Zenaida vs. Pandita Ramabai

Who will face Martha of Bethany for the Golden Halo? That’s the question for today after Martha stung Gobnait 51% to 49% despite a late swarm (and a whiff of overzealous Gobnait supporters) to reach the Lent Madness Championship round.

To get to this point, Zenaida took down Apollonia, Nicholas of Myra, and John Chrysostom, while Pandita defeated Damien of Molokai, Marguerite d’Youville, and William Wilberforce. Whoever wins, the Golden Halo will be decided on Spy Wednesday, with the results announced at 8:00 am Eastern Time on Maundy Thursday. The end is near!

SEC Reminder: We know people get swept up in the fervor of Lent Madness, and sometimes they get so excited they want to vote a few times. Yesterday, we observed quite a few cases of people voting for one saint several times, often 20 or more times. When we catch these, we ban those IP addresses and, assuming we can ascertain with confidence the number of votes, we reverse the votes. Our goal is to make Lent Madness fair and fun for everyone, one person making one vote. We use a combination of manual and automated systems to watch this and yesterday, to try to get these as early as possible, we set our triggers pretty low. So if you find yourself banned, do let us know. And make sure you’re only voting one time per contest! Big Lent is watching…

Oh, and if for some crazy set of circumstances, you missed yesterday’s final in-season episode of Monday Madness featuring our first-ever in studio guest, make sure to catch it here.

Zenaida
ZenaidaAs the sun began to rise over the mountains, Zenaida, Philonella, and Hermione linked hands and bowed their heads in prayer. Lifting their words and hearts to God, they ask that they be filled with grace to serve today’s patients. Zenaida loved this opportunity to connect with her sisters before a busy day at their make-shift hospital. The sisters found that beginning each day with prayer helped them focus their care and practice so that they would not only minister to what ailed their patients’ physical bodies, but also called them to minister to their spirits.

The day was going to be a hot one. The dust from the caves made it difficult to keep the wounds of the patients clean. The sisters gave thanks regularly that the cave where they housed their “unmercenary” hospital had a mineral spring to aid in cleaning the patients. So many of the poor arrived dirty, malnourished, and dehydrated. The spring was a gift to their pracZenaida Icontice that kept giving.

Despite the heat and dirt, Zenaida was excited. She had asked her cousin, Paul the Apostle, to come by. There was a patient who had asked to be baptized. This baptism was especially heartening as this patient had been convinced only magics, charms, and amulets could heal his illness. She knew through her studies that there were far more effective treatments available and that his true healing would only come through nurturing his whole person: mind, body, and spirit. Zenaida felt that she was helping him make a real breakthrough in his mental and spiritual health when he asked for the healing waters of baptism. He finally seemed to realize that no physical cure was sustaining without the gift of salvation.

Today, Zenaida felt the presence of the Holy Spirit strongly. So many of the patients thanked her and her sisters for the free healthcare they provided. She wished she could explain to them that the opportunity to share the love of God with others was worth more than any gold they could ever pay. In fact, Zenaida and Philonella had plans to take their inheritance and invest in building a hospital in nearby Demitriada. Zenaida knew she would have no need of her wealth as long as she could continue to serve the people of God. She was at peace.

Heavenly Father, we asked that we are called to be unmercenary like Zenaida and her sisters. That in our thoughts, words, actions, and lives that we consider giving freely of the greatest gift you have given us as humans: to love. Amen.

Anna Courie

 

Pandita Ramabai
PanditaIn 1858, Pandita Ramabai was born into a high caste Indian family who defied custom by educating her. When she was widowed, she could support herself with her scholarly skills. However, she saw other widows thrust into dire poverty. Ramabai believed that the way to improve the status of women and change her culture was to educate widows so that they could provide for themselves. She went to England and fundraised to this end. There, moved by Jesus’s conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, she became a Christian. “I realized…that…no one but [Christ] could transform and uplift the downtrodden women of India.”

Upon returning to India, she began Sharada Sadan school and the Mukti Mission, which still operate today, teaching women trades so that they can support themselves independently. Her social activism was remarkable in her time, and her example of a life given to social transformation makes her deserving of the Golden Halo.

The need for such social transformation remains with us to this day. The United Nations, as part of its Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 has focused on girls’ education because of the multiplier effect educating a girl has on a country’s economy.[1] Poverty, child marriage, and cultural traditions such as dowries are among the main obstacles to girls’ education.

According to UNICEF, “India has the highest absolute number of child brides in the world – 15,509,000. 27% of girls in India are married before their 18th birthday and 7% are married before the age of 15.”[2] Developed nations are not free of this problem. A Frontline investigation revealed that in the United States 200,000 legal marriages with at least one minor took place between 2000 and 2015. “The vast majority of child marriages were between a child and an adult. The majority of married children were girls.”[3]

The effects of child marriage are striking. When a girl gets married instead of educated, her marriage has an imbalance of power and she is more likely to be a victim of domestic violence. Statistically, she will have more children she will struggle to feed, and they will be less healthy. She will likely not have the skills to be independent, and if her husband dies, she may become destitute. Pandita Ramabai sought to change this reality for women.

For her challenge to cultural and religious hierarchy, she was vocally criticized. Her conversion to Christianity put her at the center of a debate about Colonialism and Indian nationalism, where she remains for some to this day.[4] But one cannot argue that her education, her convictions, and her faith in the liberating love of Jesus have led her to change the lives of thousands of women, a work that continues in her name. In honor of all the women touched by Ramabai’s mission, let’s award her the Golden Halo!

Amber Belldene

Zenaida vs. Pandita Ramabai

  • Pandita Ramabai (61%, 4,157 Votes)
  • Zenaida (39%, 2,675 Votes)

Total Voters: 6,832

Loading ... Loading ...

Zenaida: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenaida_and_Philonella#/media/File:Menologion_of_Basil_023.jpg
https://catalog.obitel-minsk.com/imp-01-00-st-zinaida.html
[1] https://www.bridgeinternationalacademies.com/educating-girls-multiplier/
[2] https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/child-marriage/india/
[3] http://apps.frontline.org/child-marriage-by-the-numbers/
[4] https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/is-christian-conversion-missions-in-india-social-reform-the-case-of-pandita-ramabai

106 Comments to "Zenaida vs. Pandita Ramabai"

  1. John Cabot's Gravatar John Cabot
    April 16, 2019 - 8:01 am | Permalink

    Sometimes people find cheating exciting
    Yet it leads to a place uninviting
    Don’t risk Purgatory
    For personal glory
    It’s more fun to have contests nail-biting!

    • Diana's Gravatar Diana
      April 16, 2019 - 8:13 am | Permalink

      Hail to the SEC,
      Two fine upstanding guys;
      They’ll not let cheaters win the day,
      They watch with narrowed eyes
      For voting patterns sad
      Perhaps for hanging chads
      So vote but once
      Enjoy the game
      And keep Lent Madness glad.

      What Saint would want to win
      A Golden Halo bright
      By cheaters voting more than once?
      They grieve the loss of light,
      In those who cannot see
      How they destroy the fun
      Of those who love Lent Madness, thus
      Their cheating is a blight.

      Tune: Crown Him With Many Crowns

      • Michelle C's Gravatar Michelle C
        April 16, 2019 - 8:26 am | Permalink

        Good poem and song. Thanks.

      • Michelle C's Gravatar Michelle C
        April 16, 2019 - 8:28 am | Permalink

        Thanks for the poem and song. So glad the SEC caught the cheating. For shame, cheaters.

      • April 16, 2019 - 8:55 am | Permalink

        Oh, Diana! That’s simply marvelous.

      • Susan Lee Hauser's Gravatar Susan Lee Hauser
        April 16, 2019 - 9:22 am | Permalink

        “Hanging chads”!! Hysterical!

        • Pat Watson's Gravatar Pat Watson
          April 16, 2019 - 8:05 pm | Permalink

          I’m from Florida, I know those chads well. Possibly the SEC could monitor the next US election

      • Chris Rhoads's Gravatar Chris Rhoads
        April 16, 2019 - 9:53 am | Permalink

        Made my day! So cheery! Thank you!

      • Diane in Colorado's Gravatar Diane in Colorado
        April 16, 2019 - 9:58 am | Permalink

        So much creativity in the Lent Madness community. Humor, thought provoking discussion and an inspiring way to the start the day. Why on earth would anyone cheat? There is obviously still much for us to learn.

        • Donna Lindsey's Gravatar Donna Lindsey
          April 16, 2019 - 1:53 pm | Permalink

          Agree!

      • Cheryl O'Donoghue's Gravatar Cheryl O'Donoghue
        April 16, 2019 - 11:07 am | Permalink

        Love this!

      • Laura of Ohio's Gravatar Laura of Ohio
        April 16, 2019 - 12:26 pm | Permalink

        Diana, I just love what you did with that hymn!! Very clever!

    • Ed's Gravatar Ed
      April 16, 2019 - 9:11 am | Permalink

      How is it even possible?

      • Karen Sculley's Gravatar Karen Sculley
        April 16, 2019 - 9:41 am | Permalink

        Yes, how is it even possible that we are treated to two splendid and creative writings so soon after the SEC morning news? Well done, John Cabot & Diana, and thank you for bringing joy to the LM community!

        • Pamela Payne's Gravatar Pamela Payne
          April 16, 2019 - 5:22 pm | Permalink

          I agree! Love the writing and songs of John, Diana and Michael. They have truly made this Lent Madness extra special.

    • Susan Lee Hauser's Gravatar Susan Lee Hauser
      April 16, 2019 - 9:21 am | Permalink

      Haha! Very funny, John!

  2. Michael Wachter's Gravatar Michael Wachter
    April 16, 2019 - 8:02 am | Permalink

    Today, we pay tribute to Zenaida and Pandita Ramabai and the final contest of the Faithful Four to the tune of “Three Little Maids from School are We” from “The Mikado” by Gilbert and Sullivan. And remember. Big Lent is watching!

    (THREE SAINTLY MAIDS. MARTHA, PANDITA AND ZENAIDA, toddle downstage from up-center leaving GOBNAIT scowling at them and surrounded by buzzing bees. All other saints are arced around the trio, with those from the left side of the bracket on stage right and those on the right side of the bracket on stage left. Everyone is played by a late 19th Century British comic opera performer and wears startlingly stereotypical costumes reeking of cultural appropriation. Inexplicably, they all carry and use hand fans in the choreography.)

    THREE SAINTLY MAIDS
    Four saintly maids (how cool!) were left.
    Yesterday’s match made one bereft.
    Gobnait will claim the loss was theft.
    Three saintly maids are left.

    ZENAIDA
    Doctoring is a source of grace. (chuckles)

    PANDITA
    Girls should be taught to improve their place. (chuckles)

    MARTHA
    Let’s get to work and clean this space. (chuckles)

    THREE SAINTLY MAIDS
    Three saintly maids. How cool!

    Three saintly maids, now adversaries,
    Due to their sex, no seminary.
    Their holy works were visionary.
    My, they rewrote the rules.
    Three saintly maids. How cool!

    ZENAIDA
    One saintly maid beat John Chrysostom.

    PANDITA
    Will Wilberforce didn’t see me come.

    THREE SAINTLY MAIDS
    Clashes with us like a rugby scrum.
    Three saintly maids. How cool!

    ZENAIDA
    From three saintly maids, take one away.

    PANDITA
    Two saintly maids remain in play.

    THREE SAINTLY MAIDS
    The final vote’s on Spy Wednesday.

    (as an aside)
    I’ll take my foes to school.

    ALL OTHER SAINTS
    Three saintly maids. How cool!

    THREE SAINTLY MAIDS AND OTHER SAINTS
    Three saintly maids. Who’d think that they’d throw
    Down? Just imagine how far they’ll go
    Just so they’ll win that Golden Halo?
    Don’t take them for a fool.
    Three saintly maids. How cool!

    • John Cabot's Gravatar John Cabot
      April 16, 2019 - 8:13 am | Permalink

      Yum-Yum!

    • Michelle C's Gravatar Michelle C
      April 16, 2019 - 8:31 am | Permalink

      I think this is the best one yet!

      SEC, I’d love an album of these songs. Maybe you could find someone to record them. They’d be a great addition to the Lentorium.

      • Katharine's Gravatar Katharine
        April 16, 2019 - 9:00 am | Permalink

        What Michelle C said!! PLEASE!!

      • Katharine's Gravatar Katharine
        April 16, 2019 - 9:00 am | Permalink

        What Michelle C said!! PLEASE!!

      • Christine's Gravatar Christine
        April 16, 2019 - 2:31 pm | Permalink

        What Michelle C said! PLEASE!!

      • Andrea Patten-Weerakoon's Gravatar Andrea Patten-Weerakoon
        April 16, 2019 - 3:09 pm | Permalink

        I agree!

    • April 16, 2019 - 9:13 am | Permalink

      Brings back memories of my days as a theater major. Played a small role, basically a spear carrier, and got to sing in the chorus of this musical. This is perhaps my favorite song (along with “I’m making a little list…”). Thank you, Michael, for adding your special talents to this year’s madness.

      Ah yes, and the SEC is watching! You better be good, for Heaven’s sake!

    • Davis Dassori's Gravatar Davis Dassori
      April 16, 2019 - 9:22 am | Permalink

      Oh, that one doth take the biscuit!

    • Susan Lee Hauser's Gravatar Susan Lee Hauser
      April 16, 2019 - 9:39 am | Permalink

      Oh, ’tis delightful, Michael! I love the thought of these gals interacting. And I love those stage directions, too–“startlingly stereotypical costumes reeking of cultural appropriation.” Hi-larious! I am so going to miss waking up to this. Back to the NYTimes… Grim.

    • Karen Sculley's Gravatar Karen Sculley
      April 16, 2019 - 9:46 am | Permalink

      Magnificent, Michael! I always think of the film, “Chariots of Fire” when I hear this song. I especially enjoyed the lengthy stage directions preceding the song 🙂 Three saintly maids. How cool!

      • Susan Lee Hauser's Gravatar Susan Lee Hauser
        April 16, 2019 - 9:51 am | Permalink

        Me, too, Karen! And “Jerusalem,” of course.

    • Sharon Dianne Foster Pattison's Gravatar Sharon Dianne Foster Pattison
      April 16, 2019 - 10:15 am | Permalink

      What a beautiful, yet , funny ,little song on one of the best contest during this, my first, Lenten Madness game!
      I want to know who wrote this, and what else he/she has written and produced! I have been with My choice all,thru this Lenten madness and will stay with her to the end! What a year of the woman, but, ladies don’t get complacent, we still have a long wa to go in this “man’s world!

    • Rita Chenoweth's Gravatar Rita Chenoweth
      April 16, 2019 - 10:58 am | Permalink

      “Clashes with us like a rugby scrum” is the winner line today! Thanks, Michael, for every song you’ve toiled over for the benefit of the Lent Madness community!

    • Verdery Kassebaum's Gravatar Verdery Kassebaum
      April 16, 2019 - 11:04 am | Permalink

      Brilliant, Michael, brilliant! A fitting finale to some excellent “re-purposing” of various popular musicals.

      Next year, could you use “HMS Pinafore”? (I played Buttercup in high school.)

    • Kate the Catechist's Gravatar Kate the Catechist
      April 16, 2019 - 11:15 am | Permalink

      YAY!!! Hurrah for Michael! (And thanks for posting the clip from Topsy Turvey, my favorite film!)

    • Laura of Ohio's Gravatar Laura of Ohio
      April 16, 2019 - 12:24 pm | Permalink

      Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better!!

  3. Carolyn Mack's Gravatar Carolyn Mack
    April 16, 2019 - 8:07 am | Permalink

    Love the song! Still not feeling Martha’s rewrite though.

    • Fiona's Gravatar Fiona
      April 16, 2019 - 8:50 am | Permalink

      Oh dear, I have voted for both of these remarkable women throughout and would be delighted to see either take the Golden Halo. It is so hard to decide between them, both served the poor and vulnerable, both overturned social convention in their day, both were educated when women seldom were. In the end I am voting for Zenaida, on the strength of the moving narrative written by Anna.

  4. Br. Thanasi's Gravatar Br. Thanasi
    April 16, 2019 - 8:08 am | Permalink

    Oh this is cute and gave me many chuckles this morning.

  5. Lisa Keppeler's Gravatar Lisa Keppeler
    April 16, 2019 - 8:13 am | Permalink

    Both are laudable, but the effects of Pandita Ramabai’s work are documented and hugely important. Besides, if she gets the Golden Halo I will get to cook up some festive Indian cuisine in celebration!

    • Michael Wachter's Gravatar Michael Wachter
      April 16, 2019 - 8:22 am | Permalink

      Any excuse for Indian food works for me!

    • April 16, 2019 - 9:16 am | Permalink

      Thank you, Lisa, for helping me make up my mind. I have some leftover Goat Vindaloo in the fridge. I will vote Pandita and eat Indian tonight!

  6. Stephen Lusk's Gravatar Stephen Lusk
    April 16, 2019 - 8:14 am | Permalink

    I’ve got to go with the one whose historical reality is certain — Pandita.

  7. St Celia's Gravatar St Celia
    April 16, 2019 - 8:15 am | Permalink

    For me this choice comes down to ancient versus modern. These women are so very similar: well born, committed to social good, non-white. This group has talked so much over the years about the preference for modern figures and the way the ancients get passed over because we don’t have as much information about them. Having read the two testimonials, I must ponder.

    • St Celia's Gravatar St Celia
      April 16, 2019 - 8:26 am | Permalink

      I voted for Zenaida. I want to counter the utilitarian, instrumentalist approach that says the more information we have about a saint, the “more better” she was. Somehow facts make her faith stronger! Facts aren’t faith. Also knowing that Paul had a faith-filled family makes Paul seem a bit more human. Thank you, Zed sisters.

      • Susan Lee Hauser's Gravatar Susan Lee Hauser
        April 16, 2019 - 9:46 am | Permalink

        Hear! Hear! “I want to counter the utilitarian, instrumentalist approach that says the more information we have about a saint, the “more better” she was. Somehow facts make her faith stronger!” I feel this urging as well; yet Pandita and all those vulnerable women and girls! What to do, what to do?? (Rending my garments, gnashing my teeth, and wailing with vigorous ululations…)

      • Shelly's Gravatar Shelly
        April 16, 2019 - 2:30 pm | Permalink

        I was leaning toward Pandita, but I so agree with your perspective on ancient vs. modern that now I don’t know what to do!

  8. Diana's Gravatar Diana
    April 16, 2019 - 8:20 am | Permalink

    I’m voting for Zenaida today because of the countless people who suffer unnecessarily due to lack of affordable medical care. This is one of the days I want to be able to vote twice; once for Zenaida and once for Pandita because they both challenge us to love and serve those others prefer to ignore. I wish we could have two winners today and tomorrow – these two. I love and appreciate Martha, but these two, relatively unknown, have been such gifts to me this Lent. I was also deeply moved by Anna Courie’s ability to enter into the heart of Zenaida and her sisters with her story and her prayer. Thank you Anna, for your loving work of “shepherding” Zenaida through this season of Lent Madness.

    • April 16, 2019 - 10:02 am | Permalink

      Thank you! I don’t know how much I “suffer” from it (yet) but speaking for those “countless people” who cannot afford health care, it sure would be nice this year to have a saint on our side. As much as I like Indian food, I will vote for Zenaida.

      • St Celia's Gravatar St Celia
        April 16, 2019 - 10:18 am | Permalink

        No lye, PHil: you can have Indian food AND vote for Zenaida!

    • Shelly's Gravatar Shelly
      April 16, 2019 - 2:33 pm | Permalink

      So many people in this country need affordable medical care; so many women in the world need education. I’m still undecided!

  9. Donald Harting's Gravatar Donald Harting
    April 16, 2019 - 8:21 am | Permalink

    Great song. Amazing inspiration. Fun chuckles.
    It’s Tuesday morning.
    Let’s get to work and clean this place.

  10. Stephen's Gravatar Stephen
    April 16, 2019 - 8:34 am | Permalink

    I see Zenaida as the patron saint of universal healthcare for all, free at the point of delivery.

    This is such a timely, relevant, and urgent ideal for our times coming to us from the past: a mostly unknown saintly woman.

    Zenaida personifies an alternative to a broken system based on greed and profit.

  11. April 16, 2019 - 8:43 am | Permalink

    Only voted once. Just saying. But free healthcare and prayers win the day for me.

  12. Mary Lou's Gravatar Mary Lou
    April 16, 2019 - 8:44 am | Permalink

    Tough choice today.

  13. April 16, 2019 - 8:52 am | Permalink

    If you educate a man, you educate an individual. But if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.
    – African Proverb
    The education of women is the best way to save the environment.
    – E.O. Wilson
    To educate girls is to reduce poverty.
    – Kofi Annan

    Nuff said.

    • Denise's Gravatar Denise
      April 16, 2019 - 2:14 pm | Permalink

      Jerry, this is how I’m leaning as well. Universal healthcare is important, but I don’t think there can be much that is more important for improving the global society than through education, especially of girls and women. With those educational resources, all manner of things in this world will be improved!

  14. Leslie's Gravatar Leslie
    April 16, 2019 - 8:59 am | Permalink

    Well, I’ve been cheering on Pandita Ramabai from the start. But in this match up, I have to choose Zenaida. Ecclesiastes came to mind – to paraphrase, “Let us now praise famous wo/men and our fathers and mothers that begat us.” Zenaida is, in essence, the mother of the later Pandita Ramabai. So I ask, let’s praise first Zenaida.

    • St Celia's Gravatar St Celia
      April 16, 2019 - 9:02 am | Permalink

      Nicely put.

    • Carole, sjv's Gravatar Carole, sjv
      April 16, 2019 - 12:41 pm | Permalink

      Agreed. Thank you, Leslie. Zenaida and her sisters (Hermione!!) as the forerunners of, if I recall earlier Celebrity Blogs correctly, psychiatry, gynecology and family medicine – all as “universal healthcare” – not only for the wealthy. Generosity and healing, rooted in prayer, all the way from biblical times. Child marriage and all the associated abuses are terrible and kudos to Pandita Ramabai. However, it’s Zenaida for me today. Still sad about Gobnait. About to go outside and transplant some bee and butterfly-friendly plants.

  15. Elaine Hood Culver's Gravatar Elaine Hood Culver
    April 16, 2019 - 9:02 am | Permalink

    Honor to and thanksgiving for the lives and ministries of both. I voted for Zenaida because of my years working in laboratories and hospitals. Medical ethics dictate that we treat every patient equally, without discrimination. Unfortunately, money still can and does make a difference in the care available. For Zenaida and those who practiced with her, it did not. Thanks be to God. May we all one day follow their good example.

  16. Maggie's Gravatar Maggie
    April 16, 2019 - 9:03 am | Permalink

    I can only assume that it was an evil genie who voted out of turn, because no faithful follower of Lent Madness would dare bring shame to such a special Lenten exercise.

  17. Irene's Gravatar Irene
    April 16, 2019 - 9:10 am | Permalink

    This was absolutely the hardest choice for me. I love Zenaida- including her name, its just beautiful- and her story as a Christian woman who served the poor & sick like so many women, secular and religious, including Pandita- who came after. But in the end, I went with Pandita, one of her successors, because it reminds us we have saints in our modern age as well. And I think Zenaida would have really liked Pandita. anyway.

  18. Micah Walter's Gravatar Micah Walter
    April 16, 2019 - 9:10 am | Permalink

    Voting for Zenaida because of her care for those with mental illnesses.

    • Micah W's Gravatar Micah W
      April 16, 2019 - 10:19 am | Permalink

      Mental illness is still such an unrecognized and even stigmatized problem in our culture today, and it is inspiring to read about how a few caring people can make such a big difference.

  19. Maggie's Gravatar Maggie
    April 16, 2019 - 9:11 am | Permalink

    Very upset that St. Gobnait did not prevail. P.S. I only voted once.

    • St Celia's Gravatar St Celia
      April 16, 2019 - 9:35 am | Permalink

      Bee comforted. She will bee back in the future.

      • Diana's Gravatar Diana
        April 16, 2019 - 9:51 am | Permalink

        St. Celia, you waxed eloquent in only a few words. That was a honey of a reply.

  20. Jeff Downey's Gravatar Jeff Downey
    April 16, 2019 - 9:23 am | Permalink

    I would just like to point out, again, for clarity, that Pandita is a title, not her first name. It’s probably appropriate to call her Pandita. I’m no expert in Hindi, but it’s probably similar to calling that character on Gilligans Island “the Professor”. But her name is Ramabai. It’s a detail, but may be important to remember.

  21. April 16, 2019 - 9:26 am | Permalink

    Voted for Ramabai, with thanks to her father who allowed his daughter to be educated.

  22. Davis Dassori's Gravatar Davis Dassori
    April 16, 2019 - 9:27 am | Permalink

    I’m hung up. Can’t decide. Must ponder.

    • Davis Dassori's Gravatar Davis Dassori
      April 16, 2019 - 10:12 pm | Permalink

      Zenaida. Happy whichever wins.

  23. Nancy's Gravatar Nancy
    April 16, 2019 - 9:31 am | Permalink

    Flipping a coin and Zenaida won the toss. But we would be happy with either of them! As I said when we found out who the Faithful Four would be, we are happy if any of those four win the Golden Halo!

  24. Mary Jane C. Ingalls's Gravatar Mary Jane C. Ingalls
    April 16, 2019 - 9:50 am | Permalink

    If you are interested in an excellent read for insight into forced marriage in the Indian caste system as experienced in modern western society, I recommend Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows. It is by turn heartwarming and chilling, modern and barbaric, sensual and disturbing. Not a Bollywood production.

  25. Judith's Gravatar Judith
    April 16, 2019 - 10:06 am | Permalink

    both women of great faith put in great action. Both health and education so basic to life–I teach in a medical school (psychiatry, no less) and have seen the increasing numbers of women entering medicine, extending their skills from RNs to adnanced practitioners–this one is going to be hard, and again I probably won’t vote till late tonight.

  26. Taylor's Gravatar Taylor
    April 16, 2019 - 10:14 am | Permalink

    Pandita forever!!!!

  27. Susie's Gravatar Susie
    April 16, 2019 - 10:20 am | Permalink

    Thanks SO much Michael, John & Diane for so wonderfully enriching our Lenten-tide! & to our awesome SEC team & to All of you for sharing (except cheaters who overshared :-/ Whoever is this years winner, each of us were blessed w/this study–Blessed Easter to ALL!

    • Pat Watson's Gravatar Pat Watson
      April 16, 2019 - 8:17 pm | Permalink

      well said, I agree

  28. Cheryl McCarthy's Gravatar Cheryl McCarthy
    April 16, 2019 - 10:23 am | Permalink

    Such a difficult choice…such amazing, blessed women!

  29. Miss Jan's Gravatar Miss Jan
    April 16, 2019 - 10:28 am | Permalink

    Yesterday was easy. The top image of Gobnait in tbe window with the bee symbolism made it clear who should win my vote, though it appears Martha worked out a winning strategy..

    Today is hard.

    I have voted for each theee times (across six different days of Lent, so don’t get any wrong ideas Fathers), now I must vote for one in a way that is against the other!

    I shall have to see if the comments are any help in discerning who should get my vote today.

    This is truly MADNESS.

    • Miss Jan's Gravatar Miss Jan
      April 16, 2019 - 10:48 am | Permalink

      I have read the comments and peeked at the current vote count and I’m voting for Zenaida.

      If I suddenly won some massive lottery, which would be a miracle since one has to remember to buy a ticket, I would start at least a free clinic, in not a free hospital named Saint Zenaida’s.

      As for Indian food, I could do with some fresh warm naan right about now. I’d drizzle some honey on it. Yum.

      Hum, I wonder if yesterday’s voting irregularities were caused by a hive of bees sharing one IP address?

      • St Celia's Gravatar St Celia
        April 16, 2019 - 10:53 am | Permalink

        It was a rogue IB address.

      • Susan Lee Hauser's Gravatar Susan Lee Hauser
        April 16, 2019 - 11:22 am | Permalink

        Funny one, Miss Jan!

  30. TJMannion's Gravatar TJMannion
    April 16, 2019 - 10:59 am | Permalink

    Pandita, it’s gonna be you!

  31. Mary O'Donnell's Gravatar Mary O'Donnell
    April 16, 2019 - 11:05 am | Permalink

    Affordable Healthcare is needed in the US . Vote for Zenaida.

  32. Verdery Kassebaum's Gravatar Verdery Kassebaum
    April 16, 2019 - 11:16 am | Permalink

    This was a particularly tough choice, but I went for Zenaida for a couple of almost unrelated reasons:
    1. I’ve voted for Zenaida all along.
    2. There have been fewer Golden Halo winners who were born before 1800 (3) than those born after (5).
    Not that earlier saints are “better” or “more authentic”, just evening up the numbers.
    “They were all of them saints of God, and I mean, God helping, to be one, too.”

  33. John Lewis's Gravatar John Lewis
    April 16, 2019 - 11:17 am | Permalink

    Pandita Ramabai’s work continues in one of the world’s most populous nation, and her example inspires worldwide efforts to spread justice, compassion, and peace. She has my vote!

  34. Susan Lee Hauser's Gravatar Susan Lee Hauser
    April 16, 2019 - 11:24 am | Permalink

    Yup, one almost never wins if one lived before the advent of photography!

    • Susan Lee Hauser's Gravatar Susan Lee Hauser
      April 16, 2019 - 11:25 am | Permalink

      Aargh, that comment was for you Verdery Kassebaum!

  35. Anne E.B.'s Gravatar Anne E.B.
    April 16, 2019 - 11:58 am | Permalink

    Lady Z for me!

  36. Sai's Gravatar Sai
    April 16, 2019 - 12:17 pm | Permalink

    I was hoping the comments of others would help me make a decision. Alas, most of you seem as torn as I am. After contemplation, I’ve decided to cast my vote for Pandita Ramabai since she was one person against the system, while Zenaida had the support and company of her two sisters.

    • LOIS Strait's Gravatar LOIS Strait
      April 16, 2019 - 12:44 pm | Permalink

      You helped me decide as I had voted for both of these heavenly women. Ramabai it is as she had to work all on her own

  37. Grace Munro's Gravatar Grace Munro
    April 16, 2019 - 12:24 pm | Permalink

    Making difficult choices — the chief personal skill required to participate in Lenten Madness. At least information was provided to base the choices on. At the conclusion of the Madness, I will be hard pressed to return to my usual morning reading without longing for comments from other people. Will have to keep my eyes open for more unsung heroes of the faith as I read.

  38. Judy Bye's Gravatar Judy Bye
    April 16, 2019 - 12:37 pm | Permalink

    I did not vote Friday or yesterday–Monday. I noticed last night the email I use for LM wouldn’t let me access it. Just now, when I replied and tried to post my vote for Ramabai an error flashed and my reply was gone. I haven’t checked that email today. I have not used that email account for anything but LM since the first day. I’m not posting my other account here. I’m NOT a happy person.

    • Miss Jan's Gravatar Miss Jan
      April 17, 2019 - 12:59 am | Permalink

      You can always vote at directly on the website at LentMadness.org, as well as post comments, which is what I’m doing right now, and unless you want to get notifications of other comments & posts via email, it really doesn’t matter what email you put in when you comment, it isn’t like anyone other than Tim & Scott would see the address, if even then.

      And no email address is required to vote, so unless you want to post a comment or get flooded with notifications . . . just use your web browser.

      And contact your email service provider about your inability to access that email.

  39. Judy Bye's Gravatar Judy Bye
    April 16, 2019 - 12:39 pm | Permalink

    It let me post. I’ll see if it will let me vote.

  40. Lucy Porter's Gravatar Lucy Porter
    April 16, 2019 - 2:11 pm | Permalink

    Zenaida! Not only did she and her sisters practice healthcare for all, her name has great significance for this clergy/musician. Zen=contemplation; Aida=main character of one of the most beautiful of operas! (No one ever said our reasons for voting had to make sense!)

  41. Joyce Austin's Gravatar Joyce Austin
    April 16, 2019 - 2:16 pm | Permalink

    My son and I have been choosing one person each day and today was tough. Inn the end we choose Zenaida for her free health care.

  42. Beth Evans's Gravatar Beth Evans
    April 16, 2019 - 2:23 pm | Permalink

    Really? Cheating on Lent Madness?? Do I laugh or shake my head In despair? Both? Yeah. Both.

    • Amy's Gravatar Amy
      April 16, 2019 - 7:27 pm | Permalink

      It seems the Lord still insists on calling sinners to the church. We all need grace.

  43. Pamela Payne's Gravatar Pamela Payne
    April 16, 2019 - 5:33 pm | Permalink

    Zenaida because she cared for the sick in mind and body, at no charge, and because she is the forerunner of the many saints who toil in the Lord’s vineyard by caring for others. I admire Ramabai greatly but voted for Zenaida for the example she sets for us all.

  44. Dr M's Gravatar Dr M
    April 16, 2019 - 6:02 pm | Permalink

    What a transformation grace has wrought
    When My vote goes to a caste I was taught
    Compared to Mine, is little bethought.
    “You have been taught not as you ought,”
    I fall to my knees at grace’s juggernaut.
    Though some may think each Lent that we but play this little game
    For many others, our lives are truly changed.

  45. April 16, 2019 - 7:32 pm | Permalink

    Thanks for sharing that!

  46. Shannon's Gravatar Shannon
    April 16, 2019 - 8:20 pm | Permalink

    I think it is sad that, assuming that the people who are participating in this are churchgoing and supposedly honest people, some of them would try to cheat to make the saint they wanted win.

  47. Isabelle MdH's Gravatar Isabelle MdH
    April 16, 2019 - 10:01 pm | Permalink

    I appreciate everyone’s comments and the creativity of the poems, songs, limericks, etc. But seriously, folks, I am in AGONY over this decision tonight! Both Zenaida and Pandita have SO much to honor and respect, and are both Golden Halo – worthy! Sigh. I will probably agree with those who argue that saints pre-photography may have some bias against them, and I also think that health of body, mind and spirit must be had before one can even contemplate education, etc. So Zenaida for me. Arrrrgh!

  48. Terrie W.'s Gravatar Terrie W.
    April 17, 2019 - 12:45 am | Permalink

    I loved “Three Saintly Maids” and after a day of playing Telephone Ping-Pong with Educational Testing Services Inc. for a new job as an at-home scorer that I just did receive the wonderful laughter Three Saintly Maids brought was such a huge stress-relief and thanks so much! I also couldn’t help but wonder, Scott G. having read that Educational Testing Service has a main office also in Cincinnati, is this organization like this there too?? I think I made over 10 phone calls to different departments with various questions and tech problems with their sites and was batted around to the point that when I finally got ahold of someone at the end of the day it felt like victory- after which, I was then sent to another department. Add to that spending 25 minutes with the phone on speaker phone waiting for a department they had called “Pearson People Services” and the recorded voice sounded like a little girl with a very high, almost squeeky voice! She had Scott S., at my house also wondering if she had worked at Disney Land fat some point in her life for a while before landing a job at Pearson/ETS.
    Also, lol, I couldn’t help but wonder if it’s some sort of a weird initiation they have for remote new hires, especially when they find out none of their offices are located in places like Idaho and they can then Really pour on the bureaucratic style of communication in a new person’s four hour shift! IE- making a continual practice of never letting the new hire know in phone-calls to them as to what the right hand or the left are doing!

    On tonight’s vote now that – While last night was quite easy as I also had a neighbor in a former apartment who was the son of one of the local honey-companies in the area plus was very supportive of Gobnait’s work tonight was a challenge. Not only have I started a small job with an Educational Testing Service but all my aunts except for one who was a Nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital in Boise, ID for many years. Having no insurance as well and having also benifited from a group called “Women’s Health Check” who got me in immediately when a Mammogram showed stage 3 breast cancer on my left two years ago. These, and several other thoughts on tonight’s choice all began to creep in and the choice which had been Zenaida immediately began to become a little tough. I also had a funny incident while Grocery shopping where Gobnait was concerned so was even more baffled that the cheaters chose our poor bee-keeper Saint. I and my significant other who, sadly also has a hard time with religion in general after his parents died and a few other reasons, had been grocery shopping and there in a mid-aisle was a large display of Honey Nut Cheerios- very normal and mundane, but it was what transpired next that set me chuckling. On the front of the display lined up so that the message was repeated at Least five times where the facing of cereal boxes was concerned was the sentence “Save the bees”! To top this off the message jumped out at me on all the boxes. This was also Before voting btw- I thought- “Hello Saint Gobnait, giggled a little bit again then went on my way. Scott S., my significant other who also doesn’t like Lenten Madness, plus now also thinks he’s an Athiest ever since his parents passed away several years ago and is very hard headed however, proceeded to give a look reserved only for people he thinks are overly strange. But- siiigh- although I also tried to explain about Gobnait he also was absolutely Not interested, scowled as much as Gobnait was portrayed doing in “Three Saintly Maids” then walked off down the aisle in a huff changing the topic immediately. Oh well… tried to share some laughter and introduce him to the Lent Madness we all love dearly! Maybe it just wasn’t God’s time yet. 🙂

  49. Gregory the Garrulous's Gravatar Gregory the Garrulous
    April 17, 2019 - 6:00 am | Permalink

    I’m still curious how one gets ones photo attached to their name here in the comments section.

    • AmyL's Gravatar AmyL
      April 17, 2019 - 1:17 pm | Permalink

      To attach a photo to your comments, you create an account with wordpress.com and upload a photo from your computer there. I don’t remember whether there are any additional steps to “connect” wordpress to this site – sorry about that! Good luck with the digital trial.

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