily Miller did a good job finding kitsch connected to Eglantyne”s life work, but didn’t update the last paragraph to reflect the loss of Phocas to Richard Hooker.
I’m from the City of Roses and I shall have to see if there are any Eglantyne roses in the International arose Test Garden, but though the rose and the actual presence of kitsch lures me to vote for Eglantyne, I’ve decided to vote for Anna, who worked also to save children despite starting from a position that lacked Eglantyne’s social-economical status and white privilege.
That’s International Rose Test Garden dear auto-co-wreck . . . sigh.
Wanted more info on Anna, so found http://deaconessalexander.georgiaepiscopal.org/?page_id=42
It is too easy to forget the odds against educating Afr. Amer., but movie “12 Years a Slave” is a vivid reminder; in other words, St. Anna Alexander for the Gold!
Thanks for the link; it helped me to vote for Anna. Plus sweet tea and “These students were here to learn to read, write, and love the Lord.”
Anna it is. Oh and by the way, Thistle Farms Rose Geranium is a fabulous and effective repellent, plus it is produced in nearby TN…Love Heals!
Right on Thistle Farms!
Save the Buttons!
Are buttons endangered?
Both are great candidates, but as a deacon I am voting for my fellow Deaconess, Anna Alexander.
Anna is one of the two new (to me) saints from this years LM that I hope to carry with me once we’ve completed our Lenten journeys this year. I went back and watched the video about her from the 1st round. An amazing story and well worth your time to watch-no matter who you vote for! Pour yourself a tall glass of sweet tea (and, if your lucky, BBQ from Southern Soul on St Simons Island) and celebrate the life and ministry of Anna Alexander. If it comes down to Anna and Maria for the Golden Halo it will be a very difficult choice!
This one was a tough choice but decided to go with my fellow American, Anna. I am a second generation on both sides, one of them British, but I had to remain faithful to the Revolution.
Eglantyne Jebb for me.
Too much Ado about Georgia (which I love anyway) and not enough about Anna, who i love and who gets my vote for actually having less kitsch about her than Eglantyne, who was also amazing. Go figure.
Bawled peanuts (the correct pronunciation) . . . it’s an acquired taste that I am sure I will never manage to acquire. Stick with the sweet tea (one glass of which could rot out a headfull of teeth).
The coin today said Eglantyne.
I’m with you on those peanuts, Victoria. What a strange food. If they like them so much they are welcome to them. However, here in PA, fighting a great and terrible battle against a thorny horror called ‘multi flora rose’ and finding that while Eglantyne is not the same beast it has equally nasty habits in Australia and South Africa, I’m deserting Ms Jeb on account of her name. How’s that for justified voting? 🙂
Beats voting for the underdog.
Here in Jersey we have multi-flora roses too- love them! You must have different ones.
Anna. A black woman deacon in the south teaching and healing. I didn’t need bawled peanuts or rot-teeth tea to convince me. I consider a vote for her a crucifix in the face of all the blood-sucking swarms of mosquiteaux, er, misskeeters, no, mosquitoes.
At 10:15 there was a vote button. I voted for Eglantyne.
I voted for Anna today, but the ministries she began in her corner of Georgia seem to be doing well, while in the meantime children worldwide are still suffering from hunger and was and oppression and displacement. So I’m thinking that while Anna gets my vote, maybe I should go to savethechildren.org and donate to help some children in great need today. Anyone care to join me?
I am with you.
I’d consider it if it meant no more of the commercials.
The vote is a toss up for me. However, we all need to support Save the Children with generous donations, blessings, and prayers.
Voted for Eglantyne after reading a bit about the play.
Also, the tea towel.
And I hope Anna gets to be a “capital-S” saint.
Anna for the win! Approved by the Presiding Bishop no less
I love the Eglantyne Rose. I am a gardner. I was a foundling child. I have children. I voted for Eglantyne.
This was a hard choice, but I voted for Anna, who simply touches my heart.
Chiggers! I would endure chiggars to have met Anna Alexander.
I misspelled chiggers the second time I wrote it. Sorry. Best remedy for chiggers I know is a baking soda bath; second best, clear nail polish on each one. Have a blessed Holy Week, y’all.
It would be great! to have a Georgia girl win the crown.
Anna appears to be very humble in her work. I am always suspicious of the trend of getting “famous people” to flog one’s work.
Is it because of the new gaiety? A Deaconess showing brotherly love doesn’t push any buttons for me.
new gaiety?
Eh?
I voted for Eglantyne but, right now, Anna is in the lead and I don’t feel bad about it. It’s a tough matchup!
If Bishop Curry gives her the thumbs up, how can I vote against her?
I vote again for Anna.
“The world is not ungenerous, but unimaginative and very busy.” A profound subject for a Lenten meditation. I went AWOL from Team Anna to vote for Eglantyne.
I see my autocorrect feature has learned to suggest “Eglantyne” after only three key-strokes.
Deeply swayed by my love of peaches (Episcopalian James Fenimore Cooper of “Last of the Mohicans” fame wrote that the peach was so superior in taste to every other fruit it must have been the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden), I was tempted Anna. However, with Save the Children so embroiled in controversy I was compelled to go with Eglantine. In any case, both saints aa
And I believe Mark Twain said the forbidden fruit had to have been a watermelon.
I lived for many years on St. Simons Island. Brunswick, Darian, and Pembroke were all a part of my stomping grounds. Yet, I never heard of Anna Alexander until Lent Madness introduced her. Thanks to those who provided videos and articles. On my next visit to St. Simons, I hope to visit Anna’s school and grave. She was truly a remarkable woman who now resides with the saints in Paradise. She has my respect and my vote.
Loved the Eglantyne rose and would love to have that tea towel but Anna has my vote for her strength, courage and the ability to see Christ in every young person at a time when few did.
Another tough contest today…
I voted for Anna Alexander because I admire her grit and determination in fulfilling her mission. When anger and indignation would have been my default, her response was always to show kindness and love; and to dig in a a little deeper to achieve her goals. Her social status in the deep South, given the times she lived there and the circumstances she faced, make the success of her ministry seem nothing short of miraculous! Besides, I have a real affinity ti the Good Shepherd. That’s the name of my church, too!
I voted for Anna. But I want one of those tote bags with the bulldog in an ugly Christmas sweater. 🙂