The Supreme Executive Committee of Lent Madness wishes everyone a most blessed season of Nominationtide! For the next week, we will accept saintly nominations for Lent Madness 2019. This holy season will run from Monday, April 23, at 8:00 am Eastern Time and conclude on Monday, April 30 at 8:00 am.
As we highlighted in a recent post, there are several Pharisaic rules and regulations in place to successfully nominate a saint. For easy reference, we are reprinting them here:
- The nominee must, in fact, be dead.
- The nominee must be on the official calendar of saintly commemorations of some church.
- We will accept only one nominee per person.*
- You must tell us WHY you are nominating the one person that you enter.*
- Your deceased pet, as wonderful as she or he may have been, is not eligible.
- The ONLY way to nominate a saint will be to leave a comment on this post.
- That means comments left on Facebook or Twitter don’t count.
- Scott and Tim may or may not be open to bribes.
* This is a new guideline as the SEC has received huge lists from individuals in the past.
Based on long-standing and byzantine criteria, certain saints are ineligible. See below to insure you don’t waste your precious nomination. Oh, and Jesus and Mary are never eligible. Obviously.
The Saints of Lent Madness 2018 (all ineligible)
Peter
Paul
Phoebe
John the Evangelist
Esther
Lazarus
Anna the Prophet
Michael the Archangel
John of Beverley
Martin de Porres
Dymphna
Gertrude of Nivelles
Thomas à Kempis
Maria Skobtsova
Genesius
Quiteria
Peter Claver
John Wesley
Edith Cavell
Eglantyne Jebb
Seraphim of Sarov
Isaac Watts
Catherine Winkworth
Isidore the Farmer
Phocas the Gardener
Wulfstan
Katharina von Bora
Mary of Egypt
Richard Hooker
Margaret of Scotland
Charles I
Past Golden Halo Winners (ineligible)
George Herbert, C.S. Lewis, Mary Magdalene, Frances Perkins, Charles Wesley, Francis of Assisi, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Florence Nightingale, Anna Alexander
From 2015 to 2017 (ineligible)
Stephen
Franz Jagerstatter
Amelia Bloomer
Augustine of Canterbury
Mechtild
Raymond Nonnatus
Martin Luther
Constance
Julian of Norwich
Sojourner Truth
Molly Brant
Egeria
Brigid
Vida Scudder
Albert Schweitzer
Absalom Jones
Columba
As you contemplate your nomination, you may want to take a moment to visit the Lentorium and order your Anna 
Alexander 2018 Golden Halo winner mug or purple Lent Madness travel mug. Both mugs are new, and they’ll be shipping out very soon.
And remember, nominations are now like voting: just one per person. Let the Nominations for Lent Madness 2019 start rolling in!
Jacob Riis, author of “How the Other Half Lives,” led to a revolution in social reform. Newly honored with a place in “The Great Cloud of Witnesses.”
I would like to nominate Saint Marianne Cope, because of her selfless and heroic work with the lepers in Molokai.
I would like to nominate Saint Nicholas. I think it would be good for people to learn about the real Saint Nicholas and what he did to help poor girls avoid a life of probable prostitution and definite poverty. Plus, he punched out Arius at the Council of Nicaea. How cool is that?
I would like to nominate Roswitha/Hroswitha, a 10th century German nun who wrote plays about saintly people, usually ones who died for their faith. Her works may have been the only dramas written in Europe between the fifth century and the fifteenth!
Oops! Didn’t mean this as a reply!
Me, too! He is also the patron saint of the traveler, something I do a lot of.
Second St. Nicholas! Everyone has heard of him, but few know much about him. Perfect opportunity to learn during Lent Madness!
yes yes yes
I would like to nominate St. Laura, abbess and martyr.( Feast day October 19) A lot of people may not know there is a St. Laura–would be a good teaching saint, plus I have some kitsch, but would love to find more!
Yes, I hope Saint Nicholas will be on the list. A worthy candidate.
I nominate William Wilberforce. He devoted his life to the abolition of slavery until his death. This is a man who could have lived a posh life. Yet he chose to serve those who did not have a voice, ever sinful of the needs of others. Truly living with a servant heart, one of my favorite quotes, (taken from the British Abolitionists Page):
“‘Thank God’, said Wilberforce, ‘that I have lived to witness a day in which England is willing to give twenty millions sterling for the Abolition of Slavery’. Three days later, on 29 July 1833, he died. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.”
oooops! ever mindful ~<
Great recommendation! Hope he’s on an “official calendar of saintly commemorations of some church” somewhere. If he’s not, he should be.
As required by the SEC, St. William has an official feast day. William Wilberforce’s feast day is July 30. He is listed in the Episcopal Calendar, “Holy Women, Holy Men” (2010), p. 495.
Just sayin’.
yes, I nominated him, too.
I would like to nominate John Paul XXIII. He bought a the fact that all churches should work together not against each other, a type of dialogue that never happened before.
I think you mean Pope John XXIII.
I nominate him too. He opened the windows of the church and allowed the Holy Spirit to blow through. And he was a very happy person.
Or St. Pope John Paul II?
St. Alexis (the Roman one, not the Russian ond). Great a d rather funny story. He ran off on his wedding night in order to remain a virgin and returned years later to live the rest of his life unrecognized under the stairs in his parent’s house. Patron of the poor, pilgrims, peoplr looking for a home, and pur little Episcopal church in Jackson, MS.
I nominate Martin Luther King, Jr., who was powerfully Christ-like in his astonishingly non-violent, loving method for protesting racism and bigotry. He fought hatred without hatred – how cool is THAT?
I agree! Martin Luther King. He is as close to a prophet in my life time that I will probably ever experience.
I nominate Mother Katherine Drexel. Drexel came from a privileged background, but one of pious support for those in need. Her heart for the Black and Indian populations provided a sturdy foundation for their betterment at a come when the was much disregard for their well-being. What a role-model!
I nominate Mother Theressa. Her work in India speaks for itself. Besides, Billy Graham is not eligible due to your rule #2. (Unless these rules were made to be broken
I heartily second Mother Teresa of Calcutta, someone truly deserving of the jGolden Halo. She definitely has been one of the most inspirational religious figures of my lifetime. There are so many quotations attributed to her that touch me. For me the most memorable was, when someone asked why she spent time helping those who were beyond hope, and she said that “though they lived like animals, they could die like angels.”
I nominate Florence Li-Tim Oi, a previous Golden Halo contender, who embodies the gifts of the spirit and deserves a comeback.
second
St. Teresa Margaret (Anna Maria Redi) of the Sacred Heart because unlike so many of the louder saints, she was a mystical introvert. “Her short life and vocation were spent in contemplative union with God as she ever meditated on her favourite phrase, “God is love.”” https://catholicsaints.info/saint-teresa-margaret-redi/
I would like to nominate Zita of Lucca. Her feast day is April 27 and on that day they parade her mummified body through Lucca. She worked as a housekeeper for a wealthy family. She is remembered for her extreme generosity and for an encounter with an an angel on Christmas Eve.
I would like to nominate the Irish medieval female saint Gobnait. She is fascinating, not only as an abbess and leader of the faithful but for her connection with bees, as a keeper and the patron saint of beekeepers. Bees need all the help they can get these days and highlighting Gobnait’s life is both spiritually and environmentally sound right now.
I second this nomination, Gobnait’s connection to bees and her faithful life recommend her as a Golden Halo contender.
Yes, I third this! I’ve recently learned about her because of the novel In Praise of the Bees. Great read, btw.
Fourth! St. Gobnait was also said to have cured one of her sick nuns by using honey and she is credited with saving the people at Ballyvourney from the plague. She is also known for driving off invaders with her superhero bees! She was also a patron saint of iron workers. I first learned about her some years ago from a priest at a Celtic service.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/outdoors/gardening/st-gobnait–the-patron-saint-of-bees-andbeekeeping-381607.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gobnait
I would like to nominate Pauli Murray. Honored on July 1 on the Episcopal Calendar, Murray lead an amazing life, as detailed in the 2017 biography Jane Crow: the Life of Pauli Murray by Rosalind Rosenberg. Among her accomplishments, she was the first black woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest, the first black to receive a law degree from Yale, and a co-founder of the National Organization of Women (NOW). She was influential on Thurgood Marshall and Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Second.
Third!
Fourth. Her autobiography is amazing. (Also, she was the first woman to serve on the vestry of her church, because vestries didn’t have women on them.)
Fifth!
I’d like to nominate St Vincent of Saragossa, patron saint of acolytes, as an encouragement to the youngest members of our ministry teams.
Also, he’s not very ‘right on’.
I would like to nominate St. James the Greater. We conducted a Lenten series entitled: Saints, Myth, Magic, Mortal, and St. James really fits that bill. Everything from being the first apostle martyred to his journey to Spain and the many myths surrounding this mortal “son of thunder” makes for a wonderful candidate.
I would vote st James cos I’m walking to Santiago de Compostella later.this year.
Definitely “third” St. James the Greater’s nomination. He bravely traveled to an unknown land to preach the Good News and then returned to Jerusalem. We can only imagine how this “son of thunder” fearlessly challenged the ruthless Herod, probably knowing that his preaching would result one day in a martyr’s death!
I nominate St Sebastian. He has feast days in Roman and Greek churches ( Jan 20 and Dec 18). He was martyred twice, and his cranium got moved around and used for communion, both of which make for interesting Lent Madness reading! He is also the patron saint of athletes, which ties him to the March Madness namesake of Lent Madness. Now that I write this, it might not be fair to have Sebastian in the competition because he would have an unfair advantage!
I would like to nominate St. Hildegard, also called Hildegard of Bingen or Hildegard von Bingen. She was born in 1098 and died on September 17, 1179.She was canonized on May 10, 2012. Her feast day September 17. She was a German abbess, a visionary mystic, and composer.
Second!!!
I third Hildegard of Bingen
I nominate Saint Photini. She is recognized by the Orthodox Church. She was the woman Yeshua met at the well. She was the first person to whom Yeshua revealed himself as the Messiah.
Second! Although I know her as “Photina” She, her son and sisters were martyred by Nero for being Christians (and converting his daughter, Domnina!). The son and sisters were beheaded, but Photina, a few weeks later, was thrown into a well where she “joyously gave her soul to the Lord”.
I nominate Blessed Jonathan Myrick Daniels. On August 20, 1965, in the small Black Belt town of Hayneville AL, this white Episcopal seminarian from New Hampshire jumped in front of a shotgun wielded by Tom Coleman to take the blast meant for a 17-yr-old African American girl, Ruby Sales. He fell, mortally wounded, on the steps of the Cash Store. His martyrdom had an enormous impact on the consciousness of whites in AL, particularly on Episcopalians. In no small part because of Blessed Jonathan, AL has moved, however slowly, from blatant racism towards a more equitable and just society. For many years now, thousands of Alabamians gather for an annual pilgrimage held in Hayneville, in August, to remember the life of Blessed Jonathan and to reaffirm the ideas for which he died.
Strongly second. Very long overdue for LM.
I ‘third’ that nomination!
I would like to nominate Marianne Cope of Molokai. Marianne Cope OSF, also known as Saint Marianne of Molokaʻi, (January 23, 1838 – August 9, 1918) was a German-born American religious sister who was a member of the Sisters of St Francis of Syracuse, New York, and administrator of its St. Joseph’s Hospital in the city. Known also for her charitable works, in 1883 she relocated with six other sisters to Hawaiʻi to care for persons suffering Hansen’s Disease on the island of Molokaʻi and aid in developing the medical infrastructure in Hawaiʻi. Despite direct contact with the patients over many years, Cope did not contract the disease. In 2005, Cope was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI. Cope was declared a saint by the same pope on October 21, 2012, along with Kateri Tekakwitha, a 17th-century Native American. Cope is the 11th person in what is now the United States to be canonized by the Catholic Church.
I nominate Pauli Murray
…. This was Murray’s lifelong fate: to be both ahead of her time and behind the scenes. Two decades before the civil-rights movement of the nineteen-sixties, Murray was arrested for refusing to move to the back of a bus in Richmond, Virginia; organized sit-ins that successfully desegregated restaurants in Washington, D.C.; and, anticipating the Freedom Summer, urged her Howard classmates to head south to fight for civil rights and wondered how to “attract young white graduates of the great universities to come down and join with us.” And, four decades before another legal scholar, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, coined the term “intersectionality,” Murray insisted on the indivisibility of her identity and experience as an African-American, a worker, and a woman.
Despite all this, Murray’s name is not well known today, especially among white Americans. The past few years, however, have seen a burst of interest in her life and work. She’s been sainted by the Episcopal Church, had a residential college named after her at Yale, where she was the first African-American to earn a doctorate of jurisprudence, and had her childhood home designated a National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior. Last year, Patricia Bell-Scott published “The Firebrand and the First Lady” (Knopf), an account of Murray’s relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt, and next month sees the publication of “Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray” (Oxford), by the Barnard historian Rosalind Rosenberg………
Second.
So excited to see multiple nominations for Pauli Murray! She broadened my understanding of feminism as a young woman, including how the Christian faith connects to social justice.
I nominate Saint Spyridon. He is the Wonderworker and Bishop of Tremithus. His feast days are:
East: December 12, Cheesefare Saturday
West: December 14
He did many wonderful miracles, however, I nominate him as I believe he has interceded on my behalf with our Lord and Savior. I ask him to help my son in the military for peace and a return to the faith. I ask him to beseech the Lord for his safety and to return whole in body, mind, spirit. My son is in Afganistan.
My son has had shall we say some issues and I strongly feel the Lord has protected him and I feel St Spyridon has helped.
I nominate Father Theodore Hesburgh:
Hesburgh, one of the country’s “most respected clergyman,was a strong supporter of interfaith dialogue. From his position within the American political establishment and as a major figure in the Catholic Church from the 1950s to the 1990s, he used his influence to urge support of political policies and legislation to help solve national problems.As a fifteen-year member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, Hesburgh took a public stand against racism and prejudice. He used his skills as a leader to forge strong alliances, even with those who held different political philosophies. For Hesburgh, civil rights were a moral issue, as he once declared:
“Our moral blindness has given us a divided America and ugly America complete with black ghettos. …We allow children to grow up in city jungles, to attend disgraceful schools, to be surrounded with every kind of physical and moral ugliness, and then we are surprised if they are low in aspiration and accomplishment.”
Second
I would like to nominate Pandita Ramabai, the tireless reformer for women’s rights in India. A scholar and a poet, she fought all her life for the education of women, for freedom from child marriage and oppression of widows, and for better living conditions and access to medical care for her sisters.
Beyond her work in India, she traveled the world lecturing on the need for female education. In an address to Lord Ripon’s Education Commission, she declared with fervor, “In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the educated men of this country are opposed to female education and the proper position of women. If they observe the slightest fault, they magnify the grain of mustard-seed into a mountain, and try to ruin the character of a woman.” How little some things have changed!
She is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on 5 April…and yet many of us have never heard her story. I hope this year, that can finally change!
St. Bernadette (of Lourdes).
She would provide fascinating conversation about the role of “things” in the spiritual life: are all those “tacky” souvenirs sold by the truckload in Lourdes really awful, tawdry, and unworthy, as so many would have it, or are they sincere mementos of a genuine spiritual experience, expressions of hope for a sick loved one or oneself? how much weight should we give to the esthetics of sacramentals and other objects of piety– are only “pretty” and “sophisticated” items worthy? are people of more refined taste (and bigger budgets) the only ones allowed to own physical objects that express their faith?
St.Bernadette’s story would also open a conversation about the role of the Blessed Virgin in the Anglican Communion and how that role both compares and contrasts to the traditions and theology of Roman Catholics (cf. the Anglican/Roman “Seattle Statement” of 2004, “Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ”, fruit of a commission co-chaired by Frank Griswold). In fact, a conversation about the various dispositions vis-a-vis the BVM on the part of “Catholic” and “Protestant” Episcopalians would be worth having.
Lourdes asks challenging questions about the relation, both contemporary and historical, between religion and science.
St.Bernadette, as the first saint to be photographed and whose cult was propagated by way of various modern technologies (not only photography but also the railroad, the postcard, and mass-produced objects), provides excellent fodder for conversations about the role of technology in our spiritual lives and about pilgrimages both ancient and modern and indeed about saints both ancient and modern (surely a hot topic for Lent Madness).
She is also a saint largely known by way of film (cf. The Song of Bernadette, dir, Henry King, 1943, nominee for Best Picture) — a first for Lent Madness? Jennifer Jones’s Oscar-winning performance as St. Bernadette inspired countless women, mostly but not exclusively, Catholic women, to name their daughters “Bernadette.”
In closing, two words: unparalleled kitsch.
I nominate George Herbert, priest and poet. He is commemorated on February 27th in the Episcopal Church. His poetry and the honesty of the spiritual struggles he describes have often moved me to tears. He reminds me that no effort to glorify God is too small.
Since he already won the Golden Halo, he is ineligible. Please, everyone, check the lists of ineligible saints before you use your one nomination!
I think Hildegard of Bingen for her work at a time women in the Church were often seen, but not heard. She was a German abbess and mystic. Her visions are inspiring others to this day.
I wish to nominate Absolom Jones. Born a slave on a plantation in what is today the State of Delaware around 1746 his owner, recognizing that Absolom was intelligent, ordered that he be given instruction in reading. Absolom quickly learned and soon had several books, including the Bible, to read. He was allowed to marry and was eventually able to purchase his freedom after first obtaining his wife’s freedom from slavery. Together with Richard Allen they founded the Free African Society. Absolom Jones was ordained a Deacon in 1795 by Bishop William White, and a priest in 1802. He was an earnest preacher, and an outspoken opponent of slavery, but was best known for his constant visiting and mild manner. Known as the Black Bishop of Delaware, he is that State’s only Saint. Jones was an example of persistent faith in God and the Church as God’s instrument. He died in 1818
I would like to nominate Mr. Rogers, that is Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood fame. I have always believed in this man’s saintly qualities, and then recently saw a documentary called Mr. Rogers and Me. It was so inspiring. This man believed that everyone had good qualities and was worthwhile. He lived that belief everyday. If you have never watched the video of him saving public television, watch it. The man he addresses visibly changes and softens as Mr. Rogers speaks. In these days of intolerance and hate experienced almost without ceasing, Fred Rogers is the kind of saint we need.
I second Kathy’s nomination of Fred Rogers heartily. I cannot find him on any list, so I imagine I am breaking a nomination tide rule… but that is just like me. Few have personified the “Love your neighbor” commandment more effectively or more widely than Fred Rogers. This wonderful article in the Atlantic sums it all up more succinctly and completely than I can. I offer this quote “Using puppets rather than a pulpit, he preached a message of inherent worth and unconditional lovability to young viewers, encouraging them to express their emotions with honesty. The effects were darn near supernatural.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/mister-rogers-saint/416838/
I agree with Kathy. He is the kind of Saint we need.
Could not agree more! Fred Rogers is wonderful.
I nominate Jackie Robinson who in broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947. Robinson was a pioneer for people of color and was breaking racial barriers an entire decade before the Dr. King’s civil rights movement.
Jackie Robinson is celebrated on April 15 throughout the Church of Baseball which is far closer to having a date on a church’s calendar than Fred Rogers.
“I’ve tried ’em all [religions], I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball.” – Annie Savoy, Bull Durham
Agree wholeheartedly!! Surely some church somewhere has had the good sense to commemorate this lovely, saintly man who helped so many children of all ages in his life.
Second it!!
I concur. I knew Fred Rogers when I was a small child living in Pittsburgh. He was as sweet and gentle in real life as he was on TV.
I ask the Supreme Executive Committee in their bountiful wisdom and mercy to please consider John Kline for Lent Madness. Kline was a Brethren elder and martyr who was outspoken against slavery and the civil war, and refused to let the boundaries between the union and confederacy get in the way of his dual vocation as a minister of the gospel and Doctor to those in need. He was murdered my his own neighbors, who believe him to be a union spy. His witness is needed now more than ever. It would require the Supreme Executive Committee to in their mercy make an exception, as being Anabaptists Brethren do not included saints on our liturgical calendar, but if we did John Kline would definitely be on it. There is a memorial at the site of his martyrdom, and his homestead has been preserved and is open to visitors.
I nominate the Dorchester Chaplains.
http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/dorchester_chaplains.htm
Remembered on Feb 3 not only in TEC, but at St Laika’s online worshipping community.
These four chaplains representing four faiths embodied laying down one’s life for others. ‘Nuf said in this Nominationtide.
The Rev. Hiram Hisanori Kano – Feast day October 24
Episcopal priest, “Saint of Nebraska and Colorado, an agricultural missionary who was imprisoned during the United States internment of WWII in part because of his personal influence with the Japanese Americans as both a minister and a teacher of agriculture.
To honor St. Hiram, and during this time, least we forget and dishonor those who grow and harvest the food we eat.
Read the Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori’s sermon of July 29, 2012
https://www.episcopalchurch.org/posts/jeffertsschori/hiram-hisanori-kano-episcopal-church-our-savior
I would like to nominate Jonathan Myrick Daniels, who is honored on
August 14 of the Episcopal Calender as a Seminarian and Witness for
Civil Rights. He went into an extremely dangerous situation in Alabama
in 1965 and bravely spared a young black woman’s life and was martyred
in the attempt. Given the current resurgence of racism in our country,
Daniels is a saint for our times.
Very strongly second.
Very strongly seconded, as well.
I nominate St. Bruno of Cologne, founder of the Carthusian Order. He was an excellent teacher and advised one of his former pupils, Pope Urban II. He again and again turned down honors and the opportunity to become a bishop, preferring to do his work quietly without much attention paid to him. When he died, the Carthusians of Calabria sent a scroll bearer throughout the countryside, announcing his death and inviting the churches and communities to write on the scroll their promises of prayer and their memories and opinions of Bruno. This was a common practice of the Middle Ages, but few even approached the accolades Bruno received. They praised his intelligence and his teaching ability, but foremost they mentioned his prayerfulness and devotion to the Blessed Virgin. He was the patron saint of Calabria, where he went into monastic life and built the monastery of St. Stephen (another of my favorite saints).
While his many friends and admirers were powerfully involved in the politics of the time, Bruno preferred to remain in the background, dutifully observant and a thoughtful theologian. His feast day is October 6th. Lots of drama in his life should give ample material to whichever blogger is assigned to write about him.
I nominate The Rev Suzanne Radley Hiatt, one of the Philadelphia Eleven. “Sue Hiatt has been credited for leading the movement for the ordination of women to the priesthood. Over the years, she was given various informal titles: ‘Our mother, our grandmother, our foremother, and saint’. She’s been referred to as a salty and at times ornery saint, an ‘agent provocateur,’ the bishop and shepherd and prophet and messenger to the women. The ordinations in 1974 would not have happened without her.” (The Story of the Philadelphia Eleven by Darlene O’Dell) Sue died May 30 2002. Every woman who has been ordained to priesthood, as well as the world-wide Anglican Communion, needs to know her story.
I nominate St John Nepomucene (Nepomuk)
He’s the Saint of Bohemia and more importantly, the Saint of the church of my childhood. He could keep a secret as he wouldn’t divulge the secrets of the confessional and thus was drowned in the Vitava River. He’s a martyr and protector from floods and drowning.
Esther. She deserves it and was robbed this year. Please advise as to the type/kind of bribes acceptable to make this happen.
Can we throw out rule #2 so that I can nominate one of the Fred’s – Fred Craddock and Fred Rogers. Especially since Egeria is ineligible.
I nominate St. Oscar Romero. Even though he knew he was on the Salvadoran government’s hit list, that did not deter him for speaking out to end the violence being done to the population in the civil war. His legacy continues as a sign of hope in El Salvador and throughout the world where there is still much violence.
I second the nomination!
Saint Guinefort! I believe this is a saint whose time has come. Who better to fetch the Golden Halo than a VERY GOOD BOY?
Seconded!!
third
Woof! (fourth)
I nominate St Patrick.
He never gets a fair shake. His feast day is for partying and shenanigans, in most places, not realizing that he “ drove the snakes out of Ireland!” He was not Irish at all….Italian if memory serves me correctly. March 17th in Ireland is a RELIGIOUS holiday to honor their dear saint.
I agree with that. I’m not even Catholic or Christian and I hate the modern/secular treatment of St. Patrick.
I nominate Jesse Bushyhead
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Bushyhead
I read much about European/American missionaries who worked with the Native Americans, and I read almost nothing about the Native American Christians. When I went looking, his was the name that came up.
I would like to nominate Anne Frank. She continues to be an inspiration especially to young people. Her courage and faith at a time when all hope seemed lost serves as an excellent reminder to us all.
Mother Theresa
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Edward the Martyr
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Thomas Merton
One name only!
I nominate Verna J. Dozier. She was a biblical scholar, leader of Bible study seminars, church consultant, lay preacher and author of several books. Her personal favorite was “The dream of God” which Presiding Bishop Michael Curry ordered hundreds of copies to use as the basic study guide about mission. She was a leader in advocating lay ministry starting after 32 years as a educator in the D.C. public school system. Verna has been honored with a stain-glass window in St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill paid for by people from around the world who had heard her lecture.
She was amazing. However, please check to make sure nominees are listen in the official calendar of commemorations of at least one church (Episcopal, Lutheran, Catholic, whatever). I do not believe she’s on the Episcopal calendar (yet).
She ought to be–love her love her love.
I would second her if she was eligible.
I would like to nominate Gregory of Nyssa, one of the fourth century “Cappadocian Fathers” (which also including his brother St. Basil). Gregory rigorously studied Biblical scripture and brought spiritual insight and humanity to a growing church. His was the first Christian prophetic voice raised unequivocally against the institution of slavery in his fourth homily on Ecclesiates. His book, “The Life of Moses” and other writings have inspired and shaped the Christian contemplative tradition for 16 centuries, from St. Augustine to St Francis to Thomas Merton. In Gregory are combined the moral courage of the Hebrew prophets, the philosophical insight of Greek civilization, the humble faith of the mystic, and the compassion of Jesus.
Second! He is also generally considered the first to expound the Christian View of mystical theology.
Constance and her companions. These Anglucan nuns bravely fought and died from yellow fever at Memphis Tennessee during the last yrlliw fever epidemic in the 19th century. In TEC they are known as the Martyrs of Memphis. They embody the spirit of Matthew 25. They served and gave their lives for others. Constance should get the halo on behalf of all.
I nominate Saint Fabian, He was pope from 236-250, a man of the people, he was nominated and confirmed when a dove landed on his head! He died a martyr under Emperor Decius.
I would like to nominate Takayama Ukon, an early Catholic in Japan who was beatified last year.
Takayama Ukon was born in 1552 in Japan during the time when Jesuit missionaries were introducing Christianity to the country. By the time Takayama was 12, his father had converted to Catholicism and had his son baptized as “Justo” by the Jesuit Father Gaspare di Lella.
Takayama’s position in Japanese society as daimyo (a feudal lord) allowed him many benefits, such as owning and ruling areas of land, and the ability to raise a large army. As a Catholic, Takayama used his power to support and protect missionary expansion within Japan, influencing the conversion of thousands of Japanese, even though it did prove to be short-lived. Under the Shogunate of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, starting in 1587, persecution began. Many newly-converted Catholics abandoned their beliefs. By the 1620s, most of the missionaries had either been driven out of the country or into underground ministry. The era was brought to life vividly in the recent movie “Silence” by director Martin Scorsese. The film is based on a novel by the Japanese author Shusaku Endo, and many of events and people depicted in “Silence” are real.
So what happened to Ukon? Instead of denying their faith, Takayama and his father left their prestigious position in society and chose a life of poverty and exile. Although many of his friends tried to persuade Takayama to deny Catholicism, he remained strong in his beliefs. By 1614, Christianity in Japan was completely banned. This forced Takayama to leave Japan with 300 other Catholics, who fled to the Philippines, but not long after his arrival, Takayama died on February 3, 1615.
Fast-forward to January 22, 2016: Takayama’s cause for advancement in the canonization process was further promoted when Pope Francis approved his decree of martyrdom. “Since Takayama died in exile because of the weaknesses caused by the maltreatments he suffered in his homeland, the process for beatification is that of a martyr. Takayama’s life exemplifies the Christian example of a great fidelity to the Christian vocation, persevering despite all difficulties,” Father Anton Witwer, a general postulator of the Society of Jesus, told CNA in 2014.
“As a Christian, as a leader, as a cultural person, as a pioneer of adaptation, Ukon is a role model and there are many things we can learn from him,” Father Renzo De Luca, and Argentinian Jesuit and the director of the 26 Martyrs Museum in Nagasaki, told Vatican Radio.
note: this description is largely adapted from https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/02/08/samurai-martyr-beatified-japan/ …
Jonathan Myrick Daniels (March 20, 1939 – August 20, 1965) was an Episcopal seminarian and civil rights activist. In 1965, he was assassinated by a shotgun-wielding construction worker, Tom Coleman, who was a special county deputy, in Hayneville, Alabama, while in the act of shielding 17-year-old Ruby Sales.[1] He saved the life of the young black civil rights activist. They both were working in the Civil Rights Movement in Lowndes County to integrate public places and register black voters after passage of the Voting Rights Act that summer. Daniels’ death generated further support for the Civil Rights Movement. (Excerpt from Wikipedia article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Daniels
Simona Weil
She is pictured as one of the Dancing Saints at St. Gregory of Nyssa in San Francisco.
I believe that Johnathan Daniels an official Episcopal Saint and civil rights defender/martyr is an inspiration for An Episcopal Christian response to our current struggles with racial inequality… see previous bio summary, courtesy of Wikipedia and full bio link shown below.
I nominate San Romero, martyred archbishop. Oscar Romero’s life and death represent the struggle for human rights.
Deaconess Harriet Bedell. She ministered to the Native Americans in Florida and was much loved and respected by them. You will find her in LLFF.
I want to nominate ST. ROSE PHILIPPINE DUCHESNE . She is known by her name Philippine. She was a rscj (Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) she was a frontier missionary and educator. Her feast is in November. Schools that she founded are still educating young folks throughout the USA. (right here in the STL area we have The Academy of the Sacred Heart, Villa Duchesne, Maryville University) Her mentor is also a saint: St. Madeleine Sophie Barat who started the religious order rscj. Both women are filled with compassion, devotion, humility and God. But I commend Philippine to you, she is my “friend”. Sophie’s bicentennial is this year 2018. I know this is a mess of nomination but Please overlook my clumsy and verbose style and consider my nomination.
I’m nominating St. Benedict Joseph Labre, (1748-83). French, eldest of 15, wanted to become a monk but rejected by all orders as too young, delicate. Lived a life of poverty & pilgrimage, walking to Rome and various shrines in Europe. Shared what people gave him with others. Rarely spoke, prayed alot and accepted the abuse he received. Fool-for-Christ. Toward the end of his life, lived in the ruins of the Col0sseum, died at 35, prob. of malnutrition.
I nominate Saint Thecla who was a first Century woman convert to Christianity. She was converted listening to The Apostle Paul preach and is said to have followed him in his missionary missions. Devotion to Thecla was big in the first four centuries and there are devotional grottos in Turkey and Rome. Thecla is found on the Roman schedule of Saints as well as the Orthodox.
St. Catherine of Siena. “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire!”
I second this! She is a “doctor of the church” – a high honor, especially for a woman. My Daughters of the King chapter is named after Catherine.
I third it! She did much to heal the Avignon-Rome scism, and did it while suffering from a likely case of Anorexia Religiosa (like Anorexia nervosa, but minus the fat phobia–as far as we know!)
I nominate Father Mychal Judge, the priest who was killed at the Twin Towers on September 11th as he sought to rescue and comfort others.
good one!
Yes.
YES. Thank you.
Martha of Bethany (Aramaic: מַרְתָּא Martâ) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to Jesus’ resurrection of her brother, Lazarus.
St. Martin of Tours, because his faith journey has mirrored my own.
It is said, that with his sword, he cut his cloak down the middle to share with an unclothed beggar.
Rev. Antoinette Brown Blackwell —first ordained woman in 1885. Congregational/UCC churches do not have a formal list of saints but we do give out the Antoinette Brown Blackwell award at General Synod for outstanding woman clergy. A side note, her sister Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman doctor.
Abba Moses the Ethiopian (circa 330-405). His story is one of the most amazing in the early Church. A very large, strong man, he was originally a slave who was kicked out of his masters household for bad conduct. He then became the leader of a marauding band of robbers. Until he met a gentle and compassionate and kind monk. And Moses was touched instantly. Perhaps this was the first time he had encountered kindness like this. He became one of the great spiritual leaders in Egypt and a man of remarkable wisdom, humility, and compassion who deeply loved God and others. He is an excellent role model for all of us.
I am nominating Gudmunder The Good, bishop of Iceland. He opposed the accumulation of new wealth of landed chieftains. He also preferred to share whatever revenues the church had with the poor and needy. Taken from the notation on him at The Saga Museum in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Good one!
Father Damien of Kalaupapa. He gave his life tocare for those banned to the Leper Colony.
Rev. Hugh Binning who died at 26. But accomplished the following: by 13 people in Scotland searched him out to discuss God and religious issues. By 14 he was in college. By 19 he was the chair of the University of Glasgow’s philosophy deapratment and A prifessir and diction of philosophy. By 20 he was a lawyer. By 21 he was ordained in the Church of Scotland. More than 40 of his sermons survive today. His style was to speak plainly in English so all could understand. He is in the Scottish preachers Hall of a Fame. He wrote more than a dozen books, including Christian Love. You can buy his books on Amazon and download his sermons. In the turbulent 1650s he met and confronted the dictator Oliver Cromwell, and outwitted Cromwell and his Puritan ministers face to face, confounding them with his grasp of theology. He was part of 5be clergy who stood up to Cromwell about religious freedom and the suspicions about Cromwell’s army. Cromwell said after meet Rev Binning, that he is ally’s named because w3 are all bound by his words after he speaks, while placing his hands on his sword. He died a5 26 of TB, leaving a widow and a son. He is listed as a Scottish Philosopher and Theologian, with many many thoughtful quotes and writings.
I would like to nominate St. Josaphat. He may be legendary, but he was quite a good fellow. In fact, he turns out to have been Gautama Buddha all along! Revered by Western and Eastern Christians as well as Buddhists, he is a very ecumenical saint, and besides, he’s got a kind of funny name.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barlaam_and_Josaphat
I would like to nominate St. Alldhelm of Malmesbury.
Aldhelm was the Abbot of Malmesbury who instituted Benedictine rule there and allowed the community to elect the Abbot themselves. He was a scholar recognized by (the Venerable) Bede and identified by Bede as “erudite”, which I commend as no small feat!
A recent book by author George Dempsey recounts the life and influence of this frequently overlooked saint of late antiquity. His writings influenced kings including his 101 riddles in Latin hexameters. A recent book by Anglo -Saxon scholar George Dempsey describes the influence of this relatively unknown saint in late antiquity and the concerns of the tim. Bede ir recognized by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican churches.
One of the things I love most about Lent Madness is learning about those lesser known saints of the church. Aldhelm qualifies!
I would like to nominate Roswitha/Hroswitha, a 10th century German nun who wrote plays about saintly people, usually ones who died for their faith. Her works may have been the only dramas written in Europe between the fifth century and the fifteenth!
Hildegard von Bingen. Her music positively makes my soul soar. I know, abbess, mystic, etc. But her MUSIC is truly divine.
Toyohiko Kagawa – A pacifist who believed in Christianity through actions, not words. He attempted to personally stop Japan and the US from fighting. Apologized for Japan’s occupation. He wrote over 100 books, was a pioneer in forestry and was nominated twice for Nobel prizes in literature and twice for peace.
I second this nomination! Kagawa was also a strong advocate for economic justice, a community activist and evangelist who lived among poor people, a labor organizer, a poet, a novelist, and a pioneering environmentalist through his work on land use and agricultural forestry— and he embedded all of his political, economic, literary, and scientific work in a deeply Trinitarian spirituality. A Japanese convert to Christianity, Kagawa modeled and taught a “lived Christianity” to millions of twentieth-century Christians throughout the world. Listed on the ELCA calendar of saints— and his commemoration day is today, April 23! I mean really, this is providential, isn’t it? Plus the guy loved trees. Who could ask for anything more?
I nominate Saint Frumentius, bishop, confessor and apostle to Ethiopia. He brought Christianity to the Axumite Kingdom and is the father of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. This remarkable saint, a Greek Christian from Tyre, was captured as a slave and served the royal family of Axum. He ended up converting the king and went to Alexandria to request missionaries. St. Athanasius saw he was the right man for the job and sent him back to Ethiopia as bishop. Frumentius is recognized by the Ethiopian Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Coptic churches.
I would like to nominate St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who was an Episcopalian before she became Roman Catholic and founded the Sisters of Charity. She established the first Catholic Girls School in the USA. She died in 1821 at the age of 46 and canonized on September 14, 1975.
St. Afta! From hooker to holy, and either burned or beheaded.
I’d like to nominate Corrie ten Boom, who has been honored by Israel as “Righteous Among the Nations.” While not an actual sainthood, the Righteous are honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in the United States on 16 July.
I’d also like to say that the list of folks generated here, whether or not they ever make it into Lent Madness, is a great source of names for future study groups.
Corrie ten Boom is a great choice!
I was considering her as well. Is that official, that the Righteous among the Nations qualify?
I don’t know. I went out on a limb because I found that they have their own Feast Day – but that’s for the whole group of Righteous. It will be up to the Honorable SEC to decide if any particular individual within the list of the Righteous are able to share bracket-space with the Blessed and Sainted.
What do you say, SEC?
I nominate Sarah Josephs Buell Hale, 1788-1879, prophetic Witness in the Episcopal church, feast day April 30, An early supporter for women’s rights, the mother of Thanksgiving.
I would like to nominate Nicodemus. He along with Joseph of Arimathea where the two brave men who asked for Jesus’ body after the crucifixion to prepare it for burial. This took courage on their part as ost would have feared being arrested.
Mother Teresa (Saint Teresa of Calcutta). She founded the Missionaries of Charity and professed the vow to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor.”
I nominate DAMIEN THE LEPER. He was the Belgian priest, missionary to Hawaii, who went to live in the leper colony on Molokai. He devoted his life to their pastoral care, greatly improving their living conditions. He contracted the disease himself, and died a leper. He is a real example of living the Gospel. He gave his life for these rejected and forgotten people.
Sr. Patricia Angela Jones, AF
Sophie Scholl, willingly martyred for resisting the Nazi regime. I think she may be in process for RC commemoration, and I found her commemorated by a calendar set forth on an ecumenical website, but was not able to confirm an official observance. Hoping! The Orthodox Church canonized one of her colleagues.
The White Rose Story is a moving
one. I would single out her brother Hans, as well.
I nominate St. Ansgar, or Anskar, 9th century 801-865–Apostle of the North. A Benedict monk, missionary, visionary, and in the end an Archbishop of Hamburg and Bremen, Ansgar initiated Christian missions to Denmark and Sweden, founded a monastery and schools, saw much of his work undone, but never lost his faith, or love of God. Brave, courageous, survivor of piratical and Viking attacks, fed by visionary experiences of Our Lady, and contemplation of the divine, he persisted. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/anskar.asp
His feast day is Feb.3rd.
Eric Liddell, the Olympic athlete (“Chariots of Fire”) and missionary to Japan is an amazing example of doing right instead of doing what is easy or expected. His fame is from his running, but his mission work, which included time in a prison camp, is inspiring. A truly dedicated and humble servant of the Lord.
Liddell was a missionary to CHINA, during the Japanese occupation of China. Although annexed by the Japanese, the Japanese never considered China a part of 日本国 (Nihon-koku) and neither should we. Obviously the Chinese also never considered their country a part of Japan either.
I nominate Christina the Astonishing, patron saint of people with mental illness.
Great choice! We tend to forget about her.
I nominate Bishop Charles Henry Brent: Bishop of the Diocese of Western New York, founder of St.Andrew’s Church in Buffalo NY, Missionary Bishop of the Philippines Chaplain to the American Expeditionary Forces,and for twenty years he worked for Christian Unity. He was fired by his Bishop for putting candles on the altar at St. Andrew’s. A truly wonderful human being.
Please consider St. Yared, who is recognized by the Ethiopian Church for creating their musical tradition, and composing service music that is still used in worship today. The Ethiopian Church of SS Mary and Gabriel worship in our space, and the music is is as transporting as their incense.
I nominate Billy Graham. He may not yet be on official lists of saints, but Lent Madness could be on the cutting edge of saint-defining by bending the rule a little here. 🙂 He humbly yet boldly proclaimed the good news of God to more people than anyone else in history – over 100 million. He lived with integrity as he stood before Presidents and Kings and called them to repentance and faith, and while navigating the choppy waters of our times.
Benedict of Nursia. “Listen with the ear of your heart.”
I nominate Angelo Roncalli, Pope John XXIII, canonized by the RC church in 2014 and whose Feast Day is celebrated on October 11, the date that was the first day of the first session of the Second Vatican Council.
I nominate this disciple of Christ because he responded faithfully to the voice of God and did something for the church universal that no one expected or thought possible. He was elected as pope after the long tenure of Pius XII and was chosen by the cardinals in part because they wanted someone who would be a caretaker until the next pope could be elected. They did not believe he would do anything during his pontificate and then he called the church into Council! He asked the bishops of the church to look at the “signs of the times” and reform the church to meet the needs of the Modern World. There are two documents on the church and the second one and later one, Gaudium et Spes does just that. This council emphasized the importance of Holy Scripture and collaboration with scholars of multiple traditions in translation, biblical scholarship, etc. has been the fruit. Ecumenical dialogue was encouraged by Roncalli and Roman Catholics began to enter with others into dialogue thus furthering a movement that had already begun. Continued dialogue has brought denominations closer to the point of some being able to repair divisions, for example most recently the Church of England’s and the Methodist Church’s reunification efforts. And then there is the liturgy. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sancrosanctum Concilium, SCL) was the first document published by the Second Vatican Council. That was possible because of the liturgical movement that took place in the 1940s among ecumenical scholars such as Anglican scholar Dom Gregory Dix, RC scholar Yves Congar (silenced by the RC church until called to serve at Vatican II), among many others. The conversations about the reform of the liturgy had preceded the council, but it was Pope John XXIII who moved those conversations forward. When the Curia wanted to take a conservative approach, Roncalli and others moved for a broader renewal of the liturgy so that liturgy would be the “summit toward which the activity of the church is directed; at the same time, it is the font from which all her power flows.” (SCL 10) The full, conscious, and active participation of the fathful in worship was to be the norm by reason of their baptism. (SCL 14) Work towards a common lectionary with other Christian churches would follow the Council and liturgy would get a second look by most demonibations with similar reforms taking place. Recent developments such as removing the filioque addition to the Nicene Creed to bring about reconciliation with our Orthodox sisters and brothers and end a Schism that has lasted close to a thousand years (though not fully realized), is the fruit of what was begun when Angelo Roncalli responded to God and began a work that went beyond what anyone at the time could have asked or imagined.
And, by the way, this council was the first in which women played a part and, though minor, had a place at the table. (Guests in Their Own House: The Women of Vatican II by Carmel McEnroy)
I nominate Angelo Roncalli, not because he was a Roman Catholic Pope, but because he was expected to do little and yet did much. He challenges us as Christians to regard the signs of the times to engage the world. He gives hope to those who do not believe that our small efforts can make a difference and he demonstrates that we are indeed called to follow Jesus when we hear his voice and we are to use our gifts in the ways that we are able. For in doing that, we open up the windows of our churches, as he did, to let in the breath of God.
I would like to nominate St Rita of Cascia. She is one the greatest saints. She’s an incorrupable. I’ve actually been to Cascia to see her! It’s an amazing moment to behold her. She was fearless in doing what she believed God asked of her, and she was literally carried to her convent by Angels! Not to mention she received a Holy stigmata in the form of a thorn.
Rita was also one of few women who were wife, mother, and nun at different points in her life. She was abused by her husband, lost her children to a family feud, and was denied entrance to the convent several times, but through everything Rita kept her faith and stood strong in her belief. Without doubt one of the most inspirational saints in Glory!
Damian of Molokai because he went tocare for the lepers in Hawaii and he gave them love,care, and attention. He eventually came down with leprosy himself and then died from it.
Jay Whisnant
Sister Jackie
I nominate Hilda of Whitby. Not only was she a great Celtic saint but she started the first non-gender convent (you know what I mean). She also hosted the Synod of Whitby which, although she disagreed with the outcome, she followed it faithfully. Lots to learn from this one!
I would like to nominate St. Jerome. I’m nominating him for helping to spread God’s word through translating the Bible and his own theological writings. I am a librarian, so he’s a special saint to my profession.
I would like to nominate St Peregrine, the patron saint of those with cancer or recovered from cancer. As a 2 year breast cancer survivor, I appreciate all the help I can get.
I am nominating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, Dr. King spearheaded non-violent campaigns in the late 1950s and 60s, calling for African-Americans living across the United States to be given legal equality.
He became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and led the Civil Rights movement although he knew it might endanger his life to do so. He was assassinated at the age of 39. He was made a saint by the Holy Christian Orthodox Church on Sept 9, 2016.
I nominate Father Damien of Moloka’i. for his selfless love and devotion to the residents of Kalaupapa.
I’d like to nominate St. Martin of Tours, born in what is now Hungary in 316 A.D, whose feast day is November 11th. He’s the patron saint of France and the early father of monasticism in Gaul, as well as the first great leader of Western monasticism.
St. Andre Bessette. A recently-ish canonized saint in the Catholic Church but an amazing example of humility and divine providence. His trust in God’s will in his life is incredible. He had a special devotion and prayed frequently for the intercession of St. Joseph. Through this devotion, many people were healed. He was a simple man but his life influenced, and still continues to influence, thousands. Definitely a worthy candidate for the 2019 bracket!
I would like to nominate St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, an Irish saint who died in 651. He was a monk and a missionary who re-established Christianity in England. He brought the good news to both rich and poor and gave away whatever he was given. He is a little known saint but one whose story begs to be told again in this day and age.
PS. I have only known about Lent Madness for 2 years but have learned so much about so many selfless people both past and present. Thank you for this gift.
I nominate Dr. Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, born in England in 1865, arrived in Newfoundland in 1892, and spent the rest of his life in service to the poor and forgotten people of northern Newfoundland and Labrador. As a young medical student, he had asked himself what Jesus would do if he were a doctor, and he decided the answer was to provide medical care to people who had none. He had incredible energy, traveling by dogsled in winter (very long; I know, having lived there for 25 years) and by hospital ship in summer when the water was free of ice. He was shocked by the conditions he saw: households with no food except a cup of peas, a family of nine with no beds or bedding, who had to sleep huddled on the floor, “keeping themselves from freezing by the abundance of firewood, which, thank God, cost them nothing.” Raising funds in Canada and the US, he founded a network of hospitals, nursing stations, schools and home industries, a network which survives in modified form to this day. He died on October 9, 1940. He is depicted in the Physicians’ Window in the National Cathedral in Washington. His feast day in The Episcopal Church is October 9.
Seconded!
I would like to nominate , James (The Greater), son of Zebedee. Why? because if he wind the Golden Halo, I can get a mug with my name on it! Plus, like myself, when I was called to follow, I left my dad behind operating the family business.
I nominate Dr. Charles F. Menninger (March 6 is his feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church) is the founder, with his sons, of the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. “We had a vision,” he said, “of a better kind of medicine and a better kind of world.” Guided by his faith, and his view of humankind, Dr. Menninger created a loving, family atmosphere among patients and staff alike at the clinic. His vision was to grow a community of doctors, nurses, and staff that would heal patients. “Let each person know how much you value them,” the staff were instructed; “shower these people with love.” At a time when patients with mental illness were warehoused for life, Menninger’s patients were treated with respect and dignity. The treatment worked and Menninger’s approach to healing became world famous.
I would like to nominate Saint Guinefort, tho I am not sure he is eligible. I remember hearing of him in seminary and have come to believe that the morales attributed to saits, the thousands of worshippers that visit shrines and find healing, relief an the presence of holiness make those places and”saints” holy. There is power i the prayers said to them dn with them. For that reason, I am nominating a dog. Yes i know he’s a dog–and for time was on an appropriate calendar. How many of us have not known what it is to be loved by a dog? Guinford all the way!
Saint Guinefort
Dog Saint
Died 13th-century
near Lyon, France
Venerated in Folk Catholicism
Feast Venerated locally on August 22
Patronage Infants
Catholic cult suppressed
Never recognized officially by Catholic Church; cult persisted until the 1930s by Catholic Church
Saint Guinefort was a 13th-century French dog that received local veneration as a folk saint after miracles were reported at his grave.[1][2]
His story is a variation on the well-travelled “faithful hound” motif, similar to the Welsh story of the dog Gelert. Guinefort the greyhound belonged to a knight who lived in a castle near Lyon. One day, the knight went hunting, leaving his infant son in the care of Guinefort. When he returned, he found the nursery in chaos – the cot was overturned, the child was nowhere to be seen and Guinefort greeted his master with bloody jaws. Believing Guinefort to have devoured his son, the knight slew the dog. He then heard a child crying; he turned over the cot and found his son lying there, safe and sound, along with the body of a viper. Guinefort had killed the snake and saved the child. On realizing the mistake the family dropped the dog down a well, covered it with stones and planted trees around it, setting up a shrine for Guinefort. Guinefort became recognised by locals as a saint for the protection of infants. It was alleged by contemporary commentators that locals left their babies at the site to be healed by the dog:
The local peasants hearing of the dog’s noble deed and innocent death, began to visit the place and honor the dog as a martyr in quest of help for their sicknesses and other needs. They were seduced and often cheated by the Devil so that he might in this way lead men into error. Women especially, with sick or poorly children, carried them to the place, and went off a league to another nearby castle where an old woman could teach them a ritual for making offerings and invocations to the demons and lead them to the right spot. When they got there, they offered salt and certain other things, hung the child’s little clothes on the bramble bushes around, fixing them on the thorns. They then put the naked baby through the opening between the trunks of two trees, the mother standing on one side and throwing her child nine times to the old woman on the other side, while invoking the demons to adjure the fauns in the wood of “Rimite” to take the sick and failing child which they said belonged to them (the fauns) and return to them their own child big, plump, live and healthy. Once this was done, the killer mothers took the baby and placed it naked at the foot of the tree on the straws of a cradle, lit at both ends two candles a thumbsbreadth thick with fire they had brought with them and fastened them on the trunk above. Then, while the candles were consumed, they went far enough away that they could neither hear nor see the child. In this way the burning candles burned up and killed a number of babies, as we have heard from others in the same place.
Stephen de Bourbon (d. 1262): De Supersticione: On St. Guinefort.[1][2]
The cult of this dog saint persisted for several centuries, until the 1930s, despite the repeated prohibitions of the Catholic Church.[2]
Thomas Aquinas, father of “reason” in theology. Truth is to be accepted no matter where it is found.
I nominate St. John Bosco, founder of the Salesian order, who dedicated himself to the religious education of young people. Images of him have him accompanied by Dominic Savio, his student, who died at the age of 14, possibly of pleurisy.
This page offers more information on St. John Bosco: http://www.salesianmissions.org/about-us/about-st-john-bosco than I could ever say. St. John Bosco is a favorite among the Cuban community.
I also nominate him because my mom chose to name me because he was her favorite saint and she prayed to him during her very problematic pregnancy.
I hope he makes the cut!
I would like to nominate Eric Liddell, best known as an Olympic runner and depicted in the movie, “Chariots of Fire.” His best claim to the Golden Halo, however, involves his life as a missionary to China and internment in a Japanese prisoner of war camp for non-combatants in Shantung. The book “The Shantung Compound ” by Langdon Gilkey (a wonderful book) tells of Liddell’s devotion to others especially young people in the camp, and his self-sacrificing behavior. He died of disease shortly before the camp was liberated.
I nominate John Hines, who transformed the Episcopal Church as Presiding Bishop (1964-1975). He led the Church to proclaim the gospel by grapling with society’s ills, especially racial discrimination in the US and in South Africa.
I nominate Abraham Lincoln. He is, in fact, dead, and not a pet. He changed history and gave his life for it. Against all odds, he got elected and ended the great shame of our nation. And he called that nation, in his unassuming and eloquent way, to listen to our better angels.
I nominate Fr. Damien of Molokai (also a saint) He was a priest that went to the Island of Molokai in Hawaii which was a leper colony. He lived with the lepers, helped in building a community for them. Helped with feeding, and nursing the people. He helped build roads, houses, schools. He eventually contracted the disease himself and died.
Melangell of Wales! I’ve long loved the story about the hare pursued by a hunter who found the saint praying in a glade and took refuge under her skirts, knowing her to be a safe person. Possibly not the most profound or heroic hagiography, but for some reason I just have an affection for her.
Christina Rossetti,poet. She wrote In the bleak mid winter and Love came down at Christmas.
In the Bleak Midwinter, my favorite hymn!
I nominate Matthew Talbot, the Dublin workingman who overcame what seemed like a hopeless addiction to alcohol, underwent a deep conversion, and thereafter completely devoted his life to God. Matt is recognized as “venerable” by the Roman Catholic Church, and his cause for sainthood was recently augmented by a miracle attributed to him. I nominate him for several reasons. He was a very obscure, poor laborer who worked at humble jobs and was never seen as anything out of the ordinary, yet he chose to discipline himself to a life commited totally to God. His life shows that even the most humble, ordinary people can lead lives of perseverance and holiness. His life also shows that there is no such thing as complete hopelessness – God’s grace worked in him to change him even when his family and all who knew him had written him off as a hopeless alcoholic. Addiction is so rampant today, in so many forms. I believe he is important because he shows that no one is beyond God’s help, and that no one, no matter their history, should ever despair. I also nominate him because it is good to remember that not all the Celtic saints lived 1500 years ago. He died less than a hundred years ago, in 1925. Please consider him.
I nominate Fred Rogers television personality, musician, puppeteer, writer, producer, and Presbyterian minister. Known for creating, hosting and composing the theme music for the educational preschool television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and over40 honorary degrees and a Peabody Award. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame, was recognized in two congressional resolutions. He was ranked number 35 of the TV Guide’s Fifty Greatest TV Stars of All Time.
In 1969, Rogers appeared before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications. His goal was to support funding for PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in response to proposed budget cuts. In about six minutes of testimony, Rogers spoke of the need for social and emotional education that public television provided. He argued that alternative television programming like his Neighborhood helped encourage children to become happy and productive citizens, sometimes opposing less positive messages in the media and in popular culture. He recited the lyrics to one of his songs.[39]
The chairman of the subcommittee, John O. Pastore, was not familiar with Rogers’ work and was sometimes described as impatient. However, he reported that the testimony had given him goosebumps, and declared, “I think it’s wonderful. Looks like you just earned the $20 million.” The subsequent congressional appropriation, for 1971, increased PBS funding from $9 million to $22 million
Yes! Seconded.
I would like to nominate Fr. Ted Howden, who ministered to troops during the Bataan Death March, and did not evacuate when he had the opportunity. Here is an article from the Albuquerque Journal that introduces him nicely:
https://www.abqjournal.com/152125/chaplain-chose-a-higher-way-to-live.html
St. Raphael the Archangel.
General reason because he is one of the major Archangels. Personal reason: he is one of my two name patron saints, and my Guardian Angel… I’m keeping him so busy as such that he deserves a recognition!
We don’t know if he is factually dead, though…. he might or might not qualify.
I would like to nominate Dorothy Day, one of the founders of the Catholic Worker movement, social justice advocate, champion of the poor, writer, and worker.
Yes, please.
I nominate Saint Maria Goretti, martyred at age 11 in 1902, defending her chastity from an attack by a neighbor boy. One of the youngest saints, I have been reading Kathleen Norris’ discussion about her in “The Cloister Walk” and I think she would provide excellent discussion about what counts as martyrdom, and the role of chastity and virginity in sainthood.
St. George. April 23 is the feast of Saint George, soldier, martyr, patron of England, and by legend, a dragon slayer. Also the patron saint of Scouting. I was born in England, was a girl guide as well as an Akela in cub scouts. My father was a Scout and a Rover leader and my brother was a Queen’s Scout. I think a lot of people would be interested in learning more about St. George including myself. Also there are quite a few churches named St. George.
St. Philibert — He’s a very cool early French Christian saint (616 – 685) with a church dedicated in his honor in lower Burgundy in the town of Tournus. Interestingly, Philibert was founding abbot of an abbey in Noirmoutier, France that was captured by the Normans. In 885, St. Philibert’s homeless monks, wandering the countryside carrying St. Philibert’s relics, were offered the site of the Abbey of St. Valerian in Tournus by King Charles the Bald. A novel situation where two separate religious communities were expected to share the same abbatial site. Visited this site many times and love it’s cool stone interior, its crypt and its imposing Romanesque style!
Henry Budd. First Indigenous priest – Cree. His legacy working with and empowering the indigenous people in Canada continues with the Henry Budd College for Ministry in the Diocese of Brandon.
I would like to nominate pastor, educator and writer Richard Allen who was born into slavery on February 14, 1760. He later converted to Methodism and bought his freedom. Fed up with the treatment of African-American parishioners at the St. George Methodist Episcopal congregation, he eventually founded the first national black church in the United States, the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Oh, whittling this down to only one nominee is just brutal! But here goes…Fr Christian de Cherge of Algeria. He was martyred in 1996 and almost immediately the church in Algeria took up his cause for sainthood. As a young man his life was saved by a Muslim man which led Fr Christian to reexamine his own Catholic tradition more deeply. Eventually he joined the Trappists in Algeria. There in his monastery was a space for both Muslims and Christians to pray. Deep abiding solidarity and friendship was at the heart of his religious life and that is why when the waves of anti-foreigner/anti-Christian violence came Father chose to stay with his Algerian brothers and sisters rather than fleeing for the safety of France. His story is told in the beautiful movie Of God and Men but you can get a sense of him from the letter of farewell he wrote when he realized he would eventually be killed. In that letter he thanks all his friends and community and brother priests but also his eventual murderer to whom he says “You too, my last-minute friend, you who know not what you do. Yes, for you too, I wish this thank you and this adieu which is of your planning. May we be granted to meet each other again, happy thieves in paradise, should it please God, the Father of both of us. Amen. In sh’Allah!” Three years after the writing of those words he was in fact kidnapped and his throat cut by that “last minute friend.”
I’d like to nominate Frederic Baraga, a saintly chap from North America, circa 19th century.
As recently as 2012 he was declared to be of “Venerable” status by the Roman Catholic church, which is now awaiting confirmation of a miracle before his statue can be upgraded to “Beatified.”
Why is Frederic Baraga worthy of a Lent Madness Bracket?
1. He gave up a fairly nice and safe position in the Hapsburg realm to go to wilds of Northern Michigan to serve the Native Peoples and foreign immigrants in the remote mining and lumber jack camps, and native villages.
2. He translated the bible into Native Peoples (Ottowa) languages so they could understand the salvation in Christ.
3. Baraga traveled twice to Europe to raise money for his diocese. On one trip he was presented a jeweled cross and episcopal ring by the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. The bishop later sold these for his missions.
4. In the cold of winter and in old age Frederic made journeys on snow shoes to preach to the Native people and the immigrant communities.
5. He made hazardous journeys on Lake Superior in a canoe to follow the Lord.
6. He was recognized as a very important early church leader in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
7. There is a park on the north shore of Lake Superior honoring Frederic- at Temperance River, so named because there is no bar where this river flows into the lake.
8. A member of my parish who hails from the same region as Baraga, and has long admired him, recommended him to me for nomination.
I nominate St. Mother Theodore Guerin, founder of the sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. When she arrived in Indiana from France, Indiana was absolute wilderness. She and a small group of sisters persisted, and started what became the first Catholic women’s college in the U.S. When Mother Theodore went to visit her bishop, who was having issues with her, he locked her in a room and sent a message to the sisters to elect a new superior. They promptly reelected her! Tough women … She was canonized in 2006, becoming the 8th North American (R.C.) saint.
St. Swithun (also spelled Swithin). Our late rector used to refer to St. Swithun from time to time. I found this name rather curious and couldn’t find out much info about him. I’m nominating him partly hopes your research will reveal more than mine has.
Thank you!
I hereby nominate St. Chad of Lichfield. For years, I assumed that Chad was simply a rich kid’s name. (All the people I had met named Chad were, in fact, wealthy and all were younger than me, so this hypothesis had rational.) So you can imagine my surprise when, as I was looking for the patron saint of pedestrians, I came across St. Chad. Why would a rich kid be patron of those who had nothing but their own two feet to get around on?
Just a little back story here — there had been several atrocious accidents in my fair city of Asheville involving pedestrians hit by motor vehicles. The fact was that there weren’t enough sidewalks and a growing population of people who could not afford cars. One person had even been dragged for some distance. So, here were a group of people in need of some saintly intervention.
Enter Chad who, even though he was a bishop, eschewed riding a horse because it separated him from his flock. In his renowned humility, he even gave up the See of York when it was suggested that his orders were irregular. (He professed to not having wanted the job in the first place, which may have been honesty rather than humility.) Archbishop of Canterbury Theodore later made sure Chad’s consecration was properly carried out and sent him to Lichfield, wherein he was much beloved for his piety and humility.
As patron of those who travel on foot, as an example of how the divisions in our society brought about by wealth inequality might be reconciled, and as a path to redemption for rich kids everywhere, I hope Chad may be included in the next Lent Madness bracket. (But if it is between him and Pauli Murray, pick Pauli Murray. Or Jonathan Daniels. Same there. Still, I’m only nominating one person and that person is Chad.)
I nominate f. Frederick W. Neve, Archdeacon of the Blue Ridge, who founded many Episcopal missions in the Blue Ridge mountains and a devotional organization, the Order of the Thousandfold. His selfless work not only brought churches but education and healthcare to people living in the remote mountains as well as villages in the Virginia Blue Ridge. He lived his live according to the Thousandfold prayer which he wrote: Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Who with Thy Son Jesus Christ hast given unto us all things in heaven and earth, we beseech Thee to make us a thousandfold more useful to Thee than ever before, so that Thy power and blessing may flow through us to multitudes of others, who are in need and also make us willing and loving servants of Thine to Thy honor and glory, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen. More on Fr. Neve and his work is found here http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n88156279/
I nominate John Donne. I love his poetry.
Prudence Crandall. She was a Caucasian woman who educated African American girls post-civil war. Her town turned against her, her state created laws to stop her, but no matter what she continued. She showed true conviction when anyone else would have given up. I nominate her because her actions and conviction are what matter to me most. It is something I aspire to, and her story helps strengthen my faith in God and humanity. Her saint day is September 3, according to http://www.lectionarypage.net/LesserFF/Sep/Crandall.html.
I nominate the 12th century martyr Thomas a Becket who, from the position of chancellor to King Henry II and very much “the king’s man,” became — once ordained and consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury — almost an ascetic and a firm upholder of the church’s rights against the government’s. Henry was not pleased and is purported to have said, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” Four knights overheard this statement and took it as their duty to kill Becket if he would not do the king’s will.
I nominate St. Philonella (venerated on October 11 in the Orthodox Church). Together with her sister Zenaida, she was one of the first ‘unmercenaries’ – physicians who did not accept payments from their patients. Towards the end of her life (c. 100 AD), Philonella ‘paid particular attention to the treatment of psychiatric disorders, including clinical depression’ (Lazar Puhalo, Lives of the Saints Vol. 11). I nominate St. Philonella because of her care for the poor; for her charism in integrating her excellence in her professional vocation into her spiritual calling; for her interest in experimental medicine, a holy curiosity inspired by a will to help others; and her recognition of mental illness as such, grounded in a profound appreciation of the body and its interaction with the spirit.
I nominate Clare, Abbess of Assisi (1253). She was so taken with the words, work, and life of Francis, that she left her wealthy family and became an abbess. Clare served faithfully and joyfully for over 40 years. Even when her health failed in the last twenty years of her life, she continued to serve. In the waning hours of her life, she said, “Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he that created you has sanctified you, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be God, for having created me.”
https://forallsaints.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/clare-abbess-at-assisi-1253/
St. Attracta of Kilaraght Daughter of an Irish noble. Drawn from an early age to a religious vocation, which was opposed by her family. Made her religious vows to Saint Patrick at Coolavin, Ireland who also made her an Abbess. Worked with Patrick for the conversion of Ireland. Anchoress at Drumconnell, County Roscommon. At Killaraght (Cill Attracta) on Lough Gara she founded a hospice that still existed as late as 1539. Founded several churches and convents in County Galway and County Sligo. The convents were known for their care of the sick, and were traditionally built at crossroads so they would available to more travellers. Miracle worker, and noted healer.
Learned of Attracta as I searched my family history and found my grandfather was part of the parish of St. Attracta in Ballinameen, Co. Roscommon. Even got to visit and attend Mass there last summer.
I nominate Clare, Abbess of Assisi (1253). She was so taken by the words, work, and life of Francis that she left her wealthy family and became an abbess. She served faithfully and joyfully for over forty years. Even as her health declined, she continued to serve. In her waning hours she said, “Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he that created you has sanctified you, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be God, for having created me.”
( I have had trouble uploading my nomination. Hope you are not reading this for the third time! LOL!)
I would like to nominate King Kamahamaha as he deserves a second chance for all the good things he did for the people of Hawaii.
I nominate St. Josephine Bakhita, patron saint of human trafficking and slavery victims. She was born in Olgosssa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan. She was kidnapped at the age of seven, sold into slavery and given the name Bakhita, which means fortunate. She was re-sold several times and finally wound up in Italy where she was the babysitter to the young daughter of a wealthy Italian family. While the child in her care was being instructed in the catechism Josephine was drawn to the Catholic Church. She was baptized and confirmed in 1890, taking the name Josephine. She was abused while held as a slave and bore the marks of whippings on her body. She won her freedom when the Canossian sisters and the patriarch of Venice intervened on her behalf and a judge concluded that since slavery was illegal in Italy, she had actually been free since 1885. Josephine made her profession in the Institute of St. Magdalene of Canossa in 1893. In her ministry she assisted her religious community through cooking, sewing , embroidery and welcoming visitors at the door. She once said, “Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God.” She was canonized in 2000.
I think it is mighty mean-spirited not to allow nominations of our four-legged or winged family members. However, that being the case, I nominate the Saint closest in spirit, blessed Saint Francis!
He’s not eligible: he’s already won the Golden Halo.
I would love to nominate John Muir. I realize I ask often, but, in times like these, we need to remember his amazing stewardship of God’s perfect handiwork. Go Team Muir!!
i will vote for Florence Li Tim-Oi.She is the first women ordained by the Anglican Communion!She was forced to work in re-education farms and factories in China but persisted.
second, or third…whatever the count is currently
I would also like to second Jonathan Daniels. In addition to what Libby said above, Daniels was a person who epitomizes stepping in to do what’s right, even when it would be easy and perhaps even understandable to not get involved. He was a white man from the Northeast who felt called to stand up for civil rights far from home, not because they would directly affect his day-to-day experience, but because it was right. He died pushing a seventeen-year-old girl named Ruby Sales out of the path of a shotgun blast, an action described by Martin Luther King as “one of the most heroic Christian deeds of which I have heard in my entire ministry.” He is included in the Chapel of Saints and Martyrs of Our Own Times at Canterbury Cathedral, and I think he would be an excellent inclusion in next year’s no doubt excellent company of Lent Madness Saints.
I would also like to second Jonathan Daniels. In addition to what Libby said above, Daniels was a person who epitomizes stepping in to do what’s right, even when it would be easy and perhaps even understandable to not get involved. He was a white man from the Northeast who felt called to stand up for civil rights far from home, not because they would directly affect his day-to-day experience, but because it was right. He died pushing a seventeen-year-old girl named Ruby Sales out of the path of a shotgun blast, an action described by Martin Luther King as “one of the most heroic Christian deeds of which I have heard in my entire ministry.” He is included in the Chapel of Saints and Martyrs of Our Own Times at Canterbury Cathedral, and I think he would be an excellent inclusion in next year’s no doubt excellent company of Lent Madness Saints.
Mother Teresa from Calcutta
St George as his feast day is today, 23 April. He is the patron saint of England, mentioned by Eusebius, and included in some Islamic texts.
Saint Anselm of Canterbury – because he wrote about the rational basis for faith and came up with the marvelous saying: “I do not seek to understand that I may believe but believe that I might understand. For this too I believe since, unless I first believe, I shall not understand.”
I nominate Fr. Augustus Tolton, April 1, 1854-July 9, 1897, the first R. C. priest in the USA who was publicly known to be black at the time of his ordination (in Rome in 1866). While to the best of my knowledge Fr. Tolton is not on any calendar, the case for his sainthood has been referred to the Vatican, and he has received the title “Servant of God.” In a sense, then, he will be a candidate for sainthood in both Lent Madness and in the R. C. Church. The case for Fr. Tolton’s sainthood can be found in the Wikipedia entry on his life and influence. Highlights include his birth in slavery, his rescue from slavery by sympathizers with the cause of emancipation, his education (often in institutions devoted to the cause of ending slavery and mitigating its damage on black lives), and his extensive and successful ministry: he worked ceaselessly to improve the treatment of blacks in a white-dominated society, founding churches, schools, and voluntary societies wherever he was sent. Throughout his ministry, he encountered opposition and hostility from all sides; he made white parishoners “uncomfortable,” and many blacks viewed him as too willing to work with whites. Nevertheless he persisted, and doubters were won over by his commanding presence, his powerful preaching, his abilities as a singer, and his skill as a musician (one of his preferred instruments was the accordion, which makes him a great candidate for a semifinal round in Lent Madness). Tim and Scott, receive my petition on behalf of the Servant of God Fr. Augustus Tolton and make him to be numbered with the saints in the Lent Madness brackets for 2019!
St. Christopher is my vote for inclusion inthe next round of Lent Madness. My “why” is due to his legend. It is told that this large man, a once angry fellow followed the ways of power on earth – Satan. But upon learning that there was one more powerful than the devil, Christopher followed Him – Christ.
The story has it that Christopher put himself into the service of others. Using his large self to carry travelers across a river. One day he was blesssed when the Holy Christ Child who carries the world allowed Christopher to bear him as an example for many that if Christ can bear the world we can bear Him.
Though this saint was at one time downgraded by the Roman Catholic Church to sharing a feast day, he is still a comfort for travelers, including parishioners who journey through churches which carry the name of the Christ bearing saint.
I nominate Saint Clare of Assisi, a contemporary of St. Francis of Assisi, who embraced St. Francis’ vision. While St. Francis turned away from a sinful life to become the Poverello, Clare was a woman of great holiness even before she renounced her noble heritage and wealth. She claimed as her own the “privilege of poverty,” and forged a path for like-minded women to remain totally dependent upon God.
Yes! I nominated her as well!
I nominate Pierre Tielhard de Chardin, SJ, a Jesuit paleontologist who worked to understand evolution and faith. During WWI, he served as a stretcher bearer and received the Croix the Guerre and the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur. His field work in paleontology took him to China (where he took part in the discovery of the Peking Man), South America, and South Africa. There is a movement afoot to have the 1962 “warning” imposed by the Vatican removed from Tielhard’s writings.
Julie, thank you for nominating Pierre. I did too.
Saint Andre Bessette (Brother Andre). Celebrated by the Catholic Church in Canada on January 7. Having visited Montreal numerous times when our daughter was at school there, Brother Andre is an incredibly inspirational man. Credited with thousands of healings, he was the inspiration for the construction of St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, where you can see his heart on display. The heart was stolen in 1972, and returned after 645 days.
Could you please confirm if people from the Righteous Among the Nations list of the state of Israel, honoring non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust, qualify for nomination due to their feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church? There are so many worthy people on this list, but I don’t want to nominate one of them if they are not eligible for Lent Madness.
What a wonderful group we have nominated! the committee has its work cut out for it.
It seems as though most nominations are American (as in USA) or old so I would like to nominate a Canadian First Nations woman who I had the privilege and blessing to know personally; The Rev Dr Ellen Bruce. Here is a bit of a biography written I think by the Bishop of Yukon, The Right Rev Larry Robertson.
Ellen Bruce (1911 – 2010)
Ellen Bruce was born in Rampart House in 1911. Her early years were spent living nomadically following the caribou with her family. As a young child she learned to read Tukudh and to conduct church services from her father (Joseph Kay). Her grandfather knew Archdeacon Robert MacDonald. In 1928, a First Nation minister, Julius Kendi, came to Old Crow with his wife. It was through the Women’s Auxiliary that Bruce
became involved in the church. She continued her nomadic lifestyle, only coming to Old Crow for supplies or to celebrate religious holidays.
She moved permanently to Old Crow in 1949 and she began to be more involved in the Church. After her father died in 1972 she began to take on more serious responsibilities. In the early 80s, Bruce, along with Edith Josie, Effie Linklater and Charlie Peter Charlie were licensed as lay readers. In 1984, she was ordained a deacon. She became an ordained priest in 1987 at the encouragement of then Bishop Ferris.
Bruce was the first ordained First Nations woman in the North in the Anglican Church.
Bruce was nominated for an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from St. Stephen’s College in Edmonton. She was accepted and flew to Edmonton in1986 to receive her degree. The Up Here magazine January/February 1988 edition said “Her ministry is a labour of love.”
Don Sax, who co-nominated her for the degree, wrote in the July 6, 1989 edition of Western People, “Her ministry is a matter of being, not doing.” She was a social centre of Old Crow. She visited with everyone she saw. Bruce often held services in English
and the Gwich’in language.
On October 25th, 1990, it was announced that Ellen Bruce was awarded the honour of becoming a Member of the Order of Canada. The citation read “The spiritual leader of Old Crow and the North’s first native woman to be ordained an Anglican minister, she has sustained and promoted the cultural integrity of the Vuntut Gwitch’in for over 50 years, helping them adapt from camp life to community life. She was a strong and holy woman who has a powerful impact on natives and non-natives alike.” Bishop Larry
Robertson writes, “When one entered into her presence you knew you were meeting with someone who radiated the presence of the loving Father. It was like becoming young again looking into the eyes of someone who was at peace in the presence of the Almighty and so much bigger spiritually then myself. It was an honour to know her and sit under her ministry.”
Ellen Bruce died October 16, 2010 at 98 years old.
After 10 years of Lent Madness I want to suggest it is time a Saint whose primary ministry
was Downunder-Australia and New Zealand be considered.
I would like to nominate :
JOHN COLERIDGE PATTERSON< Bishop of Melanesia,missionary
and martyr-Born 1827 died 1871
Bishop John has been described as a man of the Imperial Age, but his learning and manners were very different..
He was in advance of his times when he made it an Anglican policy that the manners and customs of the islanders in the South Pacific whom he served were to be respected and disturbed as little as possible . He ministered to his people sailing around the islands on a small boat-"The Southern Cross".
He spoke many of the languages used by the people of his Islands' Diocese.
The visits to the islands were becoming yearly more dangerous. In 1869 he wrote: 'the vessels
which have been taking away South Sea islanders for the Fiji & Queensland labor market
have in some cases to my knowledge acted in a very sad miserable way.
I have a good deal of moral, not perhaps strictly legal, evidence of treachery, violence etc.
The effect is … to embitter the islanders against any white man whom they do not as yet know
well to be their friend'. Patteson noted the depopulation of many islands and that
unscrupulous traders used his name to entice natives aboard their ships.
In July 1870 he wrote that 'it is the regulation rather than the suppression of
the employment of native laborers that I advocate'.
In an official memorandum he advocated the licensing of a few ships to transport the
islanders; all others were to be treated as pirates and confiscated summarily when caught,
and frigates were to cruise constantly among the islands.
In January 1871 he made another appeal for imperial legislation on Pacific Island labor.
In April Patteson sailed to the islands in the Southern Cross.
On 20 September he landed alone on Nukapu near Santa Cruz where he was clubbed
to death in retribution for a recent outrage by blackbirders.
His body was launched in a canoe which drifted back to the ship.
It was soon discovered that five stab wounds had been made on his breast, one each
for five islanders who had been kidnapped and kileed by unscrupulous white traders. Bishop John's five wounds were covered with a palm branch tied in five knots. It was a martyr's stigmata!
Despite the plea of missionaries at Norfolk Island for no retribution Captain Markham of
H.M.S. Rosariofired at and killed some natives.
The Melanesian Mission continued to expand on Patteson's foundations while his life
was a lasting inspiration to the Anglican Church in Australasia.
Patteson's death led to the imperial Kidnapping Acts of 1872 and 1875 along the lines he had suggested.
John Coleridge Patteson is remembered in the Australian and New Zealand Calendars
on September 20 along with the Saints and Martyrs of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific
Walter Rauschenbusch, who is honored in the Episcopal calendar on July 2. He wrote eloquently about how sin corrupts our social structures, not merely our individual lives, and how it is important to reform our social structures as an act of obedience to Christ.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who is honored on April 10th, was a Jesuit priest & ground breaking paleontologist whose ideas about evolution had both material & spiritual components. What I like is what he asked God before he died. He prayed, “O God, if in my life I have not been wrong, allow me to die on Easter Sunday”. He died on April 10, 1955: Easter Sunday. This is a direct quote from “Holy Women, Holy Men”. This is significant because the Catholic Church hassled him about his radical & heterodox writings.
I would like to nominate Elizabeth Ann Seton, wife, mother, educator, foundress of the Sisters of Charity in the US. First American born saint. A woman of faith and stamina for all times. A role model.
I would like to nominate Sir Thomas More, who died on the block because of his refusal to accept Henry VIII as head of the Christian Church in England.
St. Thaney.
Please find excellent information
Mull Monastery of Celtic Saints
on Facebook.
I nominate St. Benedict,, the first great monastic, whose Rule is followed even to the present day!
St. Cyprian
I nominate Oscar Romero because he spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations, and torture.
St.Patrick is my nomination he’s so cool he has his own holiday and he may or may not
have banished all snakes from Ireland
*pretend this was sent with a 20 dollar bill*
I would like to nominate St. Clare of Assisi. St. Clare (1194-1253) was the first female follower of St. Francis of Assisi. Clare was a noblewoman drawn to Francis’ evangelical charism and his commitment to living a life of absolute poverty and preaching the Gospel. Clare is the first woman to have written a Rule of Life for women religious, with the Pope granting her and The Poor Ladies of San Damiano (later known as The Poor Clares) the Priviledge of Poverty on her deathbed. Her mother and her sisters followed her into this life. Clare was known as a healer and is the patron saint of Television.
I like your choice!
Good choice.
I nominate Jeremy Taylor—“He who promised his spirit to assist his servants in their trouble will not, because they are in trouble, take away the comforter from them; who cannot be a comforter but while carries our sadness, and relieves our sorrows, and turns our persecutions into joys, and crowns and scepters.”
I would like to nominate a saint who was eliminated in the first round of Lent Madness in 2017, much to my dismay. I had predicted Joan of Arc would be the Golden Halo winner that year! Since you already have biographical information on this remarkable teen age saint, I refer you to 2017’s Saintly Countdown even though I would emphasize the spiritual over the military aspects of her life. Joan is the patron saint of France and should be the patron of teen age activists. She has been my hero since I learned about her as an adolescent and took Joan as my “confirmation name”. Also, her making it to the Kitch Round would be a real bonus for her spokesperson: there are a lot of souvenirs, figurines, armor, books, music (Leonard Cohen’s “Joan of Arc” for instance) and many movies, one starring Ingrid Bergman!
Let’s give Jeanne d’Arc a second chance!
Oh and how could I forget G.B. Shaw’s play “Saint Joan”, soon to be opening in New York!
Do I seem to be pushing Joan too hard?
She would be my nominee too! Imagine, we could gild the Lily (Maid of France) with the Golden Hal.
What a Cloud of Witnesses has been nominated thus far! I am sticking with Eric Liddell, but every saint nominated is worthy of the Golden halo!
Jean-Baptiste de La Salle is my nomination. He is the patron saint of teachers (of which I am one). He was born wealthy, but used his wealth training lay teachers and opening schools as a way to life people (including girls!) out of poverty. He was also a priest and started a new order.
I nominate St. Aidan of LIndisfarne. Since he died in 651, he clearly meets the first criterion. He meets criterion #2 with room to spare. He is venerated by the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic Church and Anglican Communion on August 31, while the Lutherans prefer to honor him on June 9. Asked to leave Ireland to re-evangelizing the English–at least the Northumbrians at that point–he established a monastery on the incredibly beautiful Isle of Lindisfarne. From there he and his monks set out on foot to walk the land, talk to the people and spread the gospel. The monastery he established went on to be the home of many saints, including St. Cuthbert, and produced the very beautiful Lindisfarne Gospel book which is now housed in the British Library.
If that weren’t enough to make him a worthy nominee, he is the patron saint of my oldest grandchild!
I DONT CARE!! I LOVE YOU , YOU HAVE CHANGED MY LIFE!!!
I would be the biggest groupie to the celeb bloggers! (Maybe not over Smokey Robinson or Al Green)
I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! You SO ROCK!!
I nominate the Rev’d Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy, aka: “Woodbine Willie”, whose feast day is March 5 on the calendars of the C of E and TEC. The best-known Chaplain in the British Army in World War I, who was awarded the Military Cross for heroism in combat, he was a poet and prophet. His hymn “Not here for high and holy things–awake, awake to love and work” is included in both the 1940 and 1982 Hymnals. His inclusion would also honor the selfless service of all military chaplains.
St. Nicholas…also the patron Saint of Mariners!
Nomination: St. Odilo of Cluny, d. 1049; Roman Catholic feast day is May 11;
Elected the abbot of the Benedictine (reform) monastery of Cluny in 994;
Known for his care for the poor; was instrumental in establishing both All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2, the day after All Saints’ Day) and the medieval practice of the Truce of God;
Called the “Archangel of Monks”
(sadly, my webpage is a few years out of date; I am now a Professor in the Department of Religious Studies, and am serving a second term on ARC-USA–have been a big fan of “Lent Madness” for a few years now!)
So many thoughtful posts! One correction to my nomination of St. Odilo: he seems to have three feast days in the RC calendar. Today it is celebrated on January 19 at Cluny itself, and February 6 in Switzerland. Everywhere else, it is May 11. (He actually died on January 1).
St. Anthony of Padua, patron saint of lost things. He has NEVER failed me. St. Anthony, St. Anthony please come round. Something is lost and must be found – insert lost item, a job, a piece of jewelry, a dog, whatever!. When the item is found, and it will be found, you pray again, St. Anthony, St. Anthony, please come round, something was lost and has been found – thank you St. Anthony. If you’d like specific examples, happy to provide them.
I usually just raise my arms, look Heavenward, and exclaim, “Thanks, Tony!”
St. Florian, patron saint of firefighters, among others. His feast day is May 4, though I don’t think there is any Star Wars connection.
I learned a bit about him when I was a chaplain to a fire department. He was born in what is now Austria, became a Roman soldier, rose through the ranks to a commanding position. He organized and trained a specialized group of soldiers to fight fires.
He refused to enforce orders under Diocletian to persecute Christians and was killed. His executioners reportedly were going to burn him but instead drowned him in the Danube.
One of the things I admire in him and the fire service in general, is the recognition that being able to offer help in a time of need is likely to succeed more if there is a plan and continual ongoing preparation. Certain kinds of suffering that people encounter are petty predictable, and we as a community will be better able and ready to respond by planning ahead, making special provisions specifically for that crisis and maintaining readiness and availability. There are several professions that exhibit this kind of intentionality in their works of mercy, and firefighting is an obvious one.
Another thing I admire about Florian in particular is that he refused to do a terrible thing despite being ordered to. I think it especially important for someone who is part of the dominant power structure to take that kind of responsibility. He didn’t rely on the ‘just following orders’ reasoning and made a stand, even though he’d die for doing so.
I nominate St. David, the patron saint of Wales. The David Cross (Dewi Croes) is based on the cross symbol found on an altar in Wales where St. DAvid was said to have preached. He preached with such passion that the altar rose into the air. He was celebrated as a teacher and preacher, and founded monastic communities in Wales. At the synod of Brefi he eloquently defended the church against Pelaliganism. His feast day is March 1 His final sermon before his death on March 1 incluced the words, ” “Lords, brothers and sisters, Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed, and do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. And as for me, I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us.”
St Teresa of Calcutta is my favorite saint because she has helped so many. And the organization of nuns she founded is continuing to help others around the world.
I nominate the Little Flower, St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Carmelite nun at age 15, died at age 24, patroness of missionaries, still emulated by countless people for her little way of doing good, famous for her shower of roses.
If I could have nominated two saints, Therese was my second choice. She’s a fireball of heavenly wisdom packed into such a young life. I’ve learned a lot from her Christlike walk through the mean streets of her convent. For me, St. Therese should be the patron saint of non-profit workers!!!! Sigh.
Another plug for St. Therese, there’s a breathtaking shrine dedicated to her on a little island near Juneau, Alaska (a smallish Mt. St. Michel) called the Shrine of St. Therese.
I nominate Amy Carmichael, a Christian missionary in India, who opened an orphanage and founded a mission in Dohnavur. She served in India for 55 years and wrote many books about the missionary work there. She is commemorated on January 18 in the Anglican Communion. Her writings greatly influenced me in my walk with Christ.
Carmichael founded the Dohnavur Fellowship in 1901, transforming Dohnavur into a sanctuary for more than one thousand children who would otherwise have faced a bleak future. Carmichael often said that her ministry of rescuing temple children started with a girl named Preena. Having become a temple servant against her wishes, Preena managed to escape. Amy Carmichael provided her shelter and withstood the threats of those who insisted that the girl be returned either to the temple directly to continue her sexual assignments, or to her family for more indirect return to the temple. The number of such incidents soon grew, thus beginning Amy Carmichael’s new Ministry. When the children were asked what drew them to Amy, they most often replied “It was love. Amma (Amy) loved us.”
Respecting Indian culture, members of the organization wore Indian dress and gave the rescued children Indian names. Carmichael herself dressed in Indian clothes, dyed her skin with dark coffee, and often traveled long distances on India’s hot, dusty roads to save just one child from suffering.
In 1931, a fall severely injured Carmichael, and she remained bedridden for much of her final two decades. However, it did not stop her from continuing her inspirational writing, for she published 16 additional books. The writer Elisabeth Eliot has written extensively of Amy Carmichael in the biography “A Chance to Die.”
I would like to nominate Anna Julia Haywood Cooper. This year, I was asked by my rector to give a homily for one of our Wednesday evening services. I chose February 28th, which is a lesser feast day, and Anna Cooper was one of two women remembered on that day by the Episcopal church. In some ways her life reminded me a bit of Anna Alexander’s, as we worked our way through Lent Madness this year. I focused on Anna Cooper in my homily, because her life inspired and amazed me, both due to her longevity and to her use of the gifts that God had given her. At 62, I can no longer say, “I’m too old to start that,” after reflecting upon her life. She may have been more of a social activist than a religious person, so I’ll let the SEC be the judge of her worthiness to be included in next year’s bracket, but Holy Cow! – I’m glad I learned about her this year, and hope to share her with more folks!
Irma Dulce Pontes is my nominee. Her tremendous charity work that has had a lasting effect in Brazil is the best example of Christianity I can think of.
I nominate St Isaac the Syrian, aka Isaac of Nineveh, a man drunk with the love of God who dared to hope for the salvation of everyone and every thing (including demons).
RATS! Does that mean I can’t nominate all the Cephalores?
I love you guys!!
I would like to nominate the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. These young men were alive during the persecution of Christianity around 250 ce and were pressured to recant by Emperor Decius. They refused, gave all their goods to the poor, and went to a cave to pray and fell asleep. They were sealed in by the Emperor. But instead of dying, they were awakened 300 years later to a world in which they could practice their faith. These young men who would not recant their faith are a visible symbol of the resurrection, as well as faithfulness in the face of persecution and generosity in using their worldly good to help others instead of trying to use it to escape their persecution.
The Seven Sleepers are honored on several calendars of saints: The Roman Martyrology on June 27 (Vatican II date), commemorated on the Byzantine Calendar with feasts on 4 August and 22 October. And, the story of the sleepers is record in the Qur’an in the Sura of the Cave.
I know you said not to mention our pets, but in the Sura of the Cave, the sleepers are sealed in with their dog, who sleeps in the mouth of the cave to guard them.
Mother Angelica – Rita Rizzo of Canton,Ohio.
Founder of the Catholic TV EWTN
I would like to nominate Saint Brendan of Clonfert (c. AD 484 – c. 577). He was one of the Apostles of Ireland. And his voyage is legendary! More people need to know about him.
Saint Lucy/Lucia. Just returning from a visit to Siracusa Sicily and she is the patron saint. She has two festival days. One where she is credited with bringing ships and quail to the city at a time when food supplies were low.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellitus St Mellifus, 1st Bishop of London And 3rd Archbishop of Canterbury for his persistence in bringing Anglo Saxons to Christ, even tho he was swimming upstream. For following God’s call to this arduous travel and work. Because he inspired conversion with persuasion vs resorting to for e (a new strategy in conversions at the time.) Because today is his Feast Day. And last but not least, because he miraculously saved the church of Canterbury from being destroyed by fire.
Father Walter Ciszek was the American-born son of Polish immigrants, He surprised his father with his intention to become a priest due to his involvement in gang activities. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1928 and volunteered as a missionary to serve persecuted Christians in the Soviet Union. Following his ordination in the Byzantine Rite, he established a Jesuit mission in eastern Poland in 1938. When the Soviets closed the mission with their occupation of the are in 1939, Fr. Ciszek devised a plan to join the streams of people entering the Soviet Union, which he did in 1940, settling in Chusovoy, a logging town in the Ural Mountains where he worked as a logged as a front to his discrete Christian ministry.
Fr. Ciszek was arrested in 1941 and accused of espionage for the Vatican for which he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. He spent five years imprisoned in Moscow, mostly in solitary confinement and was transferred to the GULAG in Norilsk, Siberia where he in the coal mines. Throughout his sentence, he continued to pray, to celebrate Divine Liturgy, hear confessions, conduct retreats and perform parish ministry. Upon release in 1955, he began writing to his sisters; his family and fellow Jesuits presumed he was dead. In 1958, the KGB moved him to Krasnoyarsk where he established mission churches under they were discovered and he was moved to Abakan. He finally received word from his sisters in 1963. Ciszek returned to the US as part of a prisoner exchange in October of 1963. He lectured, counseling, and provided spiritual direction at Fordham University until his death in 1984.
If Fr. Ciszek is selected, I will write a polka in his honor.
For more information on Fr. Walter Ciszek, check out this site: http://www.ciszek.org/ndex.html
That should be http://www.ciszek.org/index.html
William Stringfellow
Lay Episcopalians who through his books helps us live humanly in the midst of death. Loved that he led a Bible Study at his home as the fbi listened in.
Woe, I thought my post had gone through but there is no sign of it among the 251 up there now (only 11 when I wrote it up). Perhaps there is a block on British suggestions?
Please can I nominate Benedict of Aniane who was a Benedictine monk, born 751 and died 821). He worked hard to achieve monastic reform throughout the ’empire’. I like him as he is said to have a gift for calming tumultuous thoughts in other people (with some success for me),when he met those with disturbed thoughts ‘the tumultuous crowd of thoughts dissipated at his wholesome counsel’.
He managed to standardise monastic practice and improve the observance and idealism in the West.
I hope it gets through.
Thank you
I would like to nominate St Jose Sanchez del Rio from Mexico because of his exemplary courage at such a young age. He was martyred.
I’d like to nominate Ephrem of Syria – a hymn writer and teacher of justice and of care for others and a man who lived at a time of conflict in his region. When opposing forces took over, Christians were exiled – twice. In his 50’s and resettled for the second time, an epidemic struck. The bishop asked him to organize feeding, housing, and helping those in need and he did – for the whole community. It is written that he asked the healthy to participate ‘to maintain the community’. Food was distributed. Hospitals were set up to care for the sick. He ‘extended the church’s care to the entire city.’ He wrote that ‘Christians were grafted onto Christ, the tree of life, through their responsiveness to one another’s needs.’ He wrote:
One person falls sick – and so another can visit and help him;
One person starves – and so another can provide him with food and give him life;
One person does something stupid – but he can be instructed by another and thereby grow;
In this way, the world can recover;
Tens of thousands of hidden ways are to be found, ready to assist us.
Ephrem was known also for respecting the spiritual leadership of women at a time when other voices in the church had less charitable views. The Eastern church is said to call him ‘the songbird of Paradise’ in recognition both of his prolific hymn writing and of his lived belief that we are here to care for one another.
Ephrem seems a model made for our troubled times. Maybe we would be helped by knowing more about him.
I nominate Pelagius (c. AD 354 – 420) . The essential of all of his teachings was that men and women had freedom of will. For this great heresy, he was persecuted continually by Augustine of Hippo and the Roman establishment who believed in predestination and that “man” was polluted by original sin and therefore had no free will in the matter. When he visited Rome in 380 he found the laxity of moral standards to be distressing and he believed that the moral fiber of the society had been disrupted because people believed that if acceptance into Heaven was already predetermined then who cares what you do on earth? Pelagius was a major bridge between Christian thought and Celtic philosophy and he devoted himself to spreading many of the ideas that we hold dear in the Episcopal Church today.
I nominate St. Dominic Guzman: Founder of the Order of Preachers, a contemplative order with a mission to use the fruits of contemplation to feed their teaching. The order is dedicated to education and preaching.
I would like to nominate St. Joseph of Nazareth. While he is well known as the husband of Mary & the step father of Jesus, and a behind the scenes contributor, I thought perhaps with all the resources available to you , you could provide more insight on this remarkable man.
My interest is due to the fact I was born on St. Joseph Day, it was my father”said name day & we celebrated the Italian feast day in our house. Also, my maternal grandfather was named Nazareth.
Saint Marguerite D’Youville – A woman who lived with so many tragedies but put her energy into helping others. She lived during the early days of Montreal, Canada. She helped the poor and the sick. She started the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart which is still active.
I nominate Ignatius of Loyola. I and many many others across many generations have experienced God’s formation of our lives through his spiritual exercises. And, what a story!
I nominate Frideswide. My systematic theology professor named his Dachshund after her. His reasoning was always excellent so I’m sure your writers will find gold in their research.
Roland Allen. He was an Anglican missionary to Africa who criticized and challenged the colonialism of the church’s contemporary missionary style, contrasting it with St. Paul’s style of immediately setting up local control. He’s in Holy Women, Holy Men and A Great Cloud of Witnesses (8 June). He’s also one of the dancing saints on St. Gregory of Nyssa’s walls, if that counts. Personal kitsch is probably scarce, but I suspect that there’s a lot of generic missionary kitsch around.
I nominate Balaam, “the Donkey Whisperer” who is celebrated as a “Gentile Prophet,” is referenced in the Revelation to John, is acclaimed by Jospehus, and whose prophecy is poetic. (Literally.) A saint who reminds us to find holy wisdom in unlikely places.
St. David. Any ascetic who makes the monks pull the plow to save the animals is tops in my book.
I started looking around for a saint to nominate. I was thinking I would investigate the Irish saint names used on the Aer Lingus jets, but a chance click on Amazon Prime led to watching a show about St. Peter of Morrone, a.k.a. Pope Celestine V.
As pope, he didn’t do too well, lasting only a few months. He issued the decree that said resigning was possible and then promptly used it for himself.
I’d be interested to learn more about the man and his legacy, from before he was pope and then while pope. One thing I think possible to learn from his papacy is that not everything in life will go A-okay, and that’s okay! But if you do find yourself in a failure, then choose to move on and not wallow.
Also, I saw with some quick searching that some other popes resigned, but reasons mentioned included politics. I suppose failing with politics could be said to have made Peter’s resigning a political resignation, but he chose to do it (according to what I read) vs. forced by politics to resign (i.e., I’ll give you want you want, but only if you give me something I want).
I wonder if Peter’s writing the decree and following through so many hundreds of years ago set up Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation. Of course, I don’t know why Pope Benedict wanted to resign, but if he was even thinking about it, surely knowing he wouldn’t be first could have helped, so possibly a decision so long ago had impact today. Just possibly, one might say it gives a reason for Peter’s failure as pope if it helped a future pope?
Fred Rogers His humble message of acceptance and kindness is much needed today. He was non-judgmental and brought children and their parents to positive messages in earthly and personal ways. He was a telecommunications giant.
I enthusiastically recommend Charles de Foucauld – aka, Charles of Jesus. He’s officially considered a martyr by the RCs, feast day is Dec. 1. He was a Frenchman who, after a party animal sort of life, became an ascetic mystic and lived most of his adult life in the deserts of North Africa. He was in love with Jesus, who he desperately tried to model to his Muslim neighbors by living and working alongside them, sometimes even doing their laundry. He bought one man’s freedom from slavery. He learned Arabic and Toureg. He built a fort for his village to keep them safe from the military unrest of WW1. He also loved solitude and often spent time away from village life out alone in the desert mountains. He was killed by accident by a teenage bandit, which doesn’t sound like a martyr’s death but most other Frenchman had left Algeria for the safety of home. Charles, however, would not leave his beloved friends – even though he also believed they were — cough — heathen savages, 19th century European male that he was. And yet, one of his neighbors is remembered to have said, “How terrible it is to think that such a good man will go to hell when he dies, because he is not a Muslim!”
I nominate St. Melangell, the Patron Saint of Rabbits, Hares & the Natural World. She has an interesting (though obscure) story and a lovely (though also obscure) church in Wales, near where her saga unfolded. In this day and age the Natural World needs all the help it can get, so it would be wonderful if Lent Madness could help spread the word through this compassionate Saint.
I nominate Jonathan Myrick Daniels, a “contestant” in 2013, as I remember.
According to Wikipedia, “Jonathan Myrick Daniels (March 20, 1939 – August 20, 1965) was an Episcopal seminarian and civil rights activist. In 1965, he was assassinated by a shotgun-wielding construction worker, Tom Coleman, who was a special county deputy, in Hayneville, Alabama, while in the act of shielding 17-year-old Ruby Sales.” Though I lived through the 1960’s, and was familiar with the Civil Rights movement, I had never heard of Jonathan until I read about him the first year I participated in Lent Madness. With the recent resurgence of open prejudice, anger at those who are “not one of us”, and increased violence against people of color, I think Jonathan Daniels, a martyr who threw himself in front of an African-American teenager, needs to be better known.
I agree!
I nominate Pandita Mary Ramabai. Born into a Hindu family in India, she converted to Christianity and fought for the rights of women and children in India against all odds. Nevertheless, she persisted. More on her here: https://www.facebook.com/DailyOffice/photos/a.854029014640174.1073741827.170539296322486/189503494426066/?type=3&theater
Alas, I didn’t read through all of the nominations before nominating Pandita Ramabai and I now see someone else has already nominated her. Since there doesn’t appear to be any way to change my nomination, I hope someone else will nominate my second choice, Julia Chester Emery. She did the work of the Church by running the Woman’s Auxiliary of the Episcopal Church for 40 years. The saints of God are just folk like me. More on Julia — https://www.facebook.com/DailyOffice/photos/a.854029014640174.1073741827.170539296322486/306257796083968/?type=3&theater
I nominate St. Benedict (480-543), the Father of Western Monasticism, He founded twelve
communities for monks in Italy that kept alive the art and culture deterioration following
the decline of the Roman Empire. St. Benedict wrote “The Rule,” a manual teaching and
showing the brothers how to live together in harmony, “preferring nothing whatsoever as the
love of Christ.” It is one of the great books of spiritual wisdom; the world’s first international,
best-selling, self-help book–successful withing monastery walls and without. Many books have
drawn upon Benedict’s wisdom: how to run a business, raise a family, cope with illness, and other
living skills. Not bad for a 1500-year old book.
Saint Nomination
Toyohiko Kagawa (1888 – 1960) was a Japanese Christian pacifist, Christian reformer, and labour activist.
Why Toyohiko?
1) He stayed committed to Christianity, despite being disowned by his extended family, whose members were repulsed by his faith.
2) In imitation of Christ, he served the poor, lived among the destitute in Japan, and traveled to the U.S. to study ways of eliminating poverty.
3) He established schools, hospitals, churches.
4) He was arrested by the Japanese government again and again for his activism on behalf of workers during labor strikes.
5) He organized relief work following the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.
6) In 1940, he made a public apology to the people of China for Japan’s invasion, an act which again landed him jail, and was labeled treason by many of his fellow Japanese.
7) He traveled to the United States in a futile attempt to prevent war between America and Japan. And, having survived the war, became an adviser to the transitional Japanese government.
8) He advocated for women’s suffrage.
9) He developed an economic theory for Japan, as expressed in the book “Brotherhood Economics.” His theory proposed that the Christian Church, the cooperative movement, and the peace movement unite in a ‘powerful working synthesis’ to provide a workable alternative to capitalism, state socialism, and fascism.
10) And, finally, first and foremost, he was not interested in the fine points of Christian doctrine: Tohohiko believed and committed his life to the idea that Christianity in action, in imitation of the works of Jesus Christ on behalf of the vulnerable, was the profound truth behind Christianity.
On Monday, April 23rd of this year, the Episcopal Liturgical Calendar celebrated Toyohiko Kagawa as a “Prophetic Witness in Japan.”
I nominate Hannah Grier Coome, the once-reluctant but ever-adventurous founder of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine in Toronto, Canada. Born in 1837, married in 1859, widowed in 1878, Hannah was travelling to England following the death of her husband when she was asked to found the first Canadian Anglican religious community. She wasn’t even a nun! But she accepted this distinct calling from God, and set off to do her novitiate training in Peekskill, NY. Two years later, on September 8, 1884, Hannah earned the distinction of being professed as a sister and simultaneously named Mother Superior of a community. Hannah’s and SSJD’s great legacy is that they pioneered rehabilitation health care when the medical profession of the day poo-pooed it. Today, St. John’s Rehab Hospital is a state-of-the-art facility in Toronto that treats soldiers and civilians who have suffered catastrophic injuries. Go Hannah!
Great story! Thanks for sharing!
The following is NOT a Saint nomination: for one thing, Antoinette Tuff is still alive; and, for another, she doesn’t even have an entry on Wikipedia, much less a commemoration on a church’s calendar.
I just think more people should know about this bravehearted, compassionate Christian woman.
In August of 2013, Antoinette Tuff, a bookkeeper at an elementary school in Decatur, Georgia, demonstrated extraordinary compassion and courage when faced with a distraught gunman, a young man armed with an AK47 rifle and nearly 500 rounds of ammunition. Antoinette managed to convince him to allow her to call 911, and, for the next 25 minutes, acted as a mediator between the police dispatcher and the young man. Tuff shared stories of heartbreak from her own life to help calm him down — a recent divorce, a son with multiple disabilities. At one point she said, “It’s going to be all right, sweetie,” she said. “I just want you to know I love you, though, OK? And I’m proud of you.”
Ultimately, with Antoinette by his side, the young gunman finally surrendered. Not a single person was wounded, much less killed.
Antoinette attributed her brave compassion, her ability to see beyond superficial differences, including race (the gunman was white, and Tuff and most of the students at the elementary school were black), to her Christian faith.
Here’s a link to more info about Antoinette Tuff’s story:
https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/22/us/georgia-school-shooting-hero/index.html
Hurrah for Antoinette Tuff! Someday, 100 years from now, may she be commemorated on some church calendar somewhere, and ultimately be a contestant in the Lent Madness Tournament.
Talk about “living your faith.” Antoinette Tuff is truly a saint.
Mother Hannah rocks. The Sisterhood of St. John the Divine continues to be a progressive women’s order, true to its roots but adapting to changing times when it makes sense.
Hugh of Lincoln.
Sorry, I see you require a “Why” added to the nomination. Hugh of Lincoln, because:
“As a bishop, he was exemplary, constantly in residence or travelling within his diocese, generous with his charity, scrupulous in the appointments he made. He raised the quality of education at the cathedral school. Hugh was also prominent in trying to protect the Jews, great numbers of whom lived in Lincoln, in the persecution they suffered at the beginning of Richard I’s reign, and he put down popular violence against them—as later occurred following the death of Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln—in several places.”
(Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_of_Lincoln )
St. Wilfrid (Wilfred), feast day October 12
I would like to nominate a worthy Canadian woman, Hannah Grier Coome (1837 – 1921), founder of the Anglican Sisterhood of St. the Divine in Canada — to this day a thriving and creative community of women in Toronto, Ontario and Victoria, British Columbia making an active contribution to the emerging church, the new monasticism, spiritual formation, and pastoral care.
I would like to nominate Sir Wilfred Grenfell, medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador. While he is not well known today, I remember growing up with Sunday School stories of his work amongst the fishermen and inhabitants of the isolated coastal communities where he helped establish hospitals, nursing stations, schools as well as other social services which were desperately needed. My elder siblings went to Sir Wilfred Grenfell elementary school in Vancouver, so it was another connection for us. His feast day in the Episcopal Church (USA) is October 9th (unfortunately not in the Anglican Church of Canada!).
I am nominating St. Anne of David’s house, mother of Mary and grandmother to Jesus. When burdened with the weight of my worries I say the nine day novena to Anne and my troubles are gone. She always intercedes for me!
I would like to nominate Blessed Father Stanley Rother who was recently beautified in Oklahoma City his feast day is July 28th on the calendar of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. He was and continues to be an example of living a Christian life, persevering to the end, and dying as a martyr. For it was on the blood of the Martyrs that our faith is founded.
I would like to nominate Hannah Grier Coome who in 1884 founded the only Anglican Sisterhood which was founded in Canada. She appears on the Ordo of the Anglican Church of Canada. The Sisterhood was founded ” to do anything a woman can do” which in our day is everything. A sampling of how they have met the needs of people irrespective of race, colour, or creed is they have worked in schools, homes for the elderly, missions to the poor, retreat houses, they do spiritual direction and anything which comes to hand to help feed the spiritual hunger so prevalent in our world of today. Mother Hannah was an expert in Church Embroidery and for the first 100 years the community made vestments. Until a few years ago, they had an active white embroidery department which made the linens for many churches. Since 1885 to the present day they have worked in health care founding a field hospital during the Riel Rebellion which has grown into the Moose Jaw General Hospital of today. In the late 1930’s, they founded St. John’s Rehab, where they still work, a flourishing hospital in Toronto. Her legacy of courage and vision is great and I think that she deserves the recognition of being in Lent Madness.
I would like to nominate Jonathan Daniels from Keene New Hampshire,a seminarian and Civil Rights worker who gave bravely stood in front of a black woman she was about to be shot, and thus lost his own life.
Henry Martyn, a young academic who devoted his life to mission, and learned multiple languages to translate the Scriptures and the BCP into people’s own languages for them to understand and appreciate.
I nominate St. Barnabas (June 11), the first apostle (Acts 14:14) from outside of the Holy Land (he was from Cyprus), who set a precedent that people who the Church leaders discerned were “full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” could be leaders regardless of where they were from. Leadership was therefore not restricted to people from the same geographic area as the original leaders (or even related to them). He discerned that Paul’s conversion was genuine and “sold” the original disciples on that. He was generous (“he sold a piece of land belonging to him and took the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet”). He was secure enough to hire St. Paul as his curate (think about that) while serving as the “first missionary bishop” (to Antioch) where he led an extremely cosmopolitan church, including a black man as second-in-command. He then went on the first systematic journey of evangelism into pagan territory in Asia Minor, and was not seduced by being addressed as Zeus (people have swooned for far more modest titles). His name was a nickname — “Son of encouragement,” and do we ever need encouragement these days. And, he gave it all, dying as a martyr.
Can Holy Mary, Mother of God, be nominated? If so, I would like to nominate her as Our Lady, Untier of Knots. I love the painting of her by Johann Georg Schmidtner, c. 1700.
I nominate Enmegahbowh Priest and Missionary.
John Johnson Enmegahbowh, an Odawa (Ottawa) Indian from Canada, born in 1807,
was raised in the Midewiwin traditional healing way of his grandfather and the Christian religion of his mother. He came into the United States as a Methodist missionary in 1832.
Enmegahbowh invited James Lloyd Breck to Gull Lake, where together they founded St. Columba’s Mission in 1852. The Mission was later moved to White Earth, where Enmegahbowh served until his death in 1902.
Enmegahbowh was consistant as a man of peace, inspiring the Waubanaquot (Chief white Cloud) Mission, which obtained a lasting peace between the Ojibway and the Dakota peoples.
Enmegahbowh (“The One who stands Before his People”) is the first recognized Native American priest in The Episcopal Church. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Kemper in 1859 and priest by Bishop Wipple in the cathedral at Fairbault in 1867. Enmegahbowh helped train many others to serve as deacons throughout northern Minnesota. His understanding of Native tradition enabled him to enculturate Christianity in the language and traditions of the Ojibway. He tirelessly traveled throughout Minnesota and beyond, actively participating in the development of mission strategy and policy for The Episcopal Church.
I would like to nominate Johan von Hulst, who died recently at the age of 107. Director of a Protestant religious seminary in Amsterdam during the Holocaust, he saved more than 600 Jewish children by smuggling them through a hedge to his seminary from the center where they awaited deportation to concentration camps. Describing one rescue, he said: “Try to imagine 80, 90, perhaps 70 or 100 children standing there, and you have to decide which children to take with you… That was the most difficult day of my life…. You know for a fact that the children you leave behind are going to die. I took 12 with me. Later on I asked myself: ‘Why not 13?'” That “Why not 13?” could be words to live by. I am not sure if Johan van Hulst is eligible, but he was named one of the Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial center in Jerusalem; the Episcopal calendar of saints includes Righteous Among the Nations (Righteous Gentiles) as the July 16 Feast Day. However, if Johan von Hulst is NOT eligible, I don’t want to waste my one nomination and would nominate instead St. Gregory of Narek, Armenia’s first great poet, who lived at about 1000 A.D. and was also a mystical philosopher, theologian, composer and saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church and Catholic Church. Known for his lamentations, when asked “”What can one offer to God, our creator, who already has everything and knows everything better than we could ever express it?,” he answered, “”the sighs of the heart.” P.S. I am not nominating 2 people, only one and a Plan B, so please do not disqualify this entry!
I would like to nominate Anna Julia Cooper. Feb 28th is AJC day in the prayer book. She was an incredible force in the areas of Women’s Rights and African American advancement. She also was an educator who had a school in Washington DC.
A deep thinker, she graduated from the Sorbonne. A wonderful quote of hers appears on the
US passport. There is also a special Episcopal school in Richmond VA named for her that serves students from public housing with difficult home situations.
While not well known, she lived a life that made a difference and changed the lives of many.
I would love to nominate RAHAB for the 2019 Lent Madness list. Who is Rahab? She was a harlot who lived with her family upon the walls of the walled Canaanite city of Jericho. She had heard powerful stories of the God of the Israelites so when their spies entered her city to destroy it and claim the city part of their Promised Land, she protected them, and thus saved herself and her family from complete destruction. The scarlet cord she was instructed to hang in her window signaled to the Israelites to spare her and her household. She holds a place in the family tree of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ.
I would like to nominate Hermano Pedro de San Jose Betancurt, a little known saint at least to me. Here in Antigua, Guatemala where he lived and served as missionary in the 1600’s I see the fruits of the seeds he planted daily. He aspired to be a priest but could not master the academics ( learning disabilities?) but served faithfully as a deacon, tertiary Franciscan and founded the order of our Lady of Bethlehem. He embodied the Beatitudes as he served the poor, the sick, and the incarcerated.
I would like to nominate the Bishop Paul Jones, remembered on the calendar of saints of the Episcopal Church on Sept 4.
Bishop Paul Jones was forced to resign in 1918 as Missionary Bishop of Utah due to his stance on war being “unchristian”. His passion for social justice and peace called him to be one of the founders of FOR/Fellowship of Reconciliation and the then Episcopal Pacifist Fellowship now EPF/Episcopal Peace Fellowship.
Bishop Paul Jones is remembered on Sept 4.
I nominate Ananias of Damascus. His feast day is January 25. He is one of my favorite Biblical characters. When God told him to go minister to Saul of Tarsus, he said, “Um, isn’t that the one who’s here to persecute the church?” But when God insisted, Ananias not only went, but he greeted the other as, “Brother Saul.” What faithful obedience.
I also want to say that I LOVED the new bracket quadrants this year. Please organize an equivalent grouping for 2019. So many saints that would otherwise never have made it out of the first round were still under consideration in the Elate Eight. Delightful.
+1 on the brackets. That was a great idea….
I nominate William Wilberforce. He did much to fight against slavery and lost his health, reputation and a great deal of money to do so. the movie Amazing Grace, which was about his story, reduced me to slobbery tears.
Yes, he was truly a saint. I’d like to see him in the mix next Lent.
I was very impressed with the church and monastery dedicated to St. Francis Solano in Lima, Peru.
St Francis was a 16th century Franciscan friar who practiced strict habits of poverty. After much ministry in Spain, he was sent to South America where he was an effective evangelist among the indigenous peoples. One tale of his life is that he entered a gathering one Christmas Eve and played his fiddle with such joy that soon everybody there was dancing and celebrating. I would like to nominate him for Lent Madness 2019.
I want to nominate Jose Sanchez Del Rio who was a martyred Mexican cristero at age 14 in 1928 because he would not deny his Catholic faith. Good example.
I nominate St. Apollonia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Apollonia
She was one of the early martyrs who died for refusing to renounce her faith. Not unimportantly, she is the patron saint of dentists! Her portrait has been painted by no less than Andy Warhol and James Christiansen. Her images are all over old churches in Europe (Toothaches must have been a common ailment).
Saint Sr Mary Ann Cope should be considered: she left her home, and the East coast of the US and set up health and education and living services for residents of Molokai; she worked with Saint Father Damian de Veuster (sp), and recruited workers to provide compassionate care to the inhabitants of the colony
Would like to learn more about Christina Rosetti, commemorated today.
Just read an intriguing article in Episcopal Cafe referring to her as a mystic, possibly lesbian, “queer mystic.”
That might be a first…or not.
In any case:
https://www.episcopalcafe.com/feast-day-of-christina-rossetti/
P.S. Is there a way to immediately move to the Comment section without having to scroll through?
Thanks for the fun learning yo bring us every Lent…and beyond.
Just realized my two typos: “you (bring us)” but more importantly,”Rossetti.”
Thanks.
Thanks,Maya.
I’m nominating Benedict of Nursia, a 5th-6th century Christian monk, who is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Catholic Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Anglican Communion. He is a patron saint of Europe. Benedict’s main achievement is his “Rule of Saint Benedict”, containing precepts for his monks. As a result, his Rule became one of the most influential religious rules in Western Christendom. For this reason, Benedict is often called the founder of Western Christian monasticism. The later founded Order of St Benedict continues today with both monks (male) and nuns (female) monasteries.
The main mission of these orders today is education .
I am probably wasting my one nomination because I am nominating a Quaker. Since Quakers don’t use titles and are not in favor of pomp in any aspect of life, I seriously doubt that they have “saints.” But I would like people to know about this person.
I nominate John Woolman, often called the Quaker Saint. He lived from 1720 to 1772, originally from the New Jersey colony.
He was a strong advocate against slavery and was instrumental in having Quakers abolish slavery. When he visited plantations to encourage slave owners to give up and free their slaves, he refused to stay in their home and be served by slaves. Instead, he stayed in the slave quarters.
He was also a strongly opposed to economic injustice and oppression. He advocated for Native Americans. And he was on of the first voices in our country to oppose the cruel abuse of animals. He also advocated for better conditions on mercantile ships, where filth, disease and even piracy took place.
Even if he is not already a “saint,” he should be!
Our world filled with the loud beating of the drums of war needs a counter melody to woo us back to our senses. Perhaps the pen of a poet could do it. Please consider including Christina Rossetti next year. The church would benefit from a good soak in the words of our poets who call us to live life more deeply.
Saint Nicholas would be my pick!
I nominate Mother Hannah, Hannah Grier Coome, who in 1884, founded the Anglican Sisterhood of St. John the Divine in Toronto. Her willingness to step forward in new fields is an encouragement to all who strive to listen to God’s voice. Not only those who have joined the Order as Sisters, but many hundreds of others have walked along her path as Associates and Oblates and Retreatants.
Helder Camara. Archbishop Roman Catholic Church in Brazil 1964-1985.
Known for his progressive views on social questions. Quote attributed to him, “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”
I also nominate Mother Hannah Grier Coome founder of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine, an Anglican women’s order whose Mother House is in Toronto, Ontario. The order continues today as a mixed active/contemplative order whose guest house offers quiet days and retreats to busy men and women who need time apart to listen to God. The order also provides spiritual care for patients and their loved ones at St.. John’s Rehabilitation Hospital which the sisters founded.
I would like to nominate Mary Baker Eddy. We recently took a trip to Boston and visited the exhibit of the world globe. As we walked around the museum, I was very taken by the information about Mary Baker Eddy and her founding of the Church of Christian Science. She was instrumental in many religious charities that offered help to the whole world. She was a remarkable woman.
I am super excited about my nomination, St. Herman of Alaska and the first saint of North America. No kidding!
Born near Moscow around 1760 and joined the monastery of Valaam. In 1793, 10 years after Alaska was colonized by Russia, its governor/administrator Alexander Baranov requested spiritual guidance for the Aleut Indians. Herman and nine other Orthodox priests and monks from Valaam made the treacherous journey across the Bering Sea to primitive Kodiak Island. These original Russian missionaries had a tremendous impact on Alaska – where tiny Russian Orthodox churches dot the landscape to this day. They built a school, a church, made outreach, labored to raise their own food and made many friends.
Of the 10 men, only St. Herman survived beyond a few years. He’s know for his defense and intervention on behalf of the native Aleuts who were harshly treated by the Russian fur traders and administrators of the Russian America Company. He defended those who had been offended. He helped those who were in need with whatever means he had available.
Eventually Father Herman sought to return to a hermetic life and he relocated from Kodiak Island to tiny Spruce Island a mile away. Undeterred, the Aleuts, men, women and children, often visited him and their close community continued. Some Aleuts asked for advice, others complained of oppression, others sought out defense, and still others desired help. Each one received personal care and concern from Father Herman. He discussed their mutual difficulties, and he tried to settle these peacefully. He was especially concerned about reestablishing understanding in families. If he did not succeed in reconciling a husband and wife, Father Herman suggested for the coupl to separate temporarily. The need for such a procedure he explained thus, “it is better to let them live apart, or believe me, it can be terrible if they are not separated. There have been incidents when a husband killed his wife, or when a wife destroyed her husband.”
Father Herman especially loved children. He made large quantities of biscuits for them, and he baked cookies (krendelki) for them; and the saint is often depicted in icons where he is joined with a gaggle of Aleut kids.
St. Herman was a kind and gentle man who is a perfect example of “doing the next right thing” in harsh and primitive circumstances. His witness lives on!
Another great reason for considering St Herman is the absolutely breathtaking artwork available with his image.
and … imagine the possibilities for Lent Madness – maybe a first romp into Alaska-themed, saintly reality tv. Am I right, yeah?
Miiyuyum, Greetings to you all,
I humbly nominate Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, the Lily of the Mohawks, first Native American Saint. the story of her conversion, her strength through suffering and her short life of holiness while following The Creators Path serves as inspiration for us all.
I nominate Clement of Alexandria. A 2nd-century convert to Christianity, Clement was well versed in Greek philosophy and the Hellenistic worldview of his upbringing. His promotion of Christian faith, in three fully extant works and fragments of others, rested on a profound understanding of the views of differing faiths and cultures (and of his own), and was born of a respectful if critical approach to these views.
Clement’s work remain an important part of the library of early Church Fathers’ teachings, and represents a fascinating example of the powerful influence Greek thought had on early development of Christianity, as epitomized in thinkers such as Augustine and Dionysius the Areopagite, as well as Clement and others.
Clement offers a fine example of discourse that could use more popularity today: sensitive and respectful while rigorous and critical.
I would like to nominate Hannah Grier Coome, the Mother Foundress of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine, the only Anglican Religious Community to be founded in Canada. After her husband died of cancer, she planned to return to England where she had spent most of her married life, to join a Religious Community there whom she had come to know well after the miscarriage of her only child followed by a long and painful convalescence. A group of men and women in Toronto asked her to found a religious community in Toronto which she did in 1884 after two years of training and preparation. She and the sisters responded to the call to oversee a military field hospital in Moose Jaw in 1885; to found a small hospital in Toronto that same year; 4 years later to found the first Surgical Hospital for Women in Toronot; to start a training school for nurses in 1901, to open homes for the aged in 1886, to provide the Sisters to staff Bishop Bethune College in Oshawa and a kindergarten and elementary school in Toronto. This Sisterhood is still flourishing today.
I nominate Saint Aebbe/Ebba of Coldingham (615-683). She was a noblewoman who converted to Christianity while she and her family were exiled in western Scotland. When they returned to eastern Scotland she founded monasteries in St. Abb’s Head and Ebchester. She was also a skilled negotiator, which she used to help resolve disputes between warring factions. In the Scottish Episcopal Church, her feast day is August 25.
I nominate St. Perpetua author of The Passion of Saint Perpetua, Saint Felicitas, and their Companions is one of the oldest and most notable early Christian texts. It survives in both Latin and Greek forms, and purports to contain the actual prison diary of the young mother and martyr Perpetua. Scholars generally believe that it is authentic although in the form we have it may have been edited by others. The text also purports to contain, in his own words, the accounts of the visions of
Saturus, another Christian martyred with Perpetua. An editor who states he was an eyewitness has added accounts of the martyrs’ suffering and deaths. Catalogued by the Bollandists as BHL 6633-6636, BHG1482
Perpetua and Felicity (believed to have died in 203 AD) were Catholic Christian martyrs of the 3rd century. Vibia Perpetua was a married noblewoman, said to have been 22 years old at the time of her death, and mother of an infant she was nursing. Felicity, a slave imprisoned with her and pregnant at the time, was martyred with her. They were put to death along with others at Carthage in the Roman province of Africa.
According to the passion narrative, a slave named Revocatus, his fellow slave Felicitas, the two freemen Saturninus and Secundulus, and Perpetua, who were catechumens, that is, Christians being instructed in the faith but not yet baptized, were arrested and executed at the military games in celebration of the Emperor Septimus Severus’s birthday. To this group was added a man named Saturus, who voluntarily went before the magistrate and proclaimed himself a Christian.
LENT MADNESS
I nominate Hannah Grier Coome, a widow, the first Reverend Mother of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine in Canada, who could be called an ‘accidental mother’. She had suffered a miscarriage and been told she could never have children then ended up being the Mother-Foundress of the only Canadian Anglican women’s religious order. After training at St. Mary’s Peekskill, NY, Mother Hannah founded the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine in Toronto in 1884.
Toronto was a Protestant stronghold and the Sisters faced strong opposition but that changed after they provided nursing care in Saskatchewan for the wounded of the short-lived Riel uprising. People realized a women’s religious order could be a formidable force for good works at a time when governments provided few social services.
Because of her miscarriage and ensuing long convalescence, Mother Hannah was particularly interested in the health care of women. In 1885 she began the first women’s hospital in Canada, St. John’s Surgical Hospital for Women, which took in paying and non-paying patients. Mother Hannah realized that the spiritual needs of patients was as important as their physical needs. Mother Hannah and the community went on to run schools, hospitals and homes for the aged, to visit the poor and sick, and provide food and clothing to many.
Mother Hannah was both devout and practical. She said: ‘The object of a Community is first, personal sanctification; second active charity. The life of prayer and devotion must come first or the Community will soon sink down into a society of persons living together for the work they can do, instead of a society gathered together in the Church to live in loving devotion to Almighty God, irrespective of the work each member may accomplish.’
Rooted in this ethos, the 21 Sisters of St. John the Divine continue to maintain a mixed life of prayer and service in Toronto and Victoria, B.C.
Sr. Helen Claire
I nominate St. Jarlath. Our church book gang read Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy. St. Jarlath was prominently mentioned. None of us had ever heard of him. It turns out he was an Irish saint who founded the monastery of Cluain Fois, and presided over it as abbot and Bishop. He then founded a school attached to the monastery which became known as a center of learning. St. Brendan of Clonfert and St. Colman of Cloyne were his pupils. I think it would be fun to learn more about him!
He does sound interesting!
I would like to nominate Father Suitbert Mollinger who founded St.Anthony’s Chapel in Pittsburgh, PA and collected over 5,000 relics, the largest collection outside of Rome. Born of a wealthy family he studied medicine in Italy to become a medical doctor. He then entered the seminary at the age of 24 to become a priest. He used his own funds to build the Chapel to house the relics. You could say he is the patron saint of relics! He used both his faith, medical knowledge and relics to heal the tens of thousands of sick people who annually made pilgrimages there. He was known as the healing priest.
I pass St. Josephat’s Ukrainian Catholic Church on my way to the nearest Episcopal Church each week.
I want to nominate Hannah Grier Coome, the Mother Foundress of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine, in Canada. I believe she is worthy of both being part of Lent Madness, and of achieving the glorious crown of the Golden Halo. From the book, A Journey Just Begun, “Most religious communities begin with an individual’s resolute belief that they have been singularly called by God to establish one. Such was not the case with the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine: Canada’s first Anglican community of sisters sprang to life when a church committee cornered a reluctant widow who was trying to leave the country.” That reluctant widow was Mother Hannah! She possessed many wonderful virtues, including a delightful sense of humour (I’m Canadian, so you get Canadian spelling with this). The community is still flourishing as we continue the journey she began with the establishment of this Sisterhood in 1884 in Toronto, Canada.
The Venerable Mother Catherine Elizabeth McAuley (29 September 1778 – 11 November 1841). Catherine recognized the many needs of people who were economically poor in early nineteenth century Ireland and determined that she and women like her could make a difference. Spending her inheritance, she opened the first House of Mercy in Dublin, Ireland on September 24, 1827, a place to shelter and educate women and girls. Catherine’s original intention was to assemble a lay corps of Catholic social workers. Impressed by her good works and the importance of continuity in the ministry, the Archbishop of Dublin advised her to establish a religious congregation. Three years later on December 12, 1831, Catherine and two companions became the first Sisters of Mercy. In the 10 years between the founding and her death, she established 14 independent foundations in Ireland and England.
The first Sisters of Mercy arrived in the United States from Ireland in 1843 at the invitation of the Bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their energy in ministering to the sick and economically poor attracted so many new members that by 1854, sisters had come from Ireland to settle in New York City; Chicago, Illinois; Little Rock, Arkansas; and San Francisco, California, spreading across the country and establishing schools and hospitals. Since then, the works of Mercy have expanded to embrace education, health care and pastoral and social services in hundreds of sites today.
St Hilda of Whitby. Founded and presided over a double monastery for men and women–in the Celtic style– at Whitby England in mid 600s.
Presided over Synod of Whitby there, an important turning point in Christian history. She was known as a peacemaker and wise counsilor. Nobles and commoners sought her advise freely. She encouraged and supported many, including Caedmon-a herdsman- who was directed in a dream to write songs to God in the vernacular. Very unusual in early Christianity.
I would like to nominate Evelyn Underhill for her contributions to Christian mysticism and the contemplative tradition, and because I have not yet seen her nominated.
St. Dismas (the Good Thief) (March 25)
Dismas shows all of us that it is never too late to repent of our sins and to receive the loving forgiveness of the Lord. I jokingly call him “The patron saint of being in the right place at the right time”.
I nominate St. Gregory of Narek, whose prayers are beautiful and moving. These prayer poems have been published as Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart. Some of them have not only opened me up to deeper personal prayer, but their words have helped me to understand God more deeply.
I also enjoyed the special quadrants of the bracket this year. A suggestion for one could be one for Doctors of the Church. Gregory of Narek was recently named a Doctor (that is, teacher) of the Church by Pope Francis. Other nominees I’ve noticed who are Doctors are Hildegard of Bingen, Therese of Lisieux, Catherine of Siena, Ephrem the Syrian, Thomas Aquinas. It’s a temporally diverse bunch, to say the least. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_the_Church
The category of Doctor has its limitations (only Catholic non-martyrs) but the quadrant could be expanded to others who are also the great teachers of the church, including more recent Protestant theologians or ancient theologians who are not considered Doctors by the institutional church (such as Gregory of Nyssa).
I nominate Bl. Miguel Pro. Disquised as a beggar, wealthy businessman, street sweeper, or policeman, Jesuit priest Miguel Pro ministered undercover to his fellow Mexican Christians during the anti-clerical regime of the 1920’s. When captured, he stood before his firing squad, whom he forgave, with his arms open as on a cross boldly bearing witness shouting, ” Viva, Cristo Rey”. His feast day is Nov. 23.
I nominate Manche Masemola who is celebrated on the Anglican calendar 4 February.
In her culture and era she was nearly powerless but in her own person she was a voice for faith in Christ in the face of persecution and misunderstanding. She wrote no treatises, gave no sermons, founded no movements or institutions, and accomplished nothing noteworthy, except to let nothing, not even the risk to her life, stand in the way of her decision to follow Christ.
I nominate St. Catherine of Siena for her fearless letter writing (campaign) to nobles and church officials in behalf of the less fortunate.
I cast my vote for David Pendleton Oakerhater for Lent Madness 2019 and the Golden Halo. “God’s Warrior” became my husband’s and my favorite saint back in 1996 when we were living in Amarillo Texas and traveled to Roman Nose State Park to renew our wedding vows over a weekend of serenity, peace and love. We’d been married 33 years and needed time alone, in a special place of nature and tranquility. What we discovered was a miracle of joy and blessing…and David Pendleton Oakerhater. We’d never heard of him, but there was a bust and plaque of him at the Park and his story of transformation and redemption. David has become “our saint” over the years. We’re getting ready to celebrate our 55th wedding anniversary. And Pendleton’s story and spiritual journey continue to inspire and bless us. The first Native American Deacon will get my vote for Golden Halo always.