Congratulations! We’ve collectively (almost) made it through another whole week in unusual times. Lent Madness-wise, we’ve nearly completed the Elate Eight. One more matchup to go to round out next week’s Faithful Four as we continue our march to the 2020 Golden Halo.
Today, Margaret of Castello meets Elizabeth Fry as they vie for the last remaining spot in the Faithful Four. To get here, Margaret got past Simon Gibbons and Eva Lee Matthews, while Elizabeth bested Florian and Clare of Assisi. Who will join Harriet Tubman, Joseph, and Hildegard of Bingen (who narrowly defeated Brother Lawrence 52% to 48%) to make it to the next round? Well, that’s up to you.
We’ll be back on Monday morning as Harriet Tubman faces Hildegard for a shot at the Championship round. Stay safe everyone!
Margaret of Castello
HEY THERE ALL MY CATS AND KITTENS. [editor’s note: Megan told us that few would get this reference and we should edit out this line. But that’s not how we roll]
While I promised in the last round to dig up some possible familial tie between yours truly and Margaret of Castello, the 14th-century luminary, I have had no luck. HOWEVER. I can tell you that she and I both have family ties to northern Italy, and appear to have families that worked as custodians of castles—from whither derives the name castellan. Therefore, I submit to you, o voting public, that Margaret’s first kitsch is this namesake game! Build a castle, set it alight, then fear not, for Margaret will extinguish the flames!
(This may void the warranty, and may not actually be a great plan.)
In other kitsch, please to recall that Margaret is from Italy. (As noted previously, so is your humble blogger). So, if you are wondering “Would I like a piece of her? Huh? Would I?” in the style of Italian people in movies you have seen, the answer is yes! Yes you do! Now on sale, for a small suggested donation: THIRD ORDER RELICS of Margaret! You can also buy prayer cards with a close-up of her uncorrupted face. So the next time someone tries to wall you up in a backroom to deny your very existence, shove these prayer cards in their face and defy them in the name of Margaret!
Maybe instead, you’d like some contemplative art to delight and slightly confuse a child you know? In that case, I present to you: Fairy Godmother Margaret! In the words of the artist: Margaret “is shown as a fairy godmother, protecting and appreciating the child she watches over.” (She’s got wings and antennae. I don’t know what to tell you.)
On a (much) more serious note, Margaret’s strongest legacy to us is that of 
dignity and perseverance in the face of a world that didn’t believe she should even exist. For more of this, I present the movie Crip Camp, now streaming on Netflix. It tells the story of a summer camp in upstate New York founded in the 1970s for disabled kids where they could just be themselves—and the incredible things that they went on to achieve. While some of the language and subject matter isn’t necessarily kid-friendly, this movie is profoundly moving, and if you want to understand more of why someone like Margaret is important, and how far we are from honoring the God-given dignity of every human being, this is the movie for you.
Stay safe everyone. Emulate Margaret in these trying times: care for the most vulnerable, make good use of your time in isolation, and fear not!
Elizabeth Fry
Elizabeth Fry hailed from the Barclay’s banking family, but her legacy lives on in the spirit of her social reforms and advocacy for women more than in commerce. Thus, original Elizabeth Fry kitsch is not abundant. A collector might be able to score one of the now out of print fivers featuring Betsy reading to the prisoners at Newgate.
She was also commemorated with this 4” x 4” cigar box label, an antique 
available on e-bay for $25, which seems an odd way to memorialize a social reformer, but hey, it’s cute in a Victorian sort of way.
More fittingly, many editions of her memoirs and several biographies exist in print and audio. For the young reader, her story is told in this ValueTale, “The Value of Kindness.”
Investigating Elizabeth Fry items on the Internet reveals she’s a big deal in Canada! Elizabeth Fry societies abound. One more reason to move there! I want to join them all—and they have some really cool t-shirts, like these emPOWER shirts from the EF society of Ottowa and “Girls are not for sale” from the EF society of Peel-Halton (that’s in Ontario, for my fellow geographically challenged Americans).
Can I just say, wow-people! Look at the amazing work still being done in Elizabeth Fry’s name!
If you don’t want to spring for that cigar box 
label and you don’t live near an Elizabeth Fry society, perhaps you want to honor her with your own custom-made t-shirt. Here’s Lent Madness devotee Jeff Downey in his, which he ordered in prison-orange from the website Zazzle.
Also on Zazzle, you can order lockets, key chains, and perhaps most practically, a coffee mug, which of course we all need if we are going to work as hard as the industrious Elizabeth who—you may remember from Monday—prayed for God’s guidance in what good works to leave undone.
Or, of course you could just vote for Elizabeth in this showdown, and the nice people at Lent Madness will make an awesome victory mug with her image on in, and we can all guzzle caffeine out of it while we go about trying to better the world in whatever small ways we can.
Margaret of Castello vs. Elizabeth Fry
- Elizabeth Fry (60%, 3,848 Votes)
- Margaret of Castello (40%, 2,556 Votes)
Total Voters: 6,404
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The question remains – who would win the swimsuit competition?
https://birdsonstix.wordpress.com/2020/04/03/lent-madness-meme-margaret-of-castello-versus-elizabeth-fry/
Not you.
Wow…
Apparently we are in the “snap” round.
Another LOL–thank you!! :- ) Please somehow keep your much-needed humor coming or we’ll be going through withdrawals after next week!! (& BS contests are outdated anyway–you’d win the ‘Made us Smile’ award for sure!)
Thank you!
This has been a fun project – and deceptively challenging!
Is your bracket busted?
https://birdsonstix.wordpress.com/2020/04/03/lent-madness-meme-busted-brackets/
Aw Baby Yoda and Lent Madness is a great matchup!
It was the prison orange T-shirt that did it for me.
Could you please include links to the original bio entries for those of us who haven’t voted in all the matchups? I can’t even see where I can look them up so that I can have a better sense of who they are/were. Thanks. (Yes, I can Google, but I have other things to do this morning.)
If you purchase the Saintly Scorecard from the Lentorium you have all the round one bios at your fingertips, PLUS a bracket to record your wins and losses. No hunting on Google.
Home page, right-hand column, “First Round”
You go to the bracket tab and select the Saint and it takes you to the bio
Thanks for the info; it was very helpful!!
I too would request a link to the previous descriptions as I have not been able to take part in all elections.
Go up to the top of the page and select the “bracket” tab. That will show you who was up against who and you can click on that and it will let you read the write-ups
I so totally agree. I would like to see previous biographies and cannot find where to go. I too have less time to sit and google (call it laziness or whatever). It would be great to click n a link to previous info in each Saint. Thanks!
Ok, I need to reread what was written about them in previous rounds, but can’t remember how. Help?
Click on Bracket 2020 at the top of the page and then scroll down to find her name in the original round.
Marjorie, you can visit previous rounds at the bracket page here:
https://www.lentmadness.org/bracket/
At the top of the home page, click on the bracket box, then scroll down and click on the first round match-up they’re in and you can read their bios.
Joe Exotic! I get the hey there cats and kittens. what a series….It’s hard to believe that people really live like that!
As a nurse and her starting a nursing program was what drew me to her She is my Patron Saint to send nurses with Florence Nightingale (A Golden Halo Winner) to the Crimean War.
I was loving Margaret’s kitsch, but Elizabeth’s “The Value of Kindness” .. vote done.
Be well.
For the kitsch my vote is for Margaret. Loved the creating her into an insect although that painting, upon contempation, is horror inspiring.
Margaret inspires me in these times because our collective vulnerability disables our expectations of what life should be and creates new ways for us to be in community.
I am still completely hooked by Elizabeth’s work with and for prisoners. they are both so commendable it is really difficult. My own experience working at a prison biases my vote. Elizabeth it is.
How about a better recap of the characteristics of the candidates in these latter rounds rather than promote all the merchandise (crap) that has been generated in their honor?
Because it is Round Three—thus designated the Holy Kitsch round. This is how Lent Madness works.
Always good to be reminded that…Kitsch Kranks live!
Thank you, Mother Megan+. Your write up was one of your best, and that is saying a lot. All of your writings are funny, full of information, and great. I want to add that because of the time the writers have spent doing research and the writings, I am confounded by people who vote based on names and places. To me, this dilutes a huge part of LM: to learn more about the saints and hope to emulate a part of their lives.
Definite Kitsch Krank. And people thought I was a Krank in the morning. John, you have me beat by a mile!
And remember what the SEC always says: “Lent Madness is (leaning into the camera for a dramatic close-up) OPTIONAL!”
I voted for Kindness over Tiger King, though I cannot top “dignity and perseverance” as Christian values. Perhaps Kate McKinnon can play Elizabeth Fry. And while we’re all stuck in the tomb for Easter, may we each have a glow-in-the-dark Virgin or Bobble-head Jesus to help us while away the dark hours.
Oh my God, I left my Buddy Christ at the office!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Christ#/media/File:Buddy_christ.jpg
That is terrifying.
Yes, yes it is
Unbelievable!
O. My. God.
Be afraid, be very afraid …
Yikes!
Really, really bad.
Not bad – fun. And Jesus is my friend – and yours. Did you every see the movie Dogma with Alanis Morrisette as God and George Carlin a Bishop? That’s where Buddy Christ came from. If that upsets you, you really wouldn’t enjoy the fridge magnets my kids have given me: “What Would Jesus Wear?” with outfits from Roman times to hip hop to hippie plus accessories; or the outfits of celebrities for the cross (that one is over the top for me too – Elvis, Hulk Hogan, Marilyn Monroe and Luke Skywalker.) That is kitsch!
Bwahahaha!
I want Tim’s Jesus lamp! Even kitsch-ier than the famous leg lamp of “A Christmas Story.”
I had to go back and read the original stories for each of these worthy women. Still found it hard to choose one over the other. In these gloomy times, Elizabeth’s photo on a cheery orange t-shirt tipped the balance for me.
On my first trip to Europe, a kindly cousin took me down to the Barclay’s Bank and gave me 100 pounds in traveler’s checks so “you and your sister can have fun.” Who uses travelers checks anymore? My vote goes to Elizabeth.
I would like someone to give me one hundred pounds of euros to go “have fun” in Europe. 🙂
So WHAT! It was a gift; be gracious.
I was referring to one hundred pounds in weight of euros. It was a joke. Enjoy the weekend.
I was in seminary when Nancy Eiesland, the author of The Disabled God, was finishing her PhD at Emory. Her powerful witness, and that of Clare Wimbush+, a priest whose soul-beauty shines through cerebral palsy and lifts her soaring out of her wheelchair, have made me so much more aware of the ABILITY of the disabled. Plus (though I don’t get the cat & kittens), I’ve known and admired Megan for years! It’s Margaret for me!
I thought that “Hey Cats & Kittens” was a reference to Mike McGrath of You Bet Your Garden fame (to Public Radio fans who garden anyway!). Never heard of Joe Exotic but then I’m usually in the dark about pop celebrities.
It’s currently on tv in the show “Tiger King.” It’s a crazy thing to stream right now and get your mind off the virus.
I had to go with Elizabeth. She not only got my vote for her good works, but I lost my sister Elizabeth March 10 this last month. She not only was an RN but the mother of eight children. A saint in my book.
Bobbie, how sad that you lost your sister Elizabeth. May Light Perpetual shine upon her. She sounds like quite a woman, and definitely up there with the saints we’ve been learning about.
Oh I am so sorry to hear of the death of your sister Elizabeth. In my opinion if she lost her life nursing COVID19 patients then SHE should win the Golden Halo
This was a hard choice. Voted for each of these ladies earlier, and couldn’t decide which one to choose. However, Margaret did so much with her disabilities she is an inspiration to us all. So Margaret gets my vote.
My vote goes to my local saint, Elizabeth Fry. Great to see that she is still inspiring young women, and generating some great kitsch into the bargain. (I’d be as worried for the child in the clutches of the fairy godmother, as the child already looks.)
Fiona, even the rabbit in the picture looks worried. Um … scared. Also wondering why the Castellan game received only a 6.3 rating. Kind of disheartening for castles. This is a very hard choice, though. Honestly, to do my vote justice, I should probably watch Crip Camp, but time is scarce. I already chose both of these incredible women in earlier rounds. Still deciding …
I love our Baptismal Covenant in the BCP, especially “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” So I voted for Margaret of Castello and then turned on the TV to watch Crip Camp on Netflix. W0w!! It confirmed that I made the right choice for me. Margaret of Castello all the way!
I worked in a gifted high school program for many years, and at first, I questioned why our state would put gifted ed under the Special Ed umbrella. I know now that gifted kiddoes are just as close to the edge as any other differently-challenged person, and many are twice exceptional. Working with Special Ed teachers from the entire spectrum has given me a perspective that favors the downtrodden who often cannot change the circumstances they are handed. So I should vote for Margaret. However, making her a bug did the reverse for me. Elizabeth Fry takes the day although, whoever wins today is great.
Amber, it is Ottawa not Ottowa…
I got the cats & kittens reference (sadly)!
As a special ed teacher of 26 years, I have to canvass for Margaret. Folks with differences and differing abilities face many challenges today. Imagine back in her time! How daunting every task must have been, and the looks she must have received! Liz seems like she was a great lady, but I have to weigh Margaret’s abilities even more persuasively given her time and tribulations.
St. Margaret’s Shrine is at my parish! We love her!
I couldn’t find in today’s pairing, a compelling reason to vote for either of these most worthy contenders, so had to reference the handy Lent-Madness Definitive Guide to be reminded of why they nominated to begin with. So was with the narrowest eyelashes I went with Elizabeth Fry.
Fry’s Cocoa features Elizabeth Fry on the tin.
Never connected Fry’s cocoa with Elizabeth Fry, but one more reason to vote for her. I’ve been using that cocoa my whole life. Love this trivia about the saints. It has made the oddest Lent of my life quite engaging.
“Girls are not for sale.” In this day of continued forced marriages and women/girls still seen as property in many countries that’s all it took for me.
The t-shirt slogans helped me decide also. Looked the sites up and may buy both the “Empowerc and the “Girls” tees
One correction, Elizabeth Fry was from the Gurney banking family (the Gurney bank eventually merged with the Barclay bank [and a few others] to form the modern Barclays). Her husband, Joseph Fry, also ran a bank, unsuccessfully. His cousin ran a chocolate firm somewhat more successfully though I don’t think they every made a chocolate Elizabeth Fry.
Such a dilemma today.
I wrestled.
BOTH need my vote.
As a Canadian I have to support Elizabeth Fry all the way! Go Lizzy!!
I want a mug with Elizabeth Fry’s picture on it
She will win
Laughed out loud at the cats and kittens reference! I got it straight away. Congrats for that , Megan! Margaret of Castellan for me today. Thanks for the laugh!
Costello Castellan, you know who I meant! Haha
Well, cats and kittens, this was a really, really, really tough vote. They are both magnificent women. The only thing that helps sway me at all is that I have Harriet down for the Halo, and I think it might be easier for Harriet to beat Margaret than Elizabeth. So I’m going to make a “strategiary” move and vote for Margaret.
Margaret got my vote because she is the patron saint of cats! Meow!
Nope. Gertrude of Nivelles is the patron saint of cats. Call on her if you want mice removed.
I would like to see Gertrude back on the bracket one of these Lents.
Although I will never name a cat Gertrude, because our cats are named alphabetically and we are up to M already and I do not think I will get through the alphabet in my lifetime.
“G” is Guenevere.
Oh no! I didn’t know Margaret was the patron saint of cats–my 10 kitties will be very angry that I voted for Elizabeth. Cleaning intentional messes outside of the litter box will be my penance
Regarding there being plenty of Elizabeth Fry facilities in Canada. That’s not all we have … and we welcome you to move here. But be warned … good government and universal health care have a down-side … 9 months of snow and 3 months of bad weather.
After voting for all the Elizabeth’s in vain, the kitsch made me change my vote today. I want that Yoda fairy godmother Margaret, child & bunny on a mug, Liz already has a mug of her own.
Margaret would have been distressing to look at. It’s interesting that her kitschkes avoid that fact. One depicts her as a tall woman with a cane who maybe walks with a slight limp; the other permits itself to show us her hunched back by portraying her as a kindly insectoid. Let’s let Margaret teach us not to look away and propel her to the final four!
Amber, the Elizabeth Fry Society of Manitoba (for the geographically-challenged, that’s the part of Canada that’s north of North Dakota) offices are not far from where I live in Winnipeg. You’re welcome to visit any time. The society here focuses on the needs of indigenous women who are caught up in the justice system (too often, the injustice system for our indigenous peoples), during their imprisonment and when they are released. Elizabeth’s work continues! So does my support for her.
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is located in Winnipeg and looks like a clenched fist with its middle finger thrust up into the air. An amazing piece of architecture. Possibly the iconic image for our time. Le Corbusier, sit down.
Another view of the building is the architect’s:
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is rooted in humanity, making visible in the architecture the fundamental commonality of humankind-a symbolic apparition of ice, clouds and stone set in a field of sweet grass. Carved into the earth and dissolving into the sky on the Winnipeg horizon, the abstract ephemeral wings of a white dove embrace a mythic stone mountain of 450 million year old Tyndall limestone in the creation of a unifying and timeless landmark for all nations and cultures of the world.”
I’ve never been to Winnipeg, and now I have a reason to go. Thanks, Celia.
I can see the Finger, but I don’t see dove wings, etc. what I see more, however, is the helmet of Zheng his Khan. Yipes—what does that reveal about me?!
I hate spellcheck!! Genghis Khan
Elizabeth’s prison reform work and her prayer for discernment over what could be left undone tipped the balance for me. But I was almost won over by the post on Margaret’s kitsch, gave me a much-needed laugh.
I voted for each of these outstanding women in the last round but “Margaret’s strongest legacy to us is that of dignity and perseverance in the face of a world that didn’t believe she should even exist.” tipped the scales for me this time around. (Plus, my sister is a Margaret.”
Elizabeth, the prison reformer, gets my vote. She could challenge us to review the total criminal justice system that is skewed to poor and the marginalized. Instead of reform so much of the judicial system has become a money-making scheme.
Go Margaret Go!
This is a tough one. I was going with Margaret based on the great blog by her relatively relative. BUT I want to know if the EF and EE clubs mentioned by Elizabeth’s blogger are by any chance also called PEO? Their projects and the letter identifications lead me to suspect this is the case. I too am a PEO in Kansas, chapter HT. So just in case, I have to go with Elizabeth.
On Martha’s Vineyard there has been for many years a wonderful camp called Jabberwocky, which caters to variously disabled children. The camp musical in which everyone (verbal or not) takes part is a highlight of the summer season.
Disabled folk are ABLE.
I voted for both of these saints in the previous round and it’s a tough decision today. But I am casting my vote for Margaret because if we could learn to value those with disabilities and treat them with respect there would be a big impact on how many of them ended up in the prison system. So I feel that a vote for Margaret is a “two-fer”.
I, and my father before me, have been inspired by MARGARET FRY to do prison work. So I’m casting my vote for Margaret Fry in honor of my father who established a bail bond program in Bucks County, PA, then went on to co-found a halfway house for released inmates that is still operating after more than 50 years. I co-facilitate with the ALTERNATIVES TO VIOLENCE PROJECT (AVP) program in the MA prisons and volunteer in Vermont’s DISMAS HOUSE program, originally in Rutland and now in Hartford, VT. I’ve seen first-hand how inmates can transform their lives when we align ourselves with them through putting our faith into action among the most marginalized of our population.
I too voted for these worthies in the previous roun, and am sad to see one lose. But I am presently in a ‘stay-at-home’-induced mope, and if I could get up the energy to go help someone, that would be the most helpful thing I could do for me. So I shall vote for the one who struggled to decide what to leave undone, and hope it gives me some motivation.
My dear Ruth, as you struggle to cope,
Though weighed down by a “stay-at-home mope”,
Please know that your cares
Are borne up on the prayers
Of us all, your companions in hope.
Thank you, Davis! Much needed and appreciated.
I thought that Christianity was about the mission of incarnating the transforming Christ in disciples and followers instead of trying to “make the world a better place.” They are not the same. The gospel of secular humanism and their progressive walk toward a utopia that does not exist, nor can it when evil has not been transformed by the Living Christ. I would also enjoy rereading HP the history of the saints instead of reading about t-shirts and coffee cups which do little to transform souls.
Jesus said to heal the sick, feed the hungry, release captives, and give the good news. “If you’ve done it to the least of these you’ve done it to me.” I personally don’t think you need pass a strict theological litmus test to be part of God’s Kingdom. You can call it “secular humanism,” if you like, but that’s what I see in the gospels. Be safe and take care.
Utopia does exist; Thomas More wrote it. But he got knocked out in an earlier round. As for humanism, it sounds as if you’re still sore about Lorenzo Valla proving the Donation of Constantine a forgery. Oh, and Valla was a Catholic priest! Sad.
Please review Megan and Tim’s comments above. LM is optional. This is the way it is done.
Hmmmm, as someone who has lived in Canada for almost 15 years I appreciate the shout-out to Canada vis a vis Elizabeth Fry, and our church does contribute outreach funds to the local Elizabeth Fry Society. But, on behalf of the same church, I also attended a workshop on making church more welcoming to differently-abled people. (My take-away from that day was that by making church more welcoming to differently-abled people we also make it more welcoming to all, from babes in strollers using wheelchair access to the elderly using devices for the hearing impaired.) Both women speak to important issues in the church. Can’t decide…
Great write up Megan! I’m voting for Margaret in appreciation of your excellent post.
And thanks for the reminder for Crip Camp.
It was a bit distressing (and ironic) to click on the 3rd rate (?) relic link and see that it takes you to “Clearance Items.” Poor Margaret’s dignity and existence assaulted again! I’m an Elisabeth and my closest childhood friend is a Margaret, so I’m praying for a miracle that propels them both into the penultimate round.
Another toughie. Eeny, meeny … and it’s another vote to shore up an underdog. Go Margaret!
I want a tee shirt that says Girls Are Not For Sale. Ministry to women in prison is one of the special missions of my parish, and I’m inspired by the photos of the EF groups in Canada! So it’s Elizabeth for me today.
(BTW, the shade of orange called “prison orange” by some here, is also the color adopted by young people in the “March for Our Lives” (gun control) movement in the USA — because it is the color hunters wear to say “I am not a target!”) May God bless their movement with success.
Amen.
At this point in Lent Madness, I’m struck even more by the madness. Like many others, I’ve voted for both of these saints in earlier rounds. So I think about what spiritual gifts I most need, and it’s clear that Fry’s willingness to cross out of her comfort zone is what I need. So Elizabeth it is.
Oh, the agony! Who to choose, who to choose? Closing my eyes and pointing, it’s Margaret.
Come on folks. Margaret never even got close to a comfort zone. She deserves this.
On a much less kitschi or cat-chy subject: oh great SEC, in what time zone must votes be in by 8pm? It’s moderately useless for us Alaskans to vote in presidential elections. Are we also the left-outs, or left-overs in this, even when we’re right…which, in truth, happened right few times for me . 🙁 Our interim priest introduced us to this, and it’s been an educational hoot! Except you got it wrong: Hermann should have moved up. You’d think so, too, if you’d ever experienced the weather on Kodiak and out the Aleutian chain.
Both Elizabeth Fry and Margaret of Castello have shown us the way to help others. They saw a need to be fulfilled in their respective cultures and society and
found ways to repair and reduce those repressive needs of prisoner women, homeless children, beggar children and the disabled, and other needs. It was a difficult vote for me—both these women are Saints. Yet I voted for Margaret of Castello. She had the extra pain of a deformed spine, blindness, and parents who threw her out. Still she survived to carry on our Lord’s work.
Yesterday I was so busy I didn’t get to Lent Madness! So I voted this morning. I apologize! (I voted for Elizabeth Fry, Quaker lady extraordinaire.)
I fear Margaret has been moved off the bracket. Sad….bless all those with activity limitations and participation restrictions due to bodily impairment. We love you all!