In the last battle of the week — and the penultimate matchup of the Saintly Sixteen — Ives of Kermartin faces Dunstan. To get here, Ives beat Jacapone da Todi while Dunstan took out Maryam of Qidun.
In a hotly contested battle yesterday, Absalom Jones snuck past Marianne Cope 52% to 48% to snag a spot in the Elate Eight, where he’ll face Catherine Booth. See? These matchups only get harder and harder.
We’ll be back first thing Monday morning to finish up this round and then, on Tuesday, things get serious (or not so serious, as the case may be) as we commence the Elate Eight.
Ives of Kermartin
St. Ives, a 13th century French lawyer and clergyman, applied his knowledge, his sense of fairness, and his deep spirituality to helping the poor and under-represented.
His life’s work and dedication earned him well-deserved monikers: Advocate of the Poor, Defender of Widows, Ideal of the Legal Profession, and Patron Saint of Attorneys.
He lived a spartan life, abstaining from eating meat and drinking wine. A friend noted, “I have seen him at table in my mother’s house, and he never partook of fish or flesh or wine, and he always wore poor garments, though he had a good income both from his own estate and from his church office.”
Ives donated his salary to the poor, never accepting gifts or bribes, which was a common practice in his day. He was known to settle disputes out of court to avoid additional fees.
Ives’ actions illustrate his compassion. He helped resolve a deep dispute between a mother and her son by offering Mass for them, which led to an amicable agreement.
He uncovered a scheme by two men to cheat a poor widow of all she possessed. “Have no fear,” Ives told her. “If you are in the right, I shall defend you, and with God’s help we will prevail.” He cleverly proved her innocence while the judge punished the guilty.
There were 100 examples of his holiness following his 1303 death. In one, a woman was robbed. She prayed to Ives at his tomb, then heard the names of the robbers. Justice, through Ives, was served.
In 1362, the mystic Jeanne-Marie de Maillé told of a vision of Yves in which he said, “If you are willing to abandon the world, you will taste here on earth the joys of heaven.”
He was known to fast throughout his university years and beyond, which may have contributed to his death. He was buried in Tréguier in Northwestern France in the church he founded. Etched on his tomb:
Sanctus Ivo erat Brito
Advocatus et non latro
Res miranda populo
St Ivo was a Breton,
A lawyer and not a thief;
A wonderful thing for the people to set eyes on
Pope John Paul II issued a message about Ives in 2003: “St. Ivo was involved in defending the principles of justice and equity. He was careful to guarantee the fundamental rights of the person, respect for his primary and transcendent dignity, and the protection that the law must guarantee him. For all who exercise a legal profession, whose patron saint he is, he remains the voice of justice, which is ordained to reconciliation and peace in order to create new relations among individuals and communities and build a more impartial society.”
Dunstan
St. Dunstan is remembered as Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, London, and Finally Archbishop of Canterbury, and in particular for his revival of monastic life in England following the Viking invasions of the 8th century.
As a boy, Dunstan trained with Irish monks in the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey; he was noted even as a child for his enthusiasm for learning, and his artistic abilities and mastery of many different media – including as a silversmith and a scribe – skills which would later become bedrocks of his life as a monk. Artistry requires vision of what can be, not limitation by what is in front of you at present – Dunstan’s vision, developed through craft, aided his work in creating a vision for the restoration of Glastonbury.
In his youth, Dunstan was called into the court of King Athelstan, King of the Anglo-Saxons; he quickly became a court favorite, which led to (fully predictable) palace intrigue. Other courtiers wanted to disgrace Dunstan, so he was accused of witchcraft and black magic; the plot succeeded and he was forced to leave. As he left, he was attacked by his enemies and left in a cesspool to die. His unlikely survival almost certainly assured the later revival of English Monasticism under his vision.
At Glastonbury, Dunstan continued to pursue his artistry; he is considered the likely artist of an image of Christ with a small, kneeling monk beside him in the Glastonbury Classbook – the text in the image reads: “Dunstanum memet clemens rogo Christe tuere, Tenarias me non sinas sorbsisse procellas” – “Remember, I beg you, merciful Christ, to protect Dunstan, and do not permit the storms of the underworld to swallow me up.”
Folk legend recalls that one night while forging metal, Dunstan was tempted by the devil in the form of a beautiful woman, only for Dunstan to defeat the Devil by seizing its nose with his red-hot tongs. The story is recalled often in English literature, including by Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol, and in one other particularly memorable folk rhyme:
St. Dunstan, as the story goes, /
Once pull’d the devil by the nose /
With red-hot tongs, which made him roar, /
That he was heard three miles or more.
As a Bishop and Archbishop, Dunstan was lauded for his statesmanship, his diplomatic tact most likely developed over years of being at the heel end of palace intrigue in his younger days. After a long career of service to the church, Dunstan is reputed to have had these final words: “”He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord: He hath given food to them that fear Him.”
Ives of Kermartin vs. Dunstan
- Ives of Kermartin (67%, 4,259 Votes)
- Dunstan (33%, 2,143 Votes)
Total Voters: 6,402
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Good Saint Ivo’s the lawyer for me:
It was said when he entered a plea
It could not fail to nudge
Both the jury and judge
For he spoke in all fairness, you see.
Let’s go Bishop of Sauce!!! Dunstan is my pick to go all the way!!!
what an amazing poem. good job john best regards
Another great limerick! Ivo for me today.
Good Saint Ivo didn’t eat meat? He’s got my vote for now!
Using the law for righteousness over power and money is winning my vote today (and every day for that matter). but I have a soft spot for Dunstan – the patron saint of blacksmiths (Ives is the patron saint of lawyers). Interestingly both Dunstand and Ives share the same feast day – May 19th!
Such a pleasure each and every day. Thank you, and Ives has my vote.
Sir John Cabot, I’ve enjoyed your rhyme
Especially thoughtful in this time
During Lent
When my time is spent
Reading of Saints so sublime
Great job Frank! I feel the same.
Voted for Ives in memory of my uncle, an attorney who devoted much of his retirement to fighting on behalf of composers and musicians who became famous but who, in their early struggling days, signed unfair contracts that cheated them of their fair percentage of royalties. Thinking of you this morning, Uncle, wherever in the universe you are.
Dunstable was my pick for the day. Anyone who was an Archbishop of Canterbury is the one for me.
Ives is the exception to Dick the Butcher’s maxim.
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” In my head it’s Falstaff who says that, but you’re right. Sadly, in failed states, criminal gangs and corrupt wielders of power do kill the lawyers, as in the prosecutors who attempt to charge them and the judges who attempt to rule on their offenses. The law is a concept, and concepts of right and fairness are the first things to be attacked in corrupt states.
Thanks, St. Celia, you helped me justify my vote for St. Ives, who I picked mainly because I liked his stories better than Dunstan’s.
Having just finished reading a lengthy account of a sustained injustice being visited on an entire people my vote goes to St Ives with a prayer that he may intercede on their behalf.
Who can resist an honest lawyer/priest?
For my daughter who is studying for her LSATs – The Ives have it!
St Ives be with them my son is studying for the LSATs too!
I voted for both Dunstan and Ives in the Saintly Sixteen round, so this was not an easy choice today. However, I made my decision based on the fact that my best friend is a lawyer in the mould of St. Ives – caring, compassionate, just, and fair, who brings her Christian beliefs into the her work. She doesn’t ask what Jesus would do, she does it! As did St. Ives. So, St. Ives it is today.
It’s Saint Dunstan, the patron saint of bell ringers, for me !
Amen! He apparently could not only ring them but make them.
Voting for the lawyer in honor of Archdeacon Chris Wrampelmeier—a lawyer who respects the dignity of each person and a great fan of Lent Madness.
And a great fan of Deacon Mildred Rugger, a true servant leader, even when she flatters me.
Although I was a member of St, Dunstan’s Guild of Cranbrook, an ecellent community theater in Michigan, I have to go with the Patron Saint of the Legal Profssion. We should all know lawyers like St. Ivo.
I haven’t heard ‘St. Dunstan’s Guild’ in many, many years. Brings back memories of a childhood at Christ Church Cranbrook.
When were you there at CCC? I taught at the Upper School from 1955 to 2000, and we were members all those years. What a magnificent place!
Wow – that’s a lot of years! I don’t remember the exact years I was there, but about 1953 to 1960 when we moved away. I was in the ‘red’ choir and took piano lessons from Dr. Gerabrant (sp?) the organist. My family, aunts, uncles, cousins and god-parents all used to sit in the same pews every Sunday. It was a good time in my childhood.
As a Vincentian, working to assist the poor ,often against unjust systems that keep them that way, St. Ives gets my vote. The challenge is never-ending and requires much prayer. God bless the selfless lawyers seeking justice for those in our society whose backs are against a wall of distain and indifference.
(to be sung to the tune of “Molly Malone”}
Alive, alive o – oh
Let’s praise our St. Ivo
Who selflessly aided the cheated and frail.
He said, “Have no fear.
I’ll help you, my dear.
As long as you’re right
With God’s help we’ll prevail”
Surely I was not alone in having to pause and sing this delightful ditty! Well played, Joyce M.! And yes, I did vote for Ives – I have a dearly beloved Brother-in-law who is Breton!
Dunstan is my man! Looking at the way this vote is going, my heart is broken. Dunstan, we hardly knew ye!
Oh, I should have voted for Dunstan in honor of you and your parish, Sweet Miss Susan. But he will be back.
But will he ever advance? Artists, scholars, and contemplative never make it in this game, I’m afraid.
Though my husband is a metallurgist and St. Dunstan is the patron saint of blacksmiths, I will vote for St. Ives. His spirit is much needed now in these times of injustice and manipulation of the legal system.
Voted for St. Ives in memory of our son, an ethical, fair, just attorney who was very client oriented.
I didn’t remember either of these two from the first round although I voted for Ives. I don’t remember Dunstan in A Christmas Carol either but he gets my vote today for being Archbishop of Canterbury .
In loving memory of the last four generations of my mother’s fathers, St Ives today. (I did vote St Dunstan last time, my husband’s a blacksmith.)
I’ll tap out a hammer 19 May and send a note to my childhood priest, also a lawyer.
You have to vote for a holy lawyer, what I thought was an oxymoron!
My daughter is a lawyer, so it is St Ives for me!
Had to vote for St Ives . As vegetarian he respected all living creatures – way to go Ives !!
“A lawyer and not a thief” – no problem choosing today! (And very happy today about Absalom Jones’ moving on to the Elate Eight. All the way to the Golden Halo, I hope!)
I found an image of Dunstan’s artwork – I was interested to see how he depicted Christ. Very nice. But I voted for Ives!
https://stdunstans.com/visiting/who-was-st-dunstan/
The line between Dunstan and Jesus’s feet looks like the southwest coast of England to me: the Cornwall point below and the Bristol Channel and Wales above. That puts Dunstan about on top of Glastonbury, so a self portrait complete with map of home?
Ok, I’m ready to predict a Golden Halo winner – ST.LIVES for the WIN!!! Nice writing Neva!!
thank you
I love the image of Dunstan pulling the devil by the nose. But I am voting for Ives today, an avocat et non larron. (Note: while the feminine form of “thief,” larronne, does exist, it is “very rare.”) Wonderful write-ups, bloggers. I pray St. Ives may reform the US court system and most especially the US Supreme Court, now become a cesspit of ideological corruption. And may all perverters of the constitution, willful obstructionists of equity and the franchise, and denialists on behalf of white supremacy and entrenched wealth and power have their noses pulled by red-hot tongs and be flung into Dunstan’s cesspool. Or cessPaul, depending on your accent. Peace to all you good folk today. See you Monday.
But what if the woman wasn’t the devil and just some saucy Anglo Saxon?
Ha ha! Given that Dunstan had grown up accustomed to court cuisine, perhaps he was really tempted by some gorgeous Hollandaise or by a blond roux. Hard to handle sauces with tongs however. Perhaps Dunstan’s heart wasn’t entirely into resisting those creamy, buttery delectations dreamed up as a way to make dried cod palatable.
So eloquently put, St. Celia! I would love to vote for Dunstan’s artistry but feel pulled, like you, by the need for justice in our present moment in history.
AMEM!
Oops. AMEN!
I love that picture of Dunstan with Christ, and I love that Dunstan was an artist. I’m voting for Dunstan!
I hope we see Dunstan again, for he is most deserving, but now is definitely a time to laud good and just lawyers! I wonder if loweringthebar.net is following this?
I voted for Ives (also in the first round), but I would like to compliment David Sibley for his excellent write-up on Dunstan.
I second that. David Sibley did a wonderful job. I especially like the wry “(fully predictable) palace intrigue” and “heel end” of court machinations. Well done.
Tough. As the son of a lawyer and a Francophile, I was expecting to vote for St Ives, but the colourful stories around St Dunstan and his role in the early English church won me over.
Although I do not believe that God wanted us to fast to the point of hurting our bodies, I believe in Ives. As someone already said the Law is a concept. It takes special people to work for justice.
I feel that, if Yves were a lawyer today, he would be a fair lawmaker to those on the periphery of society. I imagine that he would use his legislative power for the good of all and follow his conscience.
Dunstan, the great ABC
Advanced from see unto see;
Restored holy life
After great strife,
And ruled wisely the old C of E.
Nice! I especially like your subtle tr0lling of Australian Broadcasting.
Love it! ❤️
Another difficult choice. Both are truly saintly people and worthy of our respect.
Anyone who “Once pull’d the devil by his nose/With red-hot tongs, which made him roar,” gets my vote. In this world, we need more people willing to stand up to the devil. We also need more people with the ability to practice the art of statecraft who can get the world leaders to come to the negotiating table and solve problems together. And let us not forget, in this time of churches struggling to survive, that he spent 2 large inheritances to rebuild the abbeys and churches in his care. Surely his example shines before us!
Even though Dunstan is (or was mentioned as) the patron saint of bell-ringers, this handbell fan voted for Ives. My son is a lawyer, one of the good ones, so that tipped the scales for me.
As a legal aid attorney, helping the low income, I have to vote for St. Ives! Glad to know the Saint of the legal profession is a lawyer for the under-represented.
Wow, what a difficult choice to make.Both St. Ives and St Dunstan’s crusaded for the oppressed, the unheard, for the Son of God. They practiced righting the wrong. Both sustained criticism for their beliefs and deeds.They each used their gifts/talents for spreading the Good News. They were men that practiced what they preached.
I am touched personally by both. I fight for the wounded, the impaired, for what is right even when the cost is much. Being artistic myself, I see the truth in creations, illustration and replication. This can be shown in colors, paint, metal, clay, sand, beads, words, clothing and deeds. So, I feel the gifts if these Saints equally in my soul. I cannot choose. I declare each as important as the other.
As both an artist and horsewoman, I had to go with Dunstan, the artist and patron saint of blacksmiths (the farriers that shoe our ponies!)
Patron Saint of Lawyers…that must be a lonely job.
Maybe the beautiful woman was a real woman, and Dunstan saw her as the devil. If so, this is a horrible story.
Yes. Reading this so soon after the shootings in Atlanta definitely made me see it in a different light.
No contest here. I will be serving the people of St. Dunstan, Ellsworth, Maine, at Easter, so of course he has my vote. And he is an artist as well as a spiritual leader, so very much my English cup of tea.
As a widow and mother of an attorney, I voted for St. Ives
My vote goes to Ives, the virtuous lawyer. The poor need an advocate before the powerful, always. Glad I know a bit of Ives’s story, now.
Two caring and pastoral souls, an artist/priest and a lawyer/priest. I’ve just logged off from my weekly poetry sharing time with a beloved community of poets and lovers of poetry, art, and beauty, and my soul is full and might sway me toward Dunstan. On the other hand, this past week I’ve had to deal with some infuriating financial paperwork snafus with a company profoundly lacking gifts in client services and communication and internal communication — and I could have really used someone like Ives. Some weeks we wish God would send in the artists, other weeks we really need a wise and skilled advocate. I guess I’ll decide how to vote sometime before the polls close.
P.S. Hello, St. Celia!
“Simple” is the greatest complexity. Sending you love and poetry, Priest!
Was Dunstan tempted by the devil in physical form? Was the perceived devil a person who just wandered by? Or was Dunstan alone and wrestling with his inner demons?
One of the difficulties of Christian practice is knowing how to respond to people who do or represent things that we find repugnant. When do we step back and question ourselves? When do we walk away? When do we mount an active opposition, and how do we oppose?
As Dunstan went through life, he developed the statesmanship and diplomatic tact that he exercised as bishop and archbishop.
(Nevertheless, I voted for St. Ives.)
Thanks to the writers of Lent Madness for entertaining us with stories of theses saints. Since I love all things British and Anglo Saxon I voted for Saint Dunstan. I can’t get enough of those King Athel…..guys and Utred son of Utred
Since I love the strories of the Anglo Saxon Kings and Utred, son of UtredI had to vote for Saint Dunstan.
In honor of my partner , a lawyer who has never gotten rich, but who has spent his career fighting for abused and injured workers, I must vote for Saint Ivo today!
My late husband was a lawyer who was not motivated by money. In remembrance of him, I have to go with St. Ives.
My teenage daughter was reading Just Mercy for school, so I reread it alongside her, then watched the movie, and then watched a series of Bryan Stevensons’s Ted Talks about our criminal justice system and systemic racism in the USA. So even though I want to know more about Dunstan as a silversmith/blacksmith/artist (and am tempted to vote for him on that basis), I’m voting for Ives of Kermartin in honor of Bryan Stevenson and all who work for true justice in our criminal justice system and as a prayer towards our crying need for true justice in this land.
I doubt that Dunstan trained with Irish monks in “the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey,” although this phrase appears in the Wikipedia article on Dunstan. Glastonbury Abbey wasn’t in ruins at Dunstan’s time; that didn’t happen until the dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII. When part of the abbey was destroyed by fire in 1184, the community immediately began to rebuild, and “found” the grave of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere in order to attract pilgrims to raise funds.
When I was a college referencce llibrarian, I told students to use Wikipedia only as a general reference, and to verify what they found there in other sources (like the web site for Glastonbury Abbey itself). You never know how much (or how little) the people who contribute to Wikipedia articles actually know about the subject.
Never mess with a librarian! You inspired me to go check out the Glastonbury Abbey website. I want to go visit! Not to be missed is the image of the suckling pigs roasting on the spit. Now I am convinced that it was sauces and not saucy wenches that tempted Dunstan.
https://www.glastonburyabbey.com/
I assumed that Glastonbury was in ruins from the Viking invasions, which were in the late 9th century. Dunstan came along shortly thereafter and rebuilt them, no?
Dunstan for me. I follow Morning Prayer on You Tube with Dean Robert Willis of Canterbury Cathedral, and he was certainly deepened my spiritual life—as well as demonstrating the connection with God’s natural world, when he offers MP on Saturdays from a hay bale in the barnyard with the pigs, Winston and Clemmie, Russell the rooster and his wives, Ducky, the turkeys, Darcy, Lizzie, and Jane, , and four cats. I would vote for Dunstan on his own merits, but his history with Canterbury seals the deal.
Oops, I meant “ he has certainly”
The pigs and chickens sound quite appealing!
Good things about a lawyer!? Gotta be my pick!
Ives is my pick. He makes me think of our attorney and friend who, from his modest office in a small house, puts ethics and fairness above all else.
I was married at St. Dunstan’s in Modesto—back when it existed–so I’ll always vote for him!
For those of us partial to Benedictine monasticism, the failure to mention that Dunstan was Benedictine surely lost some votes. But not mine. I seem to be backing all the underdogs this year!
♀️ Oh no, as a handbell ringer married to a good guy lawyer and a lover of Canterbury, what am I to do???? Voted for both of these holy people in the first round…decisions, decisions. Lent Madness is rightly named!
I’m all in favor of a good lawyers, but would so love to see an artist win this!
In court he demanded justice to help the poor attain
Victory against their
Enemies and oppressors
So relieved his work had paid off, and his riches could aid the poor
(Sylvia and Greta)
Bell ringer for Dunstan, but I sure hope that beautiful woman whose nose he burnt really was the devil in disguise!
I VOTE FOR ST. IVES. DOING GOOD FOR ALL THE POOR DID WELL.
I made a big mistake. I moved to Cranbrook much later, more like 1986. I got confused with my age at the time. Anyway, I taught English Lit. and was Head Coach of the Forensics Team at Cranbrook until I retired in 2000. We were very active members at St. Dunstan’s. I’m so pleased you had a good childhood there, It was a magic place.
St Dunstan
St D gets my vote
Finally, I have been lead to choose St. Dunstan’s.