For one full week, the Supreme Executive Committee will be accepting nominations for Lent Madness 2022. The nominating period will remain open through Monday, June 7, at which point this brief exercise in Lenten democracy will cease and the SEC will return to their regularly scheduled benevolently authoritarian ways.
Nominationtide, the most underrated of liturgical seasons, never begins at the same time other than the vague “sometime after Easter Day.” This is partly because Tim and Scott have day jobs and partly because “whim” is one of their ecclesiastical charisms. But it’s here! And the world rejoices!
To insure your SUCCESSFUL nomination, please note the Nominationtide Rules & Regulations, which reside in an ancient illuminated manuscript tended to by aged monks who have been set aside by saints and angels for this holy calling.
- The nominee must, in fact, be dead.
- The nominee must be on the official calendar of saintly commemorations of some church.
- We will accept only one nominee per person.
- You must tell us WHY you are nominating your saint.
- The ONLY way to nominate a saint will be to leave a comment on this post.
- That means comments left on Facebook, Twitter, attached to a brick and thrown through the window at Forward Movement headquarters, or placed on giant placards outside the residences of Tim or Scott don’t count.
As you discern saints to nominate, please keep in mind that a number of saints are ineligible for next year’s Saintly Smackdown. Based on longstanding tradition, this includes the entire field of Lent Madness 2021, those saints who made it to the Round of the Elate Eight in 2020 and 2019, and those from the 2018 Faithful Four.
Needless to say Jesus, Mary, Tim, Scott, past or present Celebrity Bloggers, and previous Golden Halo Winners are also ineligible. Below is a comprehensive list of ineligible saints. Please keep this in mind as you submit your nominations. Do not waste your precious nomination on an ineligible saint!
For the sake of “transparency,” the rest of the process unfolds thusly: Tim and Scott will gather for the annual Spring SEC Retreat at a secure, undisclosed location/coffee shop to consider the nominations and create a full, fun, faithful, and balanced bracket of 32 saints. Then all will be revealed on All Brackets’ Day, November 3rd. Or at least, “that’s the ways we’ve always done it.”
Time to nominate your favorite saint! But first, look over this list. Don’t throw away your shot.
The Saints of Lent Madness 2021 (ineligible)
Camillus de Lellis
Matthias
Hermione
Melangell
Evagrius the Solitary
Euphrosyne
Nino of Georgia
Benedict the Moor
Jacapone da Todi
Ives of Kermartin
Dunstan
Maryam of Qidun
Arnulf of Metz
Vincent of Saragossa
Tarcissius
Egeria
Albert the Great
Leo the Great
Theodora of Alexandria
Theodora the Empress
Isadora the Simple
Simeon the Holy Fool
Catherine of Bologna
Catherine of Genoa
Henriette Delile
Absalom Jones
Bartolome de las Cassas
Marianne Cope
Joan of Arc
Catherine Booth
Miguel Pro
Constantine
Past Golden Halo Winners (ineligible)
George Herbert, C.S. Lewis, Mary Magdalene, Frances Perkins, Charles Wesley, Francis of Assisi, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Florence Nightingale, Anna Alexander, Martha of Bethany, Harriet Tubman, Absalom Jones
From 2018 to 2020 (ineligible)
Joseph
Joanna the Myrrhbearer
Margaret of Costello
Brother Lawrence
Hildegard of Bingen
Herman of Alaska
Elizabeth Fry
Photini
Ignatius of Loyola
Gobnait
John Chrysostom
William Wilberforce
Zenaida
Pandita Ramabai
Maria Skobtsova
Richard Hooker
Esther
As you contemplate your (single!) nomination, why not aid your reflection and sharpen your focus with a hot mug of your favorite beverage? The most effective way to do this, of course, is by reverently sipping out of a Lent Madness mug from the Lentorium. We assume you’ve already ordered your Absalom Jones 2021 Golden Halo winner mug, but if not, here’s the link.
Would like top nominate for Lent Madness 2022:
St. Athanasios the Reader who was martyred in the 290s AD and is possible he who Athanasios the Great (Athanasius of Alexandria) is named for? This martyr lived on the island of Cyprus and many have given the appellation of the Deacon.
I proudly nominate St. Crispin Crispian, aka St. Crispin Crispianus, or Crispinian; he may actually be twin brothers martyred for the faith in Gaul during the late 3rd Century persecution under Emperor Diocletian. Because Crispin preached by day and repaired shoes by night, he is a favorite among cobblers and should be thought of as the Patron Saint of Quality Footwear. Although one should never underrate the importance of comfortable shoes. St. Crispin Crispianus, whether one person or two, has achieved immortality in one of the greatest speeches by the greatest poet and playwright of the English language, William Shakespeare, who has King Henry V exhort his sick, hungry, and outmanned followers by telling them they will always remember St. Crispin’s Day: “And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by from this day to the ending of the world but we in it shall be remembered – we few, we happy few, we band of brothers.” I can personally attest that the saints are widely honored in those words, because I joined hundreds of other Shakespeare and Saintly geeks on the field of Agincourt in northwest France on the 600th anniversary of that speech, which Shakespeare based on historical accounts of what King Henry actually said on October 25, 1415. Although St. Crispin’s Day may not be so well remembered in the Episcopal Church of the USA Today, October 25 is still a feast day of some sort in honor of St. Crispin in the Church of England, and Shakespeare’s words remembering Crispin Crispianus can be found in a stained glass window at Westminister Abbey that pays tribute to the RAF pilots who gave their lives fighting Hitler during the Battle of Britain. I respectfully submit that it is time the Lent Madness community has opportunity to show proper respect to this Saint or these Saintly twins.
This is a persuasive and well researched nomination! Well done Mr Leovy!
I nominate Matt Talbot of Dublin, who is recognized as Venerable (first step towards official sainthood) by the Roman Catholic Church. His feast day on their calendar is June 18 (some sources I’ve seen give June 19th). He was raised in the slums of 19th century Dublin and was an alcoholic by his early teens. His father and some of his brothers were alcoholics as well, which must have made it even harder to stop. One day in his late twenties, waiting broke outside a pub for a friend to come by and buy him a drink, he appears to have had a deep conversion experience. From that day, though even his mother wouldn’t believe him when he said he was taking the pledge, he never drank again. He struggled for some years, but ultimately dedicated himself to a life of radical simplicity, prayer, and service to God and others. I think his story is important because it shows that no one is beyond hope of recovery or beyond God’s grace and help, an especially important message as addiction in all its forms remains such a serious problem today. I also love his story because it shows how even the most obscure person can pursue a holy life and do good work for God. There are many beautiful stories of all the different ways Matt quietly helped those around him, showed humor and kindness to all, and lived simply so that he could give away as much as he could. And it is nice to know that not all Celtic saints lived in the remote past – Matt lived till 1925, less than a hundred years ago. (Potential here for a great Celtic face-off in the 2022 bracket? Just a thought!)
Agree!
If John Lewis has been beatified by anyone, I would like to nominate him.He was clearly called, he followed his calling faithfully, and he made a difference.
Good choice!
He would be my choice, too!
Yes!!!!
And there’s a great new book about him — His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope — written by Jon Meacham (an Episcopalian!).
Teresa of Avilla
One of only two women ever named a Doctor of the Church, she wrote courageously about theology and what an encounter with God was like, what it meant. With Torquemada looking over her shoulder.
Yes!
Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (Pope John XXIII): because he believed in people, he believed in the presence of the Spirit IN people, and his reforms of the Roman Church opened up new avenues of ecumenical appreciation. One of his most astounding challenges (provided in his opening speech to the Second Vatican Council) was the notion of “degrees of communion.”
I second the nomination of Pope Saint John XXIII not only for the reforms he made through Vatican Council 2 but in the way he served the church as a true pastor and shepherd not only to Roman Catholics but to women and men of good will. He also had a beautiful smile and spirit that touched many people. Good Pope John, pray for us.
I would second this.
I nominate St. Cecelia, patron saint of musicians.
I like that one.
So excited to see Matt Talbot nominated.
I would like to once again nominate Christian de Chergé, one of the seven monks from the Abbey of Our Lady of Atlas in Tibhirine, Algeria, kidnapped and believed to have been later killed by Islamists. Their story was dramatized in the film Of Gods and Men. He was beatified by the RCC in December 2018 and his feast day is 8 May. Prior to his capture, he wrote a testament to be opened and read if he died by violence. You can read it here: https://www.ocso.org/history/saints-blesseds-martyrs/testament-of-christian-de-cherge/
For his faithful dedication to Islamic-Christian understanding and his courageous service, even in the face of violent death, I believe he is an inspirational choice for Lent Madness 2022.
I agree; Christian de Chergé is most worthy.
Thank you for this nomination…just about every year I put his name in the mix…here’s hoping 2022 is the one!
Yes! After a year + of not singing we need all the help we can get! St. Cecelia pray for us!
I nominate Pauli Murray. She had a remarkable record of action and advocacy on behalf of racial justice, and collaborated with unlikely partners (e.g. Eleanor Roosevelt). She grew up very humbly but graduated with a law degree from a formerly racially segregated school. She was an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church.
I’d like to “second” this nomination of The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray!
And I’d like to second that second!
I also would like to nominate Pauli Murray!
I agree wholeheartedly – Pauli Murray is a great nomination!!
Agree on this nomination, because in addition to being a priest and an important voice on race, Murray was an activist against discrimination “on the basis of sex,” and contributed to the discussion of gender identity.
For more info, North Carolina Public Radio recently ran a short series, “Pauli,” that’s worth a listen.
https://www.wunc.org/race-demographics/2021-02-05/pauli-the-podcast
There’s a documentary out as well, but I believe it’s still circulating film festivals and hasn’t been broadly released yet.
St. Jude -He is beloved by many in my congregation. The saint of desperate causes -folks reached out to often for prayers over the last year.
I second the nomination of St. Jude. Growing up, my family thought of him as our “go to” Saint whenever we needed help from above.
I nominate Gilbert of Semptingham.
I would like to nominate Saint Raymond Nonnatus for your considerations for Lent Madness 2022. Saint Raymond Nonnatus is the patron saint of midwives and of priests in defence of the confidentiality of the confessional. His feast day is August 31st. Saint Raymond saved many Christians from slavery, even offering himself as a ransom in exchange for Christian Slaves. He suffered under his captors. Legend says they bored a hole through his lip with an iron and padlocked his mouth closed so that he could not preach. Because of this, locks are traditionally placed at his altar as a prayer to end gossiping.
Are you accepting bribes this year? I’ll up the antenna from last year!
I second the previous commentator’s nomination of John Robert Lewis, surely one of saints of God. I note that that this nominatiuon violates Nomination Rule 2. But I remind you of the maxim that should be attributed to Augustine of Canterbury that “Rules are made to be broken”.
As to Why I and at least one other is nominating this saint, I can only say: “The reason is obvious. Remember January 6, 2001 , and the actions of the Georgia and Texas legislatures.”
That is “ante” – not antennae…
I nominate Saint Michael, he is the saint of soldiers and the police, and they need a Saint as much as the rest of us. Even if a few of them don’t do what they should a lot more of them do.
I’d like to nominate St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Theresa), Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun and Missionary. In 1950, Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation that had over 4,500 nuns and was active in 133 countries in 2012. The congregation manages homes for people who are dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis. It also runs soup kitchens, dispensaries, mobile clinics, children’s and family counselling programmes, as well as orphanages and schools. Members take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, and also profess a fourth vow – to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor.” Teresa received a number of honors, including the 1962 Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize and the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. She was canonised on 4 September 2016, and the anniversary of her death (5 September) is her feast day. A controversial figure during her life and after her death, Teresa was admired by many for her charitable work. She was praised and criticized on various counts, such as for her views on abortion and contraception, and was criticized for poor conditions in her houses for the dying. Her authorized biography was written by Navin Chawla and published in 1992, and she has been the subject of films and other books. On 6 September 2017, Teresa and St. Francis Xavier were named co-patrons of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta.
And my all time favorite quote is attributed to her – I know God won’t give me more than I can handle, but sometimes I wish He didn’t trust me so much! Those words brought desperately needed comfort and humor when my youngest was a medical puzzle defying the efforts of the local pediatric hospital. Mother Teresa for 2022 please!
Mother Theresa is my choice as well!
I second this nomination
I nominate The Ven. Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA. Sr. Thea and her community defied segregation laws to enable her to enter the convent. After Vatican II, when the sisters stopped wearing the habit, Sr. Thea emerged in the fullness of her African-American heritage and used her voice to celebrate its richness around the world. I am named for her in our own Sisters of St. Gregory.
I second this nomination!
Thank you, Ann! I’m hoping she makes the cut. She truly was a wonder.
I met her at a National Catholic Educators Association convention once.
Now, that’s a story I’d love to hear! She radiated the most joyous strength.
St. Andre Bessette was known as the Miracle Man of Montreal because of all of the miracles attributed to him. He is such an awesome yet underrated saint. He was sickly as a child and was not expected to live to adulthood. Well, he did. And the Oratory in Montreal is his dreaming – a dedication to St. Joseph, to whom he has a great devotion. Now, thousands upon thousands of people visit the Oratory each year to pray for the intercession of St. Andre. A man of great humility who deserves a spot on the 2022 bracket!
I second this nomination. St. Brother André, as he is also known, was a pious man of humble beginnings, who is revered all over the world. The many thousands of crutches on display at the Oratory, left by people who were able to walk again after praying to St. Joseph through Brother André, demonstrate the power of faith.
I nominate Photine, Samaritan woman at the well – so named by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Her name means Luminous One. She conversed with Jesus an ms her life was changed. Then her testimony brought the whole village to Jesus.
She’s on the list of inelible saints because of the position she reached last time she was included.
I would like to nominate Maximilian Kolbe Polish priest who gave his life in exchange for another in World War II
Student of Esperanto
My grandson is named for him
I would second this.
Yes, yes, yes…my godmother wrote one of the first biographies of St Maximilian (A Man for Others)
I nominate Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, the Lily of the Mohawks. She is the fourth Native American to be venerated and the first to be canonized in the Catholic church. Her name, Tekakwitha, translates as “she who bumps into things” and that should be instantly relatable to us who are clumsy! And, incidentally, her shrine is just down the road from where I live in Upstate New York. 🙂
I love Kateri! Seconded! (It always irritated me that they made her patron of environmentalism, though. Seems to have nothing to do with who she was or what she did in life, and everything to do with stereotypes about Native Americans. I’d have liked to see her as patron of girls’ education, those shunned for conversion, those who struggle with self-harm, or those scarred by disease…)
I agree!
I nominate Photine, Samaritan woman at the well – so named by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Her name means Luminous One. She conversed with Jesus and her life was changed. Then her testimony brought the whole village to Jesus. (reposted to edit)
I nominate Peter Williams Cassey, who is listed (with his wife Annie) on April 16 of The Episcopal Church’s Lesser Feasts and Fasts. Father Cassey was the first African American ordained in The Episcopal Church in the western United States. He was most noteworthy for his work as an educator of children of color in San Diego, providing a private education for those barred from public schools.
I nominate St Francis DeSales, Theologian and Doctor of the church. The teachings of the Oblates of St Francis DeSales, molded and prepared me for a career in nursing. Class of 1983 DeSales University
I nominate Oscar Romero, because of his great courage in speaking out for peace and justice amidst terrible violence and poverty in Central America.
I nominate Roche lived as hermit and tended people with plague which he caught and was brought food by a dog. I heard he was son of a Duke who sent soldiers to kill pr capture him but he showed them a birthmark on his chest which his father recognized. I have a statue of him pulling back his shirt. And having a dog with a roll in its mouth.
I nominate Maximillian Kolbe. His feast day is August 14. He was a Polish Catholic priest and Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the German death camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II.
I nominate Padre Pio. Padre Pio, also known as Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Italian: Pio da Pietrelcina; 25 May 1887 – 23 September 1968), was an Italian friar, priest, stigmatist and mystic,[1] now venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. Born Francesco Forgione, he was given the name of Pius (Italian: Pio) when he joined the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin.
St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier, 19th Century founder of the Good Shepherd sisters, who said homeless women and girls around the world. Although not widely known today, she has inspired through her work thousands of sisters who have helped women and girls in need for over 150 years. A good friend of mine was a member of the order until she fell in love and got married. She remains an associate and has created a timeline of St. Mary’s life and works.
I second this nomination. Having been a member of that community in my past Catholic life I support this nomination.
I agree!
Pauli Murray, 1910-1985, activist for Civil and Women’s Rights. Lawyer, Episcopal priest and, in 2018, added to the Episcopal Church’s calendar of Saints, celebrated on July 1. Her struggle for rights for marginalized people along with her life-long struggle with gender and sexual identity make her a perfect candidate for the Golden Halo.
I nominate St. George, a soldier from Cappadocia and a member of the Praetorian Guard for Roman Emperor Diocletian. He was martyred April 23, 303, probably at Lydda in Palestine, for refusing to recant his Christian faith. The story of his courage and the strength of his faith spread far and wide; within centuries of his death he was venerated across Europe, the Levant and in India, and is still today. In the Middle East he is held to be both saint and prophet; both Christians and Muslins revere him. He is the patron saint of England, Portugal, Germany, Aragon, Catalonia, Genoa, and Venice, as well as Boy Scouts and soldiers, universities, and England’s royal family. His cross forms England’s national flag – and, of course, the emblem of the Episcopal Church!
What St. George did not do was slay a dragon. The legend asserting this remarkable feat first appeared in the 11th century. As the story goes, a fierce dragon was terrorizing the Libyan city of Silene. To placate the dragon, people of the city fed it two sheep each day, but soon the sheep were not enough and the city was forced to sacrifice humans, elected by city residents, to the beast. St. George arrived there when the king’s own daughter was to be sacrificed. St. George saved the girl by slaying the dragon with a lance. The king was so grateful that he offered him rich rewards, but St. George refused them and instead he gave the treasure to the poor. The people of the city were so astonished at St. George’s valor and generosity that they became Christians and were all baptized. Such a great story…but, sad to say, ahistorical.
St. George has never appeared in the Lent Madness lineup…surely a regrettable omission for a man who is revered so widely across much of the world. As a member of St. George’s Episcopal Church in Belleville, Illinois, I nominate St. George for his courage, compassion, generosity and above all for his unconquerable faith in Jesus Christ.
Jonathan Daniels was a seminarian at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts when he, “he responded to the pleas of Dr. Martin Luther King for clergy to become more actively involved in the Civil Rights movement, and traveled to Alabama to assist with voter registration efforts in the South.” He was killed by Deputy Sheriff Tom Coleman’s shotgun blast when he interceded and pushed Coleman’s target, 16 year old Ruby Sales, out of Range.” In 1994 he was added to the “Lesser Feasts and Fasts Calendar of Commemorations.” His feast day is August 14. He is among 15 individuals honored in the Chapel of Martyrs at Canterbury Catheral. For me, Daniel’s legacy is all the more powerful in our current national climate.
I second the motion, Jennifer! I was just getting ready to submit Jonathan Daniels when I saw your post. He was a “candidate” in the first Lent Madness in which I participated and I was so moved by his actions that I felt he deserved another chance. Thank you for nominating him.
Yes, this courageous young man should be in the Lenten madness challenge. I have had the privilege of meeting and hearing the young woman he saved tell her story of gratitude and dedication to be a servant Christian.
Yes, Jonathan Edwards!
I second this nomination
To be clear, I am seconding Jennifer’s nomination of Johnathan Daniels.
A saint for our times.
Seconded!
Jonathan Edwards
I would like to nominate Dr. Howard Thurman. I don’t know if he is on any roster of saints, but he should be. Dr.Thurman was a classmate and colleague of Martin Luther King Sr., and his book, Jesus and the Disinherited was a lifetime inspiration for Dr. King Jr. and the world. Thurman was an early Christian writer on the situation of African American people in the United States and disinherited people everywhere. He was a mystic and a social justice advocate and an extraordinary Christian.
I nominate Hugh of Lincoln. He was a great bishop who stood up to Henry II, seeking compensation for tenants displaced from the king’s lands and acting independently of the king’s influence. He was prominent in protecting Jews who were persecuted during Richard I’s reign. He rebuilt Lincoln Cathedral and added to many other church buildings. He seems to have been a great project manager. As a former management analyst I have taken him as a personal patron saint. Speak truth to power and do good. And his symbol is a swan, a beautiful bird with a touchy temper.
I nominate the Venerable Mother Henriette Delille
Born in 1812 in New Orleans, Henriette lived a part of her life as a mistress in a placage, whereby wealthy white men entered relationships with free women of color, circumventing the laws against interracial marriage. Two children were born from this relationship, but after their deaths at a young age, Henriette experienced a conversion and rejected placage altogether. Shortly after her thirtieth birthday, she and two friends formed a religious order for women of color: the Sisters of the Holy Family. Only the second religious community in the United States specifically for women of color, their mission was to care for the poor and elderly and to teach the uneducated of Creole society. Her cause for canonization is currently open. If canonized, she will become the first New Orleanian, and the first United States-born black person, to be recognized as a Saint by the Roman Catholic Church.
Whoops! Just noted that she is ineligible! My mistake — sorry
I would like to nominate St. Jude, Jude Thaddaeus, not only for his role in Crist’s ministry, but
also for his position regarding lost causes.
I nominate St Stephen, of the original group of deacons chosen to serve, and first Christian martyr. Also I was born on his feast day so rarely got birthday presents growing up as they were “included” with my Christmas gifts!
I nominate the Rev. Seiichi Michael Yasutake, Episcopal priest, prophet, advocate and activist for civil rights, peace, and justice for all, especially Black, Native American, Puerto Rican, Japanese, and other minorities. He advocated on behalf of prisoners of conscience and protesters. To name just one initiative over his long life, he founded the Interfaith Prisoners of Conscience Project and served as executive director until he died in December 2002.
I would like to nominate Paul. I KNOW that there are many opinions about him including the attribution to him of the letters of pseudo-Paul. I think he gets a bad rap. In any case he is the best known saint after St.Mary the Virgin and St. Peter, and he is the reason that, like him or not, most of us are Christians.
I nominate Julian of Norwich, a holy woman of the Middle Ages who lived set off from her community. She prayed to see and experience Christ’s crucifixion as if she were actually there. She wanted her experience of faith to be deep and as close to God’s presence as possible. She wrote extensively and her work has survived. There is a great deal of information available on her.
Seconded!
Solanus Casey (our boy from Motown), one of sixteen children had a number of rough jobs and was dumped by the mother of the women to whom he proposed marriage. As a result, he was called to the priesthood but his lack of knowledge in German and Latin (academic languages) limited his priestly future and he joined the religious order Order Friars Minor Capuchin. He never made it beyond being the door porter, but his compassion for people, esp. the sick, worked wonders. He is known for his remarkable cures. He was beatified in a service at Ford Field (football) in Detroit. He was especially beloved for his kindness and starting the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in the depression which fed thousands and is still in operation. He loved the violin and played often and sang poorly. He’s Detroit’s favorite priest.
I nominate St. Olaf. It is attributed to him that he brought the Church to the Vikings. He was the last saint recognized by the Roman Catholic Church prior to the Schism. There are many legends surrounding King Olaf II, included in the Icelandic Sagas.
I nominate Howard Thurman.
A well known, respected man, scholar, author (Jesus and the Disinherited) among the many, priest, professor, church founder and admired by Dr. Martin Luther King among many others. A saint to me.
Google him…you’ll thank me later.
His book Jesus and the Disinherited is one of the texts for “Sacred Ground” and is well worth reading. It is said Martin King carried his book with him.
Yes, I was new to him this year – what a great soul.
Thorlak of Iceland. The only Icelandic saint.
I would like to nominate King Kamehameha because he did so much with serving the peoples of Hawaii bringing hospitals and all to the islanders.
St Michan of Dublin was an ascetic in early Christian Ireland. His church in Dublin now contains the only naturally occurring mummies in the British isles.
I nominate Samuel Shoemaker (Jan. 31 on TEC calendar), who provided much of the spiritual underpinning for Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step groups. If that isn’t sufficient merit, he also was known for balancing the importance of evangelism with the liturgical traditions of the Episcopal Church (something we Episcopalians still really need to work on–it isn’t either/or, folks). And, on a personal note, he was the rector of my father’s church when Dad was growing up in NYC in the 1920s/30s, and at age 95, Dad still uses Shoemaker as the benchmark by which all preaching is judged. He was apparently pretty good at it. Thanks for considering!
Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz. I nominate her because of her courage in proclaiming truth to those in power at the time as well as her phenomenal persistence in educating her mind and her soul. ” I do not study in order to write, nor far less in order to teach (which would be boundless arrogance in me), but simply to see whether by studying I may become less ignorant. This is my answer, and these are my feelings. . . ” After being forced to give up her extensive library and her pursuit of learning, she cared for the sick during an epidemic. She eventually succumbed herself to the illness.
I nominate Margery Kempe. I imagine she’s been in the Lent Madness lie-up before (though not 2018-21), but if so, she’s worthy of a return.
I nominate Madeleine Sophie Barat. She grew up during the French Revolution, yet was fortunate to receive a fine education. During that tumultuous time in history, she saw the need for providing educational opportunities to the young, advantaged and poor, especially girls, and founded many schools under the auspices of her Society of the Sacred Heart. She is the patron saint of educators, and her feast day is May 29; she died on Ascension Day in 1865.
We live in tumultuous times today, when the education of all people is of utmost importance everywhere in the world. Madeleine Sophie Barat is an inspiring example of dedication and determination in bringing education to as many youngsters as she could.
Another AASH here, we celebrated her feast day last week. It’s actually May 25.
Happy to see her nomination!!!
Dr. José Gregorio Hernández (1864 – 1919) Venezuelan physician. Beatified April 30, 2021. Eminent physician and scientist, he is known as “The Physician of the Poor” as he devoted himself to take care of the sick who couldn’t pay for medical treatment, even paying out of jos pocketfor their medication. He died while on one of his missions: was run over by a car on his way to a pharmacy to purchase medication for a destitute patient. After his death, miraculous healings started to happen amongst ill people who visited his tomb. His sanctification process took many years, finally his beatification happened just a month ago from today. Celebration: June 29.
On a personal note, I played daily masses for 24 years in the church where he was interred while his beatification process was under way (Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria Parish, Caracas, Venezuela)
I nominate Harriet Bedell for her life of love and service among native peoples in Oklahoma, Alaska and Florida.
I nominate St. Junipero Serra, who headed the Jesuits who founded 13 missions in California in the 18th century. They can be considered the west coast founders of America. Now frequently maligned, he deserves renewed recognition. He and his community “dreamed that the union of American native folkways with the Christian faith would bring into being a more perfect society than any found in Europe at the time. These missionaries offer a vision that could overcome and heal the acrimony and arson, literal and figurative, so rampant today.” (James Matthew Wilson in “St. Junipero Serra, Founding Father” in the WSJ 5/13/21)
Friar Junipero Serra is a good choice, but he was not a Jesuit. He was a Franciscan friar, of the Order of St. Francis, the men who founded so many of the California missions that gave their names to cities and counties.
Junipero Serra was no hero to the Native Californians who were brutalized as part of his “missionizing” effort. Here is food for thought:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jun%C3%ADpero_Serra#Treatment_of_Native_Californians
Completely agree. He was an abusive slave driver. Why the RC Church canonized him is a mystery to me.
Sadly, the politics of empire are what they are — both outside and within the Church . . .
I believe also he was a Franciscan?
You are right. All of the California missions were Franciscan. And their work among the Native people was an abomination: “The Franciscans saw nothing wrong with enticing Indians to stay at the Missions, baptizing them in a ceremony many of the Indians probably considered of little personal importance, and then holding them as captive labor for the rest of their lives. From the Spanish point of view, baptized Indians became part of the Christian flock and were thereafter obligated to follow the instructions of their shepherds. Baptized Indians who left without permission were hunted down as “runaways,” and often punished severely on recapture. Punishments like whippings were also handed out for various infractions, or randomly at the whims of bored and resentful soldiers.” More info at https://www.kcet.org/shows/tending-the-wild/untold-history-the-survival-of-californias-indians .
Can’t agree with this choice. I’m still not sure why he was made a saint!
For generations, we have been expected/required to simply avert our gaze from the historical abuse. So I am glad for this conversation today. The fact that Serra was canonized requires us to recognize and confront the Church’s role in the cruelty and suffering that his missionizers imposed upon the People of God in California. I do hope that we do not replicate the sin yet again, by lifting him up in this latest cultural celebration.
#truth
I nominate St. Fiacre, a good Irishman who ministered in France. He loved nature and honored it. He became the patron saint of gardens. His statue is standing in ours and the plants are loving him. A great symbol of our call the be good stewards of our planet as we work to control climate change.
I’d like to see the inclusion of saints from traditions outside the Roman Catholic & Protestant traditions. In past years, we’ve had some from the Eastern Orthodox Church, but I don’t recall any Lent Madness saints from that first century-founded, continuous Armenian Apostolic Church. It would be a joy to meet some of them in Lent Madness.
We definitely have not had a good representation of saints from the ancient Coptic Church that includes Ethiopia as well as Egypt. This Church was has one of the four Christian quarters in Jerusalem, along with Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, and Roman Catholic. Because it was the popular, active church in Egypt for over a millennium, it would be most interesting to learn of some its saints.
The Nestorian Church (today sometimes called the Assyrian Church) must have an exciting variety of saints to include, since it once was the vibrant religion of Tibet. For numerous centuries, it was a robust segment of Christianity, with tremendous membership in Persia, Central Asia, India, China, etc. Its history must have produced a strong contingent of saints, but I don’t recollect any in Lent Madness.
The ancient Jacobite Church, now officially known as the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, has never been the home of any saint I can remember in Lent Madness. That extremely ancient Church traditionally included much of Christianity in India. What a treat it would be to begin knowing its saints.
While the Chaldean Catholic Church, Ukrainian Particular Catholic Church, Maronite Church, & perhaps others are in full Communion with the Roman Catholic Church, it would be splendid to see a representation of some of their saints.
I totally agree! Too many POLITICAL figures are being nominated.
I nominate Saint Margaret of Scotland. Aside from being an ancestor of mine, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia: “The chroniclers all agree in depicting Queen Margaret as a strong, pure, noble character, who had very great influence over her husband (King Malcom III), and through him over Scottish history, especially in its ecclesiastical aspects. Her religion, which was genuine and intense, was of the newest Roman style; and to her are attributed a number of reforms by which the Church [in] Scotland was considerably modified from the insular and primitive type which down to her time it had exhibited. Among those expressly mentioned are a change in the manner of observing Lent, which thenceforward began as elsewhere on Ash Wednesday and not as previously on the following Monday…”
Hey, I just nominated her too! Yay St. Margaret!
I agree!
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz – anyone who takes upper level Spanish literature classes is going to know who Juana is: a colonial Mexican nun, poet, and general badass protofeminist. She was lost to history before contemporary Mexican poet, Octavio Paz, used his platform to bring attention to her writings and life.
I nominate Archbishop Oscar Romero. In his life and his death he modeled Christ’s call for justice for all God’s children
Yay, I nominated him as well!
Florence Li Tim-Oi
first woman to be ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Communion.
Remembering all the Asians who were / are saints.
Love you guys’ “fire and whimstone” posts. I nominate Mr. Rogers, Fred Rogers, Presbyterian minister, who ministered to children via public television, and taught them that their feelings mattered and it was OK to be afraid but still to try.
Also you already know this but I’ll remind you anyway: you will receive many nominations outside this comments thread, and you will receive nominations that have lists of many many names, because . . . people don’t read the directions.
Seconding the nomination of Fred Rogers! Thank you for such an “accessible” nominee.
Good one. My daughter called him “Grandpa” when she watched the show. Gentleness, safety, calm: all things children need and Mr. Rogers had in abundance.
Wading in to make sure Fred Rogers isn’t overlooked
I second this nomination
I nominate Chiune Sugihara, the “Japanese Schindler”, who converted to Orthodox Christianity as a young man and went on to save over six thousand lives in WWII in his capacity as Japanese ambassador to Lithuania. He wrote out thousands of travel visas by hand, working day after day until his hands cramped and his wife had to massage them before he got some sleep, despite being told to stop by the Japanese government. When they were forced to repatriate, he continued writing visas and throwing them out the train window until it pulled away, finally flinging his official seal out the window so that it could be used to forge more. The travel visas he provided enabled thousands of Jews to escape death at the hands of the Nazi regime. He lost his government job in retaliation for his deeds, and lived most of the rest of his life in menial obscurity. He is honored today by the Episcopal Church on the feast day of the Righteous Gentiles.
https://www.episcopalcafe.com/feast_day_of_the_righteous_gentiles/
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/opinion/sugihara-moral-heroism-refugees.html
I would second this, I love his story.
i seocnd this one too!
I’ve heard his story, and he deserves a spot.
Seconded — and suggest you also consider Aristide de Sousa Mendes. Very, very similar life story. I nominated him.
I agree with this nomination.
He is one of only two Japanese citizens honored in the Court of the Righteous Gentiles at Yad Vashem.
So many great and truly worthy saints have already been nominated, but after a little hesitation I will offer one more: St. Anselm of Aosta and Archbishop of Canterbury. Not just for his teachings, but for his humility and courage in resisting Kings William II and Henry I of England to stand up for the independence of the Church from temporal power.
I nominate St. Hyacinth. He established the Dominican order in Poland. More fun, he once fed a starving crowd with bottomless pierogi. Reportedly “St Hyacinth and his Pierogi” means “holy cow” in Poland. Plus there’s load of saintly kitsch. All of these as up to St. Hyacinth being a fantastic nominee for 2022. Plus we eastern European Anglicans need to represent!
I would like to nominate the magnificent Christian Dorothy Day who wrote, “As a convert, I never expected much from the bishops. In all history, popes and bishops and father abbots seem to have been blind and power loving and greedy. I never expected leadership from them. It is the saints that keep appearing all thru history who keep things going.” And on a hopeful note, “No matter how corrupt the Church may become, it carries within it the seeds of its own regeneration.” (quoted by Colman McCarthy in National Catholic Reporter)
I nominate The Rev Suzanne Radley Hiatt. She was the impetus behind the Philadelphia ordination in 1974. Had it not been for her, women might not have been ordained to the priesthood for years. She died in 2002.
I nominate Saint Roch; traditional life c. 1295-16Aug. 1327. Catholic saint a confessor whose death is
commemorated on Aug. 16 and Sept. 9 in Itay, he is especially invoked against the plague.
A patron saint of DOGS, INVALIDS,FALSELY ACCUSED PEOPLE AND BACHELORS. His name is
translated in 32 different languages.
BIO: born Montpellier on the border of France, son of a noble governor. HIs miracle birth from
his barren mother did not occur until she prayed to the Virgin Mary. Marked from birth with a
red cross on his breast that grew as he did. At age 20,parents died and he gave all of his wealth
to the poor and went rom as a mendicant during a plague epidemic. The term plague in the medievil
times indicated a whole array of illnesses and epidemics not just Black Death.
He also became ill, was expelled from the city, withdrew into the forest into a hut of boughs and leaves.
A miraculous spring supplied him with water He would have died except for a DOG belonging to
G. Palastrelli brought him bread and licked his wounds. His owner found Roch and became his
acolyte. Paintings and other art work portray Roch with a dog holding a loaf of bread in its mouth
and Roch displaying a plague wound on his thigh.
Healed he returned to Montpellier where his uncle put him in prison where he died 5 years later.
An angel brought a table divinely written in gold to lay under his head where God granted Roch his
prayer…that whoever calls on him meekly, will not be hurt by any pestilence.
AS a breeder of Welsh Springer Spaniels for 20 years and training them as therapy dogs with
children and adults, I have witnessed first hand the miracles that a dog can perform with troubled
children, grieving adults and as great companions. St. Roch is clearly the patron saint of dogs
…..not so sure about the bachelors but, maybe! My nomination for 2022 Lent Madness.
Enthusiastic second for St. Roch. He gives his name to a street, a cemetery, a marketplace, and an entire neighborhood in New Orleans. The veneration of St. Roch is incomplete without inclusion of his dog, name unknown, that was reputed to have curing power too.
Mother Theresa. She taught generations the true meaning of Christian care, Christian love, Christian witness. She is a model of Christian life.
I nominate Jonathan Myrick Daniels, born 1939, died 1965 in Haynesville, AL on August 20. His saint day is August 14. He was part of that group of young people who answered the call of Dr. King to work for voting rights in the south and was killed there by a shotgun blast. It is possible he stepped between the killer and the young girl who was in the line of fire. I find his life deeply compelling and inspiring, especially his own struggle with faith and what it means to live into it. John Lewis was just a few months older than Jonathan and I would think their paths crossed during those Selma days.
I second this nomination! Daniels’ story is one the world needs to hear right now.
I nominate St. Maximus the Confessor. His feast day is August 13th. He was an Abbot, theologian and a doctor of the Church. He lived in one of the most turbulent times in Christian History (580 -662) and was seen as a heretic, because he believed in the two natures of Christ (Divine and Human). At the time, the Byzantine Emperor, Constans II, was a monothelitist. He had St. Maximus arrested and tortured. Maximus lost his writing hand and his tongue to keep him from talking and writing,
I was going to nominate either Bede or Hilda, but when I saw the nomination of Jonathan Daniels, I realized that he is my nominee. He literally took the bullet for someone else. His conscience sent him to Alabama in the first place. He is honored in the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.
Jonathan Daniels perceived his vocation while worshipping in my parish church, the Church of the Advent in Boston. Great choice!
Thomas Berry, Passionist Priest and geologian, who wrote among other books”The Dream of the Earth”. Berry coined the phrase’The New Story’ I.e. the old story of separation from the divine and all of creation including each other is not working. The New Story is that all are beloved and co creators of an evolutionary Presence. He stands on the shoulders of Teilhard de Chardin.
I would like to nominate Saint Boris (brother of Saint Gleb), one of the first two Russian saints. Boris and Gleb refused to raise their arms against their brother, who sought to kill them. Boris died forgiving his brother.
I would like to nominate Margaret of Scotland (1093), feast day November 16. Born in Hungary to exiled English royalty, she reached Scotland after persecution and shipwreck to marry King Malcolm. As Queen she brought to the Scottish monarchy a new sense of the ruler as a benevolent and just witness of the reign of God. She reformed the Scottish Church and established monasteries and educational institutions. She cared for the poor and homeless every morning before she had her own breakfast, and among many other things established a ferry across the Firth of Forth so that pilgrims could get to St. Andrews. (Queensferry, Scotland, is still a thriving town). She is my personal saint, as I went to St. Margaret’s School for Girls in Aberdeen Scotland when I was young. Their motto “Tenez Ferme” (“Hold Fast”) is said to come from the future Queen Margaret’s translation of the Scots “haud sikkar” which the senechal called out to her when the horse they were on (she riding pillion) stumbled in a bog. She held fast to him, as she held fast to her faith in trying times, heeding St. Paul’s admonition to “Hold fast to that which is good.” Especially in the last 18 months it has been my motto too.
I nominate Juliana of Liège, the thirteenth-century nun who first advocated a feast honoring the Blessed Sacrament and composed the first liturgical office for it. She convinced her Bishop, many theologians, and a future Pope, but Thomas Aquinas gets most or all of the credit for the liturgy. Also I share her name, so I’m a little biased.
I nominate Mother Julian of Norwich. She wrote the first book in English by a woman. Her words are a continual source of comfort and strength to so many. She also survived and ministered through several plagues. She’s a model for trusting, expectant faith in a time of great uncertainty (just like today!).
I second the nomination of Julian of Norwich. Her book Revelations of Divine Love is inspiring. Her revelations/showings came to her when she was extremely ill- perhaps having a near-death experience. I start the day by using her Silver Halo Winner coffee mug, issued when she was runner-up previously. This past year, her reassurance that ” All manner of thing shall be well” was helpful. She lived in times of bubonic plague and political upheaval, which put our problems in perspective.
Origen of Alexandria.
Adored as a leading (some consider the first) theologian during his lifetime, Origen was a victim of “cancel culture” a few hundred years after his death. Was he a heretic or just parts of his writing heretical? Was he excommunicated or just censured? Who knows? But much of Origen’s theological treatsies remain with the church today…the ransom theory of atonement; the relationship of the trinity. Sure he caused a big uproar by positing that God did not have an actual physical body, but to modern day Christians this notion isn’t even worth a side glance. Some may feel uncomfortable that Origen’s work was found heretical by Justinian I. But that was at the urging of Pelagius, who was later declared a heretic at the urging of St Augustine. Despite all this early theologian posturing and bullying, Origen’s ideas have survived. He is even venerated in some churches as St. Origen the Scholar. He was instrumental in the early Church’s understanding of the Hebrew scriptures and the Gospels. His writings have influenced many theologians after him. I think the SEC should overlook the 6th century hiccup in his longevity and give him a fair chance to earn his place on the Lent Madness bracket.
YASSSSS! Origen is my nomination, too.
My Nomination woul dbe for Father Michael McGivney, whos is the founder of the Knights of Columbus. His personal story is of struggle and suffering threw life, he left school to support his Mother and siblings before becoiming a preist. He was born in Waterbury CT so he is an American and the roman Catholic Church appointed august 13 as his feast day. You study this man you will see how God worked many times threw this man.
I nominate Marian Wright Edelman (1939 – ), American activist for children’s rights. She has been an advocate for disadvantaged Americans her entire professional life. She is the founder and president emeritus of the Children’s Defense Fund. She influenced leaders such as Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Hillary Clinton. In 1959, she became involved with the Civil Rights Movement, and in 1960, she was arrested along with 77 other students during a sit-in at segregated Atlanta restaurants. MWE graduated from Spelman College as valedictorian and went on to study law at Yale Law School. She was the first African American woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1964, She helped establish the Head Start Program. As leader and principal spokesperson for the CDF, Edelman worked to persuade United States Congress to overhaul foster care, support adoption, improve child care and protect children who are disabled, homeless, abused or neglected.
She continues to advocate youth pregnancy prevention, child-care funding, prenatal care and greater parental responsibility in teaching values.
Her abiding Christian faith has been the foundation on which her belief in rights for all people is based.
People still alive in this world are not eligible.
I nominate St. Botolph of Thorney (also called Botwulf, Botulph, or Botulf), a seventh-century abbot after whom many churches in England were named. Per Wikipedia, he is “the patron saint of boundaries, and by extension, of trade and travel, as well as various aspects of farming.” He has given his name to the town of Boston (originally Botolphston) in Lincolnshire and, subsequently, a town in Massachusetts in this country. He is also the eponym of a dynamite hymn tune.
Having been christened at St. Botolph’s in Chevening, Kent, England, where my mother and my maternal grandfather were also christened, wearing the same dress my mother wore at her christening and that my children wore in their turn, I like this nomination!
I nominate Bruno Groning who believe the power of God to heal was absolute.
Please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Gr%C3%B6ning.
I do not know if he was commemorated by a church, but I do know that his message has helped people to heal and believe in a supreme being.
I nominate St Alban,the first English martyr. He gave his life to protect another and legend is the executioners eyes fell out!
I nominate st eligius. Patron of horses. Cows. But also a very hard worker in metals and gold. Used all his resources to help the poor
I nominate Emil Kapaun, Army Chaplain and POW in the Korean War. True servant of God.
I nominate Aristide de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese consul to Vichy France during WWII. You can read about him here: http://sousamendesfoundation.org/aristides-de-sousa-mendes-his-life-and-legacy/ He was a devout Catholic who put his life on the line in order to save Jews and many others who were trying to escape the Nazis. He did this by issuing them exit visas to transit through Portugal. His own government reprimanded him and told him to stop doing this (the Portuguese government, while neutral, was definitely fascist) but was unable to stop him. He was eventually fired and lost his livelihood, dying in abject poverty in Lisbon a few years after the war, a happy man because — in the worst of times — he had done what was right despite great personal risk and loss. He saved an uncountable number of people. He deserves to be named a saint!
St. Spyridon the Thaumaturge, patron of Corfu. A very popular saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Spyridon was active at the Council of Nicea and was effective in opposing the Arians. He was given the title of “Thaumaturge” (wonder-worker). https://www.goarch.org/chapel/saints?contentid=332 The world needs spiritual wonder-workers today as a effective force against the many shamans of materialism and solipsism that abound.
Once again I would like to nominate the Quaker sometimes called the “the Quaker saint.” — John Woolman. He was instrumental in leading the Quakers in the US to become the first group to free slaves. He also worked for better conditions among sailors on merchant ships and he worked in friendship with Native Americans. The writings of this 18th century American reveal a truly spiritual man who deserves the Halo.
PROBLEM: Quakers do not use titles and obviously don’t have “saints.” So would Tim or Scott please tell me how one can nominate a Quaker!
Some Quakers are honored with feast days & commemorations on the Anglican calendar. George Fox & Elizabeth Fry I’m sure of.
On this memorial day, I nominate Emil Joseph Kapaun, Catholic priest and U. S. Army Chaplain, Medal of Honor recipient. During the Korean War on All Souls Day, his unit was attacked and he ran from foxhole to foxhole dragging out the wounded and giving last rites to the dying. Going back again and again, he was taken prisoner and began an 87 mile “death march” to a POW camp, picking up one wounded soldier and carrying him.
In the camp he cared for the wounded and gave his food rations to other prisoners. He preached openly even when forbidden. He died May 23, 1951 at age 35. In 1993 Pope John Paul II declared him “A Servant of God”
I second this nomination. John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
His feast day is May 23
Born April 20, 1916 Pilsen, KS
Died May 23, 1951 Pyoktong County, North Korea
I nominate Henri Nouwen, priest, writer, professor, and theologian, known for his work with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
I hope more contemporary choices are included. I love Francis of Assisi – but I think he already gets the recognition his life deserves – what I love is when Lent Madness inspires me by introducing me to someone new.
I nominate Saint Drogo about whom I learned in ‘Holy Grounds.’ He is the patron saint of coffee, and my reasoning is…………coffee. Obvious. While I am not nakedly sucking up to Fr. Tim, hope it helps because…………….coffee.
I was coming here to nominate him! I second this nomination
I nominate the legendary John Lewis, the “Conscience of the Congress,” beaten and arrested for being a “Freedom Rider,” who advised, “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”— Lewis speaking atop the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 1, 2020.
St. Anthony of Padua, patron saint of lost things. Anthony or Antony of Padua (Italian: Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon (Portuguese: António de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231[1][2]) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. He was born and raised by a wealthy family in Lisbon, Portugal, and died in Padua, Italy. Noted by his contemporaries for his powerful preaching, expert knowledge of scripture, and undying love and devotion to the poor and the sick, he was one of the most quickly canonized saints in church history. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on 16 January 1946. He is also the patron saint of lost things.
He has ALWAYS come through for me – he would be a very worthy candidate for Lent Madness.
I nominate Saint Francis of Assisi. He was born to a rich family, but gave up his wealth to serve God. He is the patron saint of animals and the natural environment. Saint Francis attempted to put an end to the crusades by trying to convert the Sultan in Egypt to convert to Christianity. Another thing that I love about Saint Francis is how he started the tradition of making nativity scenes at Christmas. His feast day is the fourth of October. The reason I nominate Saint Francis is mostly because of his love for animals and because of his creation of the nativity scene. I love both animals and Christmas.
I nominate St. Helena, the mother of Constantine. She led a search for the cross that Jesus was crucified on. Three crosses were found and one cured an afflicted woman when she touched it. Pieces of it were then sent to Rome and Constantinople. St. Helena is also the person who converted Constantine to Christianity, making the Roman Empire finally a safe place for Christians. Saint Helena is also the patron Saint of divorced people, converts, empresses, difficult marriages p, and archeologists. I nominate her because I am interested in both the history of the church and in archeological finds that tell us about the past.w
I would like to second the nomination for Helena. On a pilgrimage to Jerusalem a few years back, our very well informed guide told us that her archeological finds have held up remakably well to our best knowledge. Legend has it she would parade through Jerusalem saying “I want that Cross!” A force to be reckoned with and worthy of inclusion to Lent Madness again
Francis of Assisi has already won the golden halo and is therefore ineligible. See list above.
Found that out too late, and can’t delete the nomination. So I nominated St. Helena.
I am nominating Saint Brigid. Saint Brigid looks after newborn babies. I work at a facility named Brigids Path where we treat only babies that are exposed and withdrawling from opioid addiction. We are a non profit and with Saint Brigids help, working miracles in the lives of our babies and families.
A reasoned plea to declare the Rev. Fred McFeely Rogers eligible to participate as a “contestant” in Lent Madness.
While the SEC has stated that in order to be eligible for inclusion in the “Saintly Smackdown” a candidate, “should be in the sanctoral calendar of one or more churches.” They have also decreed that they seek to present, “A balanced bracket of saints ancient and modern, Biblical and ecclesiastical representing the breadth and diversity of Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.”
The Reverend Fred McFeely Rogers, was a life-long member of, and ordained as a Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). While it is noted that the PC(USA) does not maintain a “sanctoral calendar,” it should also be noted that, in 2003 at the 215th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) the Assembly passed an overture to “observe a memorial time for the Reverend Fred M. Rogers.” The rationale for the overture stated that the Rev. Rogers, “had a profound effect on the lives of millions of people across the country through his ministry to children and families. Mister Rogers promoted and supported Christian values in the public media with his demonstration of unconditional love.” This recognition is as close as you can get to sainthood in Presbyterian circles. There is also an annual recognition of Mister Rogers as Family Communications, Inc. (producer of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood) has named March 20 “Won’t You Wear A Sweater?” Day.
Should the Rev. Rogers be selected to participate, the Celebrity Blogger tasked with promoting his cause would have ample historical documents from which to draw for biographical detail. There are many sources for quotes and quibbles, as well as an excellent place to go for the round of kitsch (https://www.fredrogers.org/frc/store/). There is also the huge fan base he has in the Lent Madness family. There’s a good chance he would show well.
In conclusion:
1. Fred Rogers has been recognized by an established ecclesiastical body for his Christian walk and witness. (It’s not our fault Presbyterians don’t “do” saints)
2. Fred Rogers already has his own “day” on the calendar (maybe not a “church” calendar, but a calendar, nonetheless)
3. Including Fred Rogers in Lent Madness would be yet more proof of the magnanimous and ecumenical nature of the SEC. (It would also give us Presbyterians someone to cheer for – the Methodists have the Wesleys, and the Lutherans have Luther, we deserve someone other than Calvin or Knox)
4. Since the SEC makes the rules, they can also choose to bend (as in awarding a Silver Halo) or even ignore the rules.
Thank you for your consideration
I second The Rev. Fred Rogers! He inspired young and old alike and has been recognized by an ecclesiastical body.
“We deserve someone other than Calvin or Knox.” Such a good writeup. Daniel the Sock Puppet applauds.
I second this motion!
I second this, Fred Rogers should be nominated
I am happy to hear he is officially recognized by the PCUSA. Early saints became Saints solely on the devotion of the people. We have that here with Fred Rogers. The people of Lent Madness and far beyond recognize him as a Saint!
I am nominating Etty Hillesum 1914-1943; a Jewish girl who was killed in Auschwitz.She kept diaries of her short life: “An Interrupted Life” which are inspiring.
St David, patron saint of Wales!
I nominate Archdeacon McDonald, a real flesh and blood saint, who left a Christian legacy for the G’wichen people. Here is his story, copied wholeus bolus from Wikipedia!
“Born. November 7, 1829
Red River Colony, Rupert’s Land
Died August 20, 1913
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Venerated in
Anglican Church of Canada, Episcopal Church (United States)
Feast
30 August, 15 December
Early life Edit
A second generation Canadian, Robert McDonald was born in 1829 to Scots immigrant Neil McDonald, an employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and his wife Ann Logan (daughter of a retired Hudson’s Bay trader) at Point Douglas, Red River Colony (what became Winnipeg, Manitoba).[1] The second of ten children, McDonald attended the Red River Academy until he was 15, then helped his father on the family farm for four years before taking a position with the Methodist mission at Norway House.[2]
Career Edit
McDonald also studied at St. John’s Collegiate School (predecessor of the University of Manitoba founded in 1877), which enabled him to take holy orders as an Anglican deacon in 1852. Bishop David Anderson of Rupert’s Land ordained him as a priest in 1853. His first posting was at the White Dog (or Islington) Mission at the junction of the Winnipeg and Lac Seul Rivers among the Ojibwe people, now known as the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations or Whitedog First Nation. Using a syllabic method and Latin alphabet, McDonald began translating the Bible into Ojibwe (also known as Ojibwa or Chippewa]], and completed the minor prophets before his next assignment.
In 1862, the Church Missionary Society sent McDonald to the Yukon Territory, where he became the first Protestant missionary ever assigned to work among indigenous peoples of the Arctic. His work involved extensive travel in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, as well as what became Alaska. When gold was discovered, McDonald became the first missionary in the Klondike. He also interacted with Catholic and Russian Orthodox missionaries, sometimes sharing translators among the various tribes in his vast assigned territory. In over forty years, Rev. McDonald baptised over 2000 people, adults as well as children, and educated many at schools he established. His initial station, at Ft. Yukon, was thought to be in Canada, but turned out to be in Alaska. He later worked along the Porcupine River and established another base at Fort McPherson on the Peel River.
McDonald spent most of the next four decades working among the Gwich’in people (who call themselves Dinjii Zhuu, and which was sometimes transcribed as “Tinjiyzoo”). However, in 1872, he accepted an invitation of the Church Missionary Society and took a working vacation in England, shortly after the Hudson’s Bay Company sold its lands to Canada, leading to the Red River Rebellion of 1869 and finally the creation of Manitoba as the country’s fifth province.
In 1876, a year after McDonald received a promotion to Archdeacon of the newly created Mackenzie diocese, he married Julia Kutuq, a Gwich’in woman, with whom he eventually had nine children.[3] According to Heeney, Julia and only 3 children survived their father.[4]
McDonald achieved lasting recognition for his translations, having established an alphabet for the previously oral Gwich’in. With the help of Julia and other native speakers, McDonald translated the Bible, Book of Common Prayer and many hymns into Gwich’in (which he called Takudh and, later, Tukudh).[5] His translation work helped unify the various tribes speaking similar Athabaskan languages. In 1911, McDonald published a dictionary and grammar for the language under the title of A Grammar of the Tukudh Language.[6][7]
Death and legacy Edit
McDonald retired in 1905 to Winnipeg, where he died at his home in 1913. He is buried in the cemetery of St. John’s Cathedral in Winnipeg.
His journals are in the Yukon archives in Whitehorse, as well as among the Archives of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert’s Land deposited with the Archives of Manitoba.
The Canadian Calendar of Holy Persons of the Anglican Church of Canada remembers Rev. McDonald on August 30. The Episcopal Church (USA) recognizes Rev. McDonald, with Bishop John Horden, on December 15.”
I nominate St. Bernard of Montjoux/Menthon (NOT Clairveaux). The one connected to the dogs! Recognized in the Roman Church and feast on May 28 or June 15. He was an archdeacon in the alps who saw a need, so set up hostels and monastic communities to run them for lost and weary travellers. Patron of skiing, snowboarding, backpacking…etc
I nominate Saint Valentine, the patron saint of beekeepers, romance and love.
As a city beekeeper I say thank you to all the gardeners! Thank you for your flower pots, thank you to your city gardens and that you to your dandelions.
I nominate St. Helena, the mother of Constantine. She led a search for the cross that Jesus was crucified on. Three crosses were found and one cured an afflicted woman when she touched it. Pieces of it were then sent to Rome and Constantinople. St. Helena is also the person who converted Constantine to Christianity, making the Roman Empire finally a safe place for Christians. Saint Helena is also the patron Saint of divorced people, converts, empresses, difficult marriages p, and archeologists. I nominate her because I am interested in both the history of the church and in archeological finds that tell us about the past.
How about St. George? Dragons are always in style and a reminder that we do things not through our own might but with God’s help might be timely.
I second the nomination for Father Emil Kapaun.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends
John 15:13
I nominate Thomas Cranmer. As the creator of the 1st Book of Common Prayer, his impact on the Anglican Communion is immense
I nominate John Lewis. He lived and dreamed equality in America. He served the people in congress for may years to see his purpose through. He was a man who loved his country and God.
I would like to nominate St. Brendan whose St. Day is May 16. Anyone that is a patron saint of whales needs to be further researched!
I look forward to Lent Madness every year!
I nominate St. John Basco. He is a fairly obscure saint in our part of the world, yet his legacy lives on in other places. I appreciate his concern and work with young people, his visions and his often brave political stances. I’d like to know more about him and figure Lent Madness is a great way to accomplish that.
Thank you oh benevolent Supreme Executive Committee for the opportunity to participate in Nominationtide.
Sincerely.
I would like to nominate St. Joseph Cottolengo, the founder of the Little House of Divine Providence. He was born in 1786 in Bra, Italy. His father was a tax collector and both his parents were devout Catholics who taugt their children about charity. He was educated at the University of Turin and ordained for the Diocese of Turin in 1811. In the midst of a civil war that devastated Italy he was called to give the last rites to a dying pregnant woman. When he couldn’t find her a bed in a hospital, he learned firsthand how desperately the poor needed health care. He established a small “village”of people who would live in community with the sick and help care for them. He also established 5 contemplative monasteries for women religious and 1 for hermits. He died of typhus April 30, 1842 and was canonized March 19, 1934.
I nominate St. Cyril, Apostle to the Slavs (feast: 14 February, the day on which he died in Rome in 869). Cyril was a professor in Constantinople, but, at the behest of the Byzantine emperor, he left his academic life there to evangelize the Khazars, a Jewish (sic!) tribe on the north shore of the Black Sea, and then later, and far more importantly, to work among the pagan Slavs of Central Europe. He brought them the light of the Gospel by devising an alphabet for their language (called Glagolitic; the Cyrillic alphabet was developed by his disciples in the following century and named in his honor) and translating essential parts of the Holy Scriptures so that Mass and the daily offices could be celebrated in a language “understanded of the people” (check the Articles of Religion, XXIV to be specific, in the BCP for that one). Moreover he was one of the first ecumenists, striving to bring together the Eastern and Western Churches by traveling to Rome to present the relics of Pope St. Clement, which he miraculously found under the waters of the Black Sea, and to have his translations approved and blessed by the pope. And though he was a Greek and not a Slav, he had great affection for his Slavic converts and did his best to protect them from the often rapacious depredations of the Frankish-German clergy who were all too eager to subsume all of Central Europe within a German-dominated church. In the twentieth century Cyril and his equally saintly brother Methodius, who accompanied him on his missions to the Slavs, were named Patrons of Europe.
I would like to nominate Juliette Gordon Low. I am not sure that she is listed on any calendar or other source as a saint, but I think she certainly qualifies as one for her creation of the Girl Scouts of USA. In addition she was a member of the Episcopal church in Savannah GA. Gordon Low was buried in her Girl Scout uniform with a note in her pocket stating “You are not only the first Girl Scout, but the best Girl Scout of them all.” Her tombstone read, “Now abideth faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love.”
I would like to nominate Deaconess Susan Trevor Knapp. She is commemorated in the Calendar of Deacon Saints originally compiled originally by Deacon Ormonde Platter and continued by the Association for Episcopal Deacons.
Susan Trevor Knapp, deaconess and missionary to Japan, died in Los Angeles about 20
November 1941.
Deaconess Susan Knapp (with icon by Suzanne Schleck)
Susan Trevor Knapp was born in 1862. She graduated from the New York Training School for
Deaconesses in 1894 and was consecrated deaconess at Grace Church, New York, in 1899 by
Bishop Henry Potter. In 1903 she was made dean of the school commonly called St. Faith’s. She
was a leader in both the American and worldwide deaconess movement. Because of a power
struggle with the board of directors, Knapp was removed as dean in 1916 and offered the
position of house mother. She declined and spent the next twenty-two years as a missionary in
Japan, teaching English and Bible studies to Japanese and Korean college students. She returned
to the United States in 1939 when Japan began to expel foreign missioners. She died in Los
Angeles about 20 November 1941, shortly before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
I nominate The Martyrs of Compiégne. They were a group of Carmelite Nuns martyred at the Guillotine in Paris on July 17, 1794 for disloyalty to the Robespierre regime, which had outlawed monastic life in post-revolution France. The sixteen martyrs were beatified in the Roman Catholic Church by Pope St. Pius X on May 27, 1906.
They were beatified as a whole group.
I nominate Saint Piran, the Patron Saint of Cornwall. Corny, don’t you think so?!?! Perhaps he could be matched up against whoever is the Patron Saint of one of the other 8 Celtic nations. Did you know that Cornwall is Celtic, and not English? They along with Brittany, France, and Galicia, Spain are influenced more by Celtic/Scottish traditions, then they are by the countries they’re a part of. Piran is also the patron saint of tin-miners. The Irish tied him to a mill-stone, rolled it over the edge of a cliff into a stormy sea, which immediately became calm, and the saint floated safely over the water to land upon the sandy beach of Perranzabuloe in Cornwall. His first disciples are said to have been a badger, a fox, and a bear. St. Piran’s Day is the 5th of March, just as Lent 2022 is getting started. He would be a perfect addition to the Lent Madness bracket. GO PIRAN!!
I nominate Clarence Jordan, a founder of Koinonia Farm in Georgia in 1942. Koinonia is an intentional Christian community with a commitment to racial equality, pacifism and economic sharing that drew the violent attention of the KKK and others. Habitat of Humanity grew out of Koinonia Farm. Working from the original Greek, Jordan wrote Cotton Patch Gospel, a version of the New Testament in South Georgia vernacular. He died in 1969. Clarence Jordan was a trailblazer and his voice is even more urgently needed during this time of heightened awareness of systemic racism and polarization. Clarence for the Golden Halo!
Great nomination!
May I respectfully nominate Saint Audrey of Ely. Not only is she a paragon well suited to our emulation, but she is one of the few saints from whose name an English word derives. How cool is that!?
Saint Monica’s ministry was in her home. To me she gives hope to women in abusive homes and those interceding for family members. She represents the many unnamed women in difficult situations who carry their loved ones to the Lord in prayer. Her outstanding miracle is her gift of her son to the church. She is an example of perseverance and devotion.
I gave a dear friend with an out-of-control son a St. Monica prayer card — the patroness of mothers with difficult children
I nominate Saint Mary of the Cross ( McKillop), first Australian Saint. Female, feisty and excommunicated by a Bishop who couldn’t cope with that. Later reinstated and beatified.
I nominate St. Fiacre. The patron saint of gardening, taxi cabs, and hemorrhoids has to have a place on the grid.
I nominate Junani Luwum. A Ugandan, he became Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire in 1974. This was during the time that Idi Amin was ruling Uganda. The Archbishop protested against the violent actions of the government. He was taken into custody and reported killed in an car crash while trying to escape. When his family finally got his bullet it had several bullet wounds. Rumor has it that Idi Amin killed him with his own hands. Feb 16 is a national holiday in Uganda honoring his life and death. He is remembered in “Holy Women, Holy Men” on Feb 17. I lived in Mbale, Uganda for one year (2016-7) teaching nursing there.
I second this one!
That was such a horrible time in Uganda. It would be good to recognize someone who spoke up and who most of us will not have heard of.
I nominate St. Columba. His candidacy would give greater visibility to Celtic Christianity.
I would like to nominate Martin de Porres. He is the patron saint of mixed-race people, barbers, innkeepers, public health workers, and all those seeking racial harmony.
I second the nomination of Martin!
Phoebe Palmer (1807 – 1874) was a major mover among the Methodists in the United States and a primary thinker in the promotion of the holiness strain of Methodism. A dynamic speaker, a tireless advocate for the poor, women, and others on the margins of society. She was a powerful proponent of the belief that all people were capable of living in perfect love.
Roland Allen – mission strategist – Patron Saint of Total Ministry – advocate for local/alternative ordination. A visionary well before his time.
I support the nomination of Pauli Murray. She was the first African American woman to be ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church.
I nominate St. Augustine of Hippo. His body of work stands above just about everyone in the early centuries of the church and provides both universally praised as well as highly controversial commentary and guidance. Please include him this year.
St. Ignatius of Loyola
I nominate Jonathan Daniels because his story is so inspiring as the church continues its work to build the beloved community. He knew that racial justice requires relationship and risk and he gladly took that on, even giving his life. Though he was part of Lent Madness back in 2013, the tribe has grown much larger and it is time to welcome Jonathan back to the bracket to inspire our hearts and lives.
St. Stephen – first martyr. His words as he is being killed are inspirational.
I nominate St. Brendan of Clonfert, one of the twelve apostles of Ireland. While much of his life is the stuff of legends, Clonfert Cathedral still stands as beacon for all who are navigating this life.
Aloysius Gonzaga, died helping people in an earlier pandemic. Im sure we could have saints like him today if we see them with similarities.
I nominate George Frederick Handel (feast day July 28). I used to think I hated the music of Handel, because I had heard heavy-handed performances. Now I love it. We all know the glorious Messiah, but did you know he assigned the rights to London’s Foundling Hospital? Did you know he became a naturalized British subject? Did you know Beethoven called him “the master of us all”? I didn’t know these things, which proves that Handel merits a closer look.
I nominate the Rev. Frederick Bingham Howden; I believe there is a movement to have him recognized on the Episcopal calendar. Son of a Bishop, he became a chaplain in WWII, endured the Bataan Death March and died in a Japanese prison camp in the Philippines, where he ministered to other prisoners interned there and gave his food rations to them, resulting in his death by starvation. Full disclosure: he is a distant relative of mine.
I nominate St. Margaret of Scotland. Hurray for those who have already done so!
Linda B.
I nominate Dorothy Day, American Catholic lay woman, mystic and activist. She was born in 1897, and died in 1980, and lived her entire life seeking communion with God and social justice for all. She is best known for being a co-founder of the “Catholic Worker” movement and newspaper. Radical Christians of all denominations admire and emulate her, and the Catholic Worker movement continues today, a small but stalwart network of houses and farms. Many icon artists have done her likeness, and Pope Francis named her one of four remarkable American Christians in an address to the US Congress. She is listed for Nov. 29 in the Episcopal Church Calendar of Supplemental and Local Commemorations.
I have grown weary of the “liturgically recognized” saints. I think some of the contestants were wierd or odd, which made it fun. But we do not need to resort to only the liturgical. I know of so many saints in the non liturgical ralm that would be worthier, and possible wierder or nuttier. Wish we could become more inclusive.
I too am frustrated with the requirement that the person has to on a list of saints. I never understood how Francis Perkins could win the Halo. On what basis was she eligible? It is limiting, and it does seem to lead to some rather silly choices. There are so many worthy people I would rather learn more .
I nominate St. Edmund, King of East Anglia. He is said to have been martyred by Danish invaders on November 20, 869 for refusing to forsake his Christian faith. After being beaten, he was tied to a tree and shot with arrows, but still refused to renounce Christ. The Danish leader was infuriated and had Edmund cut down and beheaded. When Edmund’s followers went searching for him, they found his head being guarded by a wolf. His head and body were interred but when the coffin was opened as they reinterred him at the shrine of Bury St Edmund, his head and body had reattached and his skin was soft and moist, with only a thin line on his neck where he had been beheaded. Although not “official “, Edmund was regarded by many as the patron saint of England before being supplanted by St. George.
St Edmund is the patron saint of kings and wolves (naturally!) and also the patron saint of pandemics, which makes him a perfect addition for veneration these days! And the Magna Carta was signed by King John at Bury St. Edmund, which was a premier pilgrimage site until the abbey was destroyed during the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. St. Edmund is honored by the Roman, Orthodox, Anglican and Episcopal churches, who celebrate his feast on November 20.
I second the nomination for St Edmund.
St. Damian of Molokai
Knowing the risk of contracting Hansen’s Disease (leprosy), he accepted his assignment to minister to the people of Molokai, suffering from that disease. He did contact Hansen’s Disease after many years of service. He was canonized in 2009.
I would like to nominate St. Mesrob Mashdots, who created the Armenian alphabet so that people could have a written language that met the needs of their spoken language. After traveling the Caucasus region to research, he struggled with his task until receiving a vision from God while meditating in a cave. The first words written in the Armenian language were from the Book of Proverbs: “To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding” (Proverbs 1:2). He also helped create the Georgian and Albanian alphabets, scripts that meet the unique needs of those languages. He gave to the Armenian people and the world the gift of literacy and is an inspiration to generations of poets and writers. He died February 17, 440. As a library teacher, I can’t imagine a better life to aspire to – helping others read the Word of God in their own language and giving them a way to tell their story to others.
I would like to nominate Jonathan Myrick Daniels (March 20, 1939 – August 20, 1965). He was an Episcopal seminarian and civil rights activist. In 1965, he was murdered by a shotgun-wielding special county deputy, Tom Coleman, who was a construction worker, in Hayneville, Alabama, while in the act of shielding 17-year-old Ruby Sales.[1] He saved the life of the young Black civil rights activist. They were both working in the civil rights movement in Lowndes County to integrate public places and register Black voters after passage of the Voting Rights Act that summer. Daniels’ death generated further support for the civil rights movement.
In 1991, Daniels was designated as a martyr in the Episcopal church, and is recognized annually in its calendar. [Jonathan Daniels – Wikipedia]
Here is a link to a YouTube video produced by the Episcopal News Service on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Daniels’ death, https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2015/08/13/remembering-jonathan-daniels-50-years-after-his-martyrdom/
When I was a very young child, he was my babysitter on rare occasions when my parents went out for the evening.
I nominate Charles Schulz, American cartoonist and creator of the Peanuts comic strip. Schulz was a devote Christian and wove spirituality into his work.
“Many familiar with the Peanuts strip don’t think of Charles Schulz as a Christian pioneer,” said Stephen Lind, the author of A Charlie Brown Religion: Exploring the Spiritual Life and Work of Charles M. Schulz. “But he was a leader in American media when it comes to both the strength and frequency of religious references.”
I nominate Jane Parker Huber. who died November 17, 2008.
Born to missionary parents in China, Jane descends from a long line of Presbyterian leaders. She has served as interim program coordinator for Presbyterian Women, as well as on the PC(USA)’s Council on Women and the Church, Joint Committee on Women, Social Justice and Peacemaking Ministry Unit, and the General Assembly Council.
She has been recognized as a “Valiant Woman” by Church Women United and in 2002 received the PC(USA)’s “Woman of Faith Award.”
Most notably she is known for her hymn words using inclusive, contemporary, inspiring language.
For
I would like to nominate Juana Inés de la Cruz. I had never heard of her until I decided one day, as church nerds are eventually wont to do, to look up the saint commemorations for my church anniversaries (baptism, confirmation, etc.). There are some pretty badass saints in that list (the Venerable Bede and Teresa of Avila are in there), but then I decided on a further whim to check the date I transferred into my most wonderful unicorn of a parish. It was like the universe was telling me that the real badassery began right there, because there’s no way that the “Phoenix of America” and the first published feminist in the Americas could not be a complete badass.
There is a lovely short video about her life here (the title of which totally cracks me up): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wSOt3z_-YY
Julian of Norwich! She was robbed in 2016 and deserves another go!
I nominate Saint Margaret of Antioch. Margaret is one of the 14 Holy Helpers and is one of those Joan of Arc claimed to have spoken with. I tend to go for the Martyrs. After all “the blood of the Martyrs is the seed of the Church”. She was beheaded in 304 for consecrating her virginity to God and for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. I know! I know! She claimed to have been swallowed by Satan in the form of a dragon and then escaped because her crucifix kept polking the dragon’s innards, but that is just as believable as a Saint’s head rolling down the street still preaching the Gospel.
She is the patron Saint of childbirth, pregnant women and of those “falsely accused”. I like this last one — you can’t do much worse than being on the receiving end of “false witness”. And then there is St. Margaret’s Church in Westminster, England dedicated to her, on the grounds of the Houses of Partiment.
Her feast day is July 20 in the Church of England.
I nominate Cuthbert of Lindisfarne. One of the Celtic Saints who along with Columba, snd Aiden, shared the gospel in Scotland and Northern England
I’d like to nominate Raoul Wallenberg, a Swede who defied the Nazis, his own government and any other traditional diplomatic route to save over 100,000 Hungarian Jews in the 1940’s.
I second this
My nomination is OSCAR ROMERO (1917-1980). He was Bishop of El Salvador, appointed because of his conservative views that would support the dictatorship there. They were wrong. Romero was outspoken in his criticism of the government and in support of justice for the poor and oppressed of El Salvador. He was assassinated by an unknown gunman while saying Mass. Crowds gathered for his funeral were also attacked. He was canonized by Pope Francis. His Saint’s Day is March 24.
Thank you. I wanted to nominate him as well, but we were allowed only one nomination. I am very happy to see his name on this petition. I would love to see him win the golden halo at some point.
I don’t want to give away my shot! I’m withdrawing my earlier (in error, apologies) nomination, and want to substitute Constance and Her Companions, the Martyrs of Memphis (1878).
Quoting ENS:
‘Martyrs of Memphis’ have lessons to teach those battling COVID-19
Episcopalians reflect on the selfless service of Constance and her companions during 1870s’ yellow fever epidemic. The martyrdom of Constance and her five companions, who died within a month of each other while ministering to residents of Memphis, Tennessee, amid the 1878 yellow fever epidemic, has always inspired the ministry of St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral.
I nominate Father Hiram Hisanori Kano, who was added to the Great Cloud of witnesses at General Convention 2015 (died October 24, 1986). He is the first Asian-American saint in the Episcopal Church. The stories of Asian-Americans who endured anti-Asian hate are particularly important in these days!
Father Kano advocated for the rights of Japanese-Americans to own land and become full US citizens at a time of increasing discrimination and prejudice against Japanese-Americans. After his arrest on December 7, 1941, Hiram continued to preach the Gospel and organize his fellow inmates during his imprisonment in several US internment camps throughout the war. Many Japanese-American Episcopalians trace their faith story back to his evangelism! Here are a couple sermons I preached about him and his witness: http://proclaimia.blogspot.com/2018/10/tuesday-october-30-rev-hiram-hisanori.html and http://proclaimia.blogspot.com/2019/11/sunday-november-3-our-sainthoods.html
Full disclosure, Father Kano is my great-grandfather-in-law!
– Rev. Mia Kano, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Wellesley, MA
I second this one too!
While wandering through the darker and more ancient parts of the family forest, I chanced upon my 38th Great-Grandfather, Brochwel Ysgithrog ap Cyngen Glodrydd by Tudwystl sitting under an oak. He urged me to nominate his favorite saint, which upon review, seemed to be an excellent candidate for the 2022 Brackets. (Even without review, I would honor the King of Powys’ request, modal monarchian that I am.) That saint’s name is Melange [Latin: Monacellall] . Her feast day occurs on Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox calendars, most commonly May 27. Church register of 1723 records the following magnificent pun
Mil engyl a Melangell
Trechant lu fyddin y fall,
which on its merits alone should guarantee her inclusion in the brackets. If a pun isn’t enough, her story carved upon a wooden rood screen should make her a shoe in. Here’s the story.according to my 37GGF, he was instantly smitten by her beauty even tho she was protecting a brace o’ coney’s — destined for his stew pot– from his hounds. He quickly made a proposition to wed and bed this Irish princess who had found refuge in his valley. Melangell would not break her vow of virginity she had uttered as an anchoress. )Her refusal is the reason that I’m here today, by way of the womb of a different good wife.) Still, smitten and impressed by her piety, Brochwel wrote up a charter (aka contract) giving her land in the Vale to establish a house of hospitality for like minded sisters and those needing sanctuary or healing. It took a few more centuries for a church to be built on the site, but it remains today as one of the oldest romanesque churches in the world and is a site mentioned on the most discerning of pilgrimage guides.
https://saintspreserved.com/small_creatures/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melangell
https://orthochristian.com/71372.html
https://www.orthodoxmanchester.org.uk/ourpatronsaints.htm
https://gwallter.com/travel/a-walk-to-see-melangell.html
Wedi’i gyflwyno’n barchus, byth eich gwas,
Mark M.
I believe Melangell was part of the 2021 group (as many struggled to pronounce the name), so not eligible this year
Is “modal monarchian” the opposite of “Nestorian”? Inquiring minds want to know. Also, if you ARE a “modal monarchian,” can you also affirm the trinity? I am completely confused. I can see already that Lent Madness 2022 is going to be a blast. It’s also going to be the midterm elections, so it may be a turbulent year for the US; hope Tim and Scott plan this bracket carefully.
So happy that both Sr Thea Bowman and Howard Thurman have been nominated and would like to also nominate Fr August Tolton(1854-1897) born a slave, suffering racism in repeated rejections by Catholic seminaries to finally be accepted into a Franciscan institution. An effective preacher and spiritual leader he attracted a diverse group of followers although later marginalized again by racism. A pioneer first black priest in America working on the true message of Christ’s teachings. His legacy continues to inspire.
I nominate Vida Scudder (October 10 on the Episcopal calendar) fearless social and labor activist (she supported the workers of the 1912 Lawrence strike). She was an incredible liturgical and theological writer alongside her actual career as an English Literature professor at Wellesley College, and later in life an active pacifist. Though it was kept quiet at the time, she was in a relationship with fellow author Florence Converse.
I nominate Venerable Fulton J. Sheen. Fulton was a faithful Christian teacher and evangelist who pioneered Christian teaching on television.
St. John Baptist de La Salle. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (1651-1719) was a French priest, educational reformer, and founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. He was a pioneer in founding training colleges for teachers, reform schools for delinquents, technical schools, and secondary schools for modern languages, arts, and sciences. On May 24, 1900 de La Salle was canonized as a Saint of the Catholoic Church and on May 15, 1950 he was declared the Patron Saint of Christian teachers and all those who work in the field of education. With all the challenges teachers had to face and overcome to maintain the education of their students in the past 15+ months, they all deserve nominations. Let’s nominate St. john Baptist de La Salle on their behalf.
I nominate William Augustus Muehlenberg – Feast day April 8
Muehlenberg’s insistence on traditional Catholic elements—the Creeds, the Eucharist, and Episcopal ordination—together with the Reformation doctrine of grace, appealed to people of varying views. He emphasized the ministries of education, social service, and even tried to establish a Christian commune on Long Island.
I’m surprised St. Benedict of Nursia, Father of Western Monasticism, has not been on the lists. Not only has he been a singular influence on the development of monastic life, but his ethos strongly informed Anglican spirituality throughout the ages. His rule of life has inspired many ( including me) to sanctify the daily rhythms of life and to balance prayer, study, work and rest.
He’s been nominated before, however he’s eligible again this year.
I nominate St. Anthony of Padua because he followed the teachings of St. Francis of Assisi (a favorite Golden Halo winner), was a gifted preacher, and when I lose things recalling his life helps me to slow down and let my brain search for serenity which usually leads to the lost being found.
I nominate Clare of Assisi (August 11th on the Anglican calendar) for her creation of an order of nuns committed to teachings of Francis of Assisi of extreme austerity and absolute poverty. Attracting other rich young women (much to the consternation of their parents) to join her as “Poor Clares”. The order continues to this day.
I would like to nominate Deaconess Anne Pew. She is the namesake of the Deaconess Anne House, an Episcopal Service Corps program for young adults ages 21-30 in the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. Every year, young adults are invited to St. Louis, MO (and live in the same neighborhood where Deaconess Anne served) to live in a way that reflects the same ministry of presence, relationship, and service to others that Deacon Anne Pew dedicated herself to during her time running the settlement house in the early 1900s.
More information about her life and years of service in ministry can be found here: https://www.esc-stl.org/our-namesake.html
She is at least a saint with a feast day of Sept. 14th according to this site of Deacon Saints: https://www.episcopaldeacons.org/uploads/2/6/7/3/26739998/deaconsaints_plater.pdf
I nominate John Robert Lewis, congressman from Georgia, freedom fighter, civil rights icon, who called us to make “good trouble” in the battle to show love for all our neighbors.
I would like to nominate Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, an early Church Father and martyr. Born in 69 AD, he was a disciple of the apostle John. His martyrdom had a huge impact on the early Church and is quite a good story. I nominated him last and hope he makes it for 2022.
oh…feast day February 23
Anna Pauline “Pauli” Murray was an American civil rights activist who became a lawyer, women’s rights activist, Episcopal priest, poet and author. Drawn to the ministry in 1977, Murray was the first African-American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest, in the first year that any women were ordained by that church. In 2018, Murray was made a permanent part of the Episcopal Church’s calendar of saints (she is commemorated on July 1, the date of her death in 1985). She would be an outstanding choice for the Golden Halo award. I have nominated Pauli Murray in the past. Her inclusion in the list of nominees is long overdue.
I would like to nominate St. Dymphna, the patron saint of mental illness and anxiety, who, according to tradition, built a hospice for the poor and sick in present day Belgium. Murdered by her father because she wouldn’t marry him, (he was a little unhinged by the death of his first wife, aka Dymphna’s mother), she was buried in a cave by the town’s residents. A church named for her was built in the town in 1349, and by 1480, pilgrims seeking psychiatric treatment were coming from all over Europe. Eventually, as the church and expanded housing was filled to overflowing, townspeople began taking these pilgrims into their own homes as boarders, a tradition of ongoing care for those with psychiatric conditions that has endured for 500 years. A short life, but a big impact on the lives of many suffering from mental illness.
I second St. Dymphna. I just went in to suggest her and found Amy’s post.
I nominate G.K. Chesterton. I figured he would be disallowed due to his appearance in earlier years, but I’m not seeing him on any of the lists. Among other things, he was at least in part responsible for the conversion of a past Golden Halo winner — C.S. Lewis. He was also a common sense realist who has much to teach us today. Read any of his books, and the quotable passages tumble from every page — including ones like this: “As an explanation of the world, materialism has a sort of insane simplicity. It has just the quality of the madman’s argument; we have at once the sense of it covering everything and the sense of it leaving everything out. Contemplate some able and sincere materialist . . . and you will have exactly this unique sensation. He understands everything, and everything does not seem worth understanding.” Also, if he wins, I will DEFINITELY buy his mug!
I too am frustrated with the requirement that the person has to on a list of saints. I never understood how Francis Perkins could win the Halo. On what basis was she eligible? It is limiting, and it does seem to lead to some rather silly choices. There are so many worthy people I would rather learn more .
“I came to Washington to work for God, FDR, and the millions of plain, forgotten, workingmen.” Social justice is part of loving one’s neighbor. And today’s saint always has a string of pearls and a chic hat.
https://francesperkinscenter.org/frances-and-faith-introduction/
Was she on a liturgical roster of saints? All you say is quite true, but the Quaker I nominated was for social justice as well. But as a Quaker is not eligible.
Nominate your Quaker! and good luck to you. All you need to add by way of justification is that the Inner Light has revealed this person’s saintliness, and that will suffice.
Thanks!
Yes, she is.
Frances Perkins is on the Episcopal Calendar of commemorations I believe
I nominate Justin Martyr. Today is his feast day. Justin lived 100-160 CE. He was one of the earliest theologians of Christianity. He wrote of the early “true religion,” believing that the “seeds of Christianity” or the Logos, acting in history, came before Christ’s incarnation. This meant that many early philosophers were unknowing Christians. He also revered the prophets as ancients esteemed by God, speaking the Divine Spirit and predicting the events which were happening and which had “kindled a flame” in himself. By his apologetics Justin tried to convince the Roman emperors to cease persecution, but Justin was martyred defending his students.
Any chance we could have a round of past Elated Eight winners that didn’t receive the golden halo? I mean, people run for bishop more than once…
Saints do get second (and third and probably subsequent) chances. Absalom Jones was nominated in 2016 and didn’t get too far, then went all the way to the Golden Halo this year. That’s part of the fun of Lent Madness, seeing how far a saint will get in a given year.
And Absalom was also nominated in 2013 and 2010. In at least one of those years he was knocked out in the first round.
Lent Madness Trivia: what year saw 3 nominees who did not win in that year but who achieved the Golden Halo in subsequent years of Lent Madness? Bonus points if you can name them.
I nominate San Isidro well loved saint in the Hispanic community. Patron of Farmers.While he prayed angels tilled the soil….
St. Jude! The patron saint of lost and desperate causes seems oddly relevant during a global pandemic (plus he received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, it doesn’t get cooler than that). I’ve always loved the story that he was rarely invoked for fear of calling upon Judas, instead of Jude, and therefore he became eager and willing to help anyone who asked him. St. Jude my beloved I hope you’re having a wonderful day.
I nominate Father Emil Kapaun, Servant of God.
In the direst circumstances, when he was called upon to be another alter Christus, Father Kapaun responded to the fullest. On the battlefield, he went under fire to rescue the wounded and minister to the dying. In the prison camp, enduring utterly brutal conditions, he encouraged men with a prayer, tended to the sick, shared his meager rations and gave away articles of his clothing to the most needy. When the future seemed nonexistent, he instilled hope in the men and gave them a reason to live.
In the years since his death on May 23, 1951, the deeds of this heroic, soldier-priest have been chronicled and recognized. President Barack Obama in 2013 awarded him the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military tribute for valor “above and beyond the call of duty”; Pope St. John Paul II declared him a Servant of God in 1993; a man of faith, service, and prayer of our time.
While hundreds of prisoners died in that prison camp, his fellow POWs have attested that because of Father Kapaun’s faith and steadfast service to others hundreds more survived.
The Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints is investigating his life for possible advancement toward sainthood, temporary is on hold because of the Covid-19 pandemic. His feast day is May 23 on the Roman Catholic calendar.
To learn more about Father Kapaun please refer to: https://catholicdioceseofwichita.org/father-kapaun
I would like to nominate Father Stanley Rother, the first US-born martyr. He was killed in Guatemala in 1981. He served from the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and was recognized for beatification by Pope Francis in 2016. A group of villagers made a pilgrimage, walking over 2000 miles from Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, to Okarche, Oklahoma, to honor his beatification in 2017.
Jonathan Daniels was martyred in 1965.
I nominate Bishop Barbara Harris, the first woman consecrated as Bishop in the Anglican Communion. She is currently recognized in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, and I hope she is soon recognized more widely. She is an amazing inspiration to all women. She was also an amazing Civil Rights leader and spoke out against racism, sexism, and gay rights in the Episcopal Church. She truly deserves the Golden Halo!
Harris spoke out AGAINST racism and sexism but ON BEHALF OF gay rights. Prepositions are so important.
I nominate Saint Oscar Romero. His feast date is March 24, the day he was assassinated while saying Mass in El Salvador. He used his position as Archbishop of San Salvador to be a voice for the voiceless, the poor, and oppressed people of El Salvador. He was not afraid of death threats but continued his mission of promoting nonviolence and social justice.
Good choice!
St Hilda, Abbess of Whitby in Bede’s words: “All who knew her called her mother because of her outstanding devotion and grace”. With the words of my old school song: We children of a later day, Hild’s banner raise on high – by her example grand inspired our very best to try; we emulate her strength of mind, her bent to will and do – the pure the good the beautiful – and ever speak the true. Go Hilda!
i second this one too!
Pauli Murray was the first Black woman ordained an Episcopal priest. She was a lawyer, a civil rights activist, a feminist, and one of the founders of the National Organization for Women. Her feast day is July 1.
I would like to nominate Phoebe, the first female deacon. I chose her because I would like my dog to know whom she is named after.
I would also like to nominate Phoebe, among the first of the deacons and definitely the first woman of that order. There is an increased interest in the ministries of deaconesses, and there is a proposal to put the order as a whole (while it lasted in The Episcopal Church) on the church calendar/LFF. She is a role model for many.
Martin de Porres, (November 3 Feast Day). A “17th century saint born of a black mother and Spanish father in a world and culture that separated types and classes of people with a vengeance. But he accepted who he was and used that awareness to make himself sensitive to the needs of others. He served the poor and sick, especially the forgotten black population of the period, and is remembered as a patron of social justice.” (Quote from “A Monastery Almanac” by Joan Chittister)
St. Giles. Not only is his blue the color of the 80th General Convention’s Blue Book, He is traditionally one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Another Hermit with a cult following. Lot’s of towns and Churches named after him and patron Saint of many, most notably cancer paitents and mental health.
I would like to nominate Melania the Elder, a 4th century Desert Mother and benefactor, who founded a monastery in Jerusalem and had a tremendous influence on the pilgrimage tradition and Christian intellectuals of her time. She was a close mentor to Evagrius of Pontus, who wrote the Philokalia, and her granddaughter, Melania the Younger, who also became a saint, endowing many monastic communities. She is part of the 2018 Lesser Feasts & Fasts, a saint in various other churches, and is included in The Forgotten Desert Mothers by Laura Swan. Before learning about this remarkable saint, I had only heard this name associated with the current well-known Melania.
I would like to nominate the Rev. Dr. Florence LI Tim-Oi, the first Anglican woman priest; she was ordained in Free China on 25 January 1944. She initially was licensed as a Deacon to preside at Holy Communion as no priest could make the journey to Macao from Japanese-occupied Hong Kong. Her ordaining Bishop did so because God had already given Rev. Florence the gift of priesthood, even though to do so was against the traditions of the world wide Church at that time. In Maoist China, she suffered at the hands of the Red Guard who made her cut up her vestments with scissors. Rev. Florence died in Toronto on Feb.26/92 and is buried there. Her archives are at Renison Univ. College, Waterloo, Ontario. The Anglican Church of Canada in 2004 agreed to include Rev. Florence in the Calendar of Holy Persons on the anniversary of her death. In 2003, The Episcopal Church of the USA agreed to insert the Anniversary of Rev. Florence’s priesting in the Church’s Calendar of Lesser Feasts and Fasts. It is observed on January 24th. She is commemorated in windows in Church buildings at St George’s, Dayton, Ohio; the Chapel of the Good Shepherd in Chautauqua N.Y. among others. Listeners to the BBC named a dahlia flower “Dahlia Florence Li Tim-Oi” on the Centenary of her birth. After her death, the Li Tim-Oi Foundation was founded by a family member to supply funds and assistance to women in the third world to train for Christian work in their own countries. The website for the foundation is http://www.ittakesonewoman.org/
It is so named because in Jan 1984, after meeting Rev. Li Tim-Oi at Lambeth Palace, Archbishop Runcie said,”It Takes One Woman” to change the thinking of the Church.
Thank you- I wanted to nominate her too.
I nominate Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini patron saint of immigrants and hospital administrators. I am nominating her because her patronage and work is so relevant with today’s situations—young children coming to the US alone, anti-immigrant sentiment, medical staff overworked during the pandemic. She valued and cared for the young and ill establishing school, orphanages, and hospitals. Her head is enshrined in Rome, one arm in Chicago and the rest of her body in New York. Several churches bear her name including one in Manhattan. She has many shrines—one in Chicago, Manhattan and golden Colorado, etc.
I would very much like to nominate Mr. Rogers. To me, Fred Rogers embodied the Christ like walk on earth as much as anyone. I have only just lately come to learn more about him and his mission in this world. He is truly a man of inspiration.
I second this
I respectfully nominate Otis Sargent Huntington (1854-1935), the son of a Bishop and devout mother, who lived a life dedicated to serving the poor. After ordination as an Episcopal Priest he left what would have been a comfortable life, as laid out by his parents, to follow a call to serve “the least of these” at Holy Cross Mission in the poorest section of 1880’s New York Lower East Side. This was a world far beyond his experience – immigrants living in overcrowded tenements amid poverty and filth. Huntington would have crossed paths with social reformers of the time including Jacob Riis who, in 1889, published “How the Other Half Lives” containing photos of real conditions illuminated by a flash pot. Exploitation of workers led Huntington to become involved with the labor union and Georgist land-tax movements. In 1884 he made his profession as the first monk and Founding Father of a Benedictine monastic order for men to Bishop Henry Codman forming the Order of the Holy Cross. Bishop Porter, in his defense to objections raised by Presiding Bishop Alfred Lee cited Huntington’s profession that he believed that to serve the poor he had to be willing to be poor, to live alone and to obey a fixed rule of life within a monastic order.
As an example of one who was committed to the social witness of the Church and his commitment to service in the face of obstacles Huntington will be a worthy participant in 2022 Lent Madness.
I nominate St Kassiani (Kassia, Cassia), a 9th century Byzantine abbess, poet, composer and hymnographer. Her feast day is September 7th and her works are still incorporated into the music of the Eastern Orthodox rite. Beginning on the evening of Palm Sunday and continuing through the evening of Holy Tuesday, the Eastern Orthodox Church observes a special service known as the Service of the Bridegroom. Each evening service is the Matins or Orthros service of the following day (e.g. the service held on Sunday evening is the Orthros service for Holy Monday). The name of the service is from the figure of the Bridegroom in the parable of the Ten Virgins found in Matthew 25:1-13. At the service on Tuesday night (for the Wednesday commemoration) there is sung a hymn that is not sung at any other time of the year-the Hymn of St Kassiani. This hymn was written from the perspective of the woman who anointed Jesus head with myrrh. It is considered the high point of the Tuesday night liturgy, with many attending especially to hear this sung. Two versions of this Hymn are provided as an illustration of the power of her work — the first sung by a women’s choir and the second a mixed choir with subtitles. The first provides an impact of the music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDz6zmwEqJQ&list=RDBDz6zmwEqJQ&start_radio=1), the second the impact of the words (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zY5x1kPlwE (English with subtitles). An important note is that Kassiani might have been the Empress instead of Theodora (March Madness 2021) but her quick tongue apparently upset Theophilos and he rejected her and chose Theodora for his wife instead. Kassiani was one of a few women of her time who wrote under her own name. She left a legacy of religious poetry with music she composed for it that is still used to this day, as well as a body of non-religious work. She was a truly remarkable woman.
I nominate Pauli Murray. A summary of her life is in this New Yorker article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/17/the-many-lives-of-pauli-murray?fbclid=IwAR1Yxv0iqfhCPDPXcokRgtkWNhzN1YJLLGD5eKKLVaMSWUfhe9xsOXNDYbg
She was the first African-American woman ordained as an Episcopal priest. Before that, she was a lifelong fighter against Jim Crow and sex discrimination.
I forgot to mention – I know she is officially considered a Saint, because she has a day in Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
Thank you for including the link to the New Yorker article. Ire-read it at 6am! She is certainly a saint.
I nominate Father Eusebio Kino, a seventeenth century Jesuit priest who founded 21 missions in Northern Sonora and Southern Arizona. Father Kino was an explorer, a cartographer, an advocate for social justice and an ally to the tribal peoples of the Arizona territory. He is well remembered in Arizona, California, and Mexico as a teacher, scholar and missionary and was declared “venerable” by the Roman Catholic Church.
I nominate the Right Rev. Paul Jones, Bishop of Utah, 1914 whose feast day is September 04 – The Episcopal Church
I share this forward from “Bishop Paul Jones Witness for Peace” by John Howard Melish, written in 1942 by John Nevin Sayre in the original edition;
“Paul Jones, by his life in two World Wars, and in the years between, helped many Christians and others to recover the true meaning of the sign of the Cross. He showed what it meant to be a Christian pacifist living in the faith of Christ crucified and manfully fighting under that banner unto his life’s end…..”
I would like to nominate Enmegahbowh Priest and Missionary. His feast day is celebrated on June 12. A full blooded Ottawa he became the first indigenous deacon of the Episcopal Church.
There are many worthy nominees. I’ve already nominated Handel. I just want to put in an extra word for artistic Saints. Their good works (miracles?) can be experienced first-hand today, in museums, libraries, concert halls and churches. They deserve our recognition.
Last night The SPCO preformed Handel’s Suite in D Major Water Music in Mears Park St. Paul MN. It was their first live performance in 14 months. The temperature was 96 F but the music was heavenly.
I nominate Origen of Alexander. He is worthy of inclusion for several reasons. First, his theological and philosophical works were instrumental in shaping Christian thought during his time. Second, he and his works were deemed heretical, and he is often overlooked or disregarded. Third, his approach to biblical interpretation was novel and influenced the way many people approach reading and understanding. Finally, he castrated himself; cut (pun intended?) the man some slack.
I would like to nominate St. Pachomius, a very early saint who is credited with creating the first Christian monastic system, as community of believers, (cenobitic) not hermits who only met occasionally for worship, (eremetic.)
He was born in Egypt to pagan parents and was converted & baptized in 314. His Christian life began under the influence of hermits and eventually he followed St. Anthony of Egypt at Tabennisi, Egypt. It was there that he was told by a voice to build a dwelling for the hermits to come to. He established his first monastery between 318 and 323 in Tabennisi
He had many ideas about how such a community should live together: (Ex. male or female monastics living together and holding their property in common.) Those ideas were adapted and organized as an Ascetica, by Basil of Caesarea. It is still used today by the Eastern Orthodox Church just as the Rule of Benedict is used in the West.
By the time Pachomius died in 348 A.D. eight monasteries and several hundred monks followed his guidance. Within a generation, the monastic (cenobic) concept had spread throughout the Christian world.
Australia’s First Saint: Mary MacKillop
The founder of an Australian order of Catholic nuns – the Sisters of St Joseph. Born in 1842 in Melbourne Australia.
She began the order with Fr. Julian Tenison Woods for the education of poor children.
Within a few years there were over 100 Sisters, and they have moved to three different states of Australia.
She was accused of being disobedient, by some of the priests who were advisors to the Bishop. The Bishop was ill-advised and excommunicated her. Some seven months later, after he had disbanded the Order of nuns, on his death bed, he brought her back into the church.
Mary travelled for six weeks alone on a ship to Rome, where there she presented the Rule of the Sisters of St Joseph to the Pope. She was a formidable woman, who trusted in the providence of God.
During her beatification in 1995, Pope John Paul II said that Mary MacKillop embodies the best of Australia and its people: “genuine openness to others, hospitality to strangers, generosity to the needy, justice to those unfairly treated, perseverance in the face of adversity, kindness and support to the suffering.”
Mary MacKillop definitely stands among those who deserve to be nominated and indeed be selected for Lent Madness 2022!
I am nominating Florence LI Tim – Oi (1907-19920) the first woman to be ordained a priest in the Anglican Communion. She was born in Hong Kong May 5 1907. She studied at Canton Union Theological College then returned to Hong Kong, ordained a deaconess and worked in Hong Kong and Macau helping refugees fleeing mainland China during the second Japanese -Sino War. The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and parts of China made it impossible for Anglican priests to get to Macau, so Li was given permission to administer the sacraments and travelled through Japanese occupied territory to be ordained Jan 25, 1944 From 1958-1974 the Communist Chinese government closed churches , Li was designated a counter-revolutionary , forced to work on a farm and a factory , go through political re-education , and was forced to cut up her church vestments by the Red guards. Florence Li Tim-Oi left China and was appointed a priest in Toronto in 1983 where she remained for the rest of her life She served the church faithfully and bravely through dangerous times , suffering persecution for her faith and deserves to be nominated for the Golden Halo
I’d like to nominate St. Roch (or Rock in English): He lived in Italy in the 1300s; son of the governor of Montpelier, he lived a poor mendicant life, dying in prison. He was known to be a healer and is invoked against many diseases: cholera, epidemics, knee problems, plague, skin diseases. He’s the patron saint of: bachelors, diseased cattle, dogs, falsely accused people, invalids, Istanbul, surgeons, tile-makers, gravediggers, second-hand dealers, pilgrims, apothecaries, Pateros, Caloocan, Philippines.
When I lived in Pittsburgh, many neighborhoods celebrated San Rocco Day in grand style with fireworks and food. His name, of course, would be great for the humor of Lent Madness, with possibilities like “between St. Roch and a hard place.” Good kitsch potential, too. I love anyone who’s the patron saint of dogs. Plus, his feast day is on my birthday, August 16, which also happens to be Madonna’s, too.
I nominate the Martyrs of Uganda (commemoration date June 3), 32 members of the court of King Mwanga of Buganda who were burned to death in 1886 because they would not renounce their Christian faith. Mwanga resented the fact that these Christians put their loyalty to Jesus above loyalty to him, and his intent was to destroy the Christian Church in his kingdom.
As the martyrs marched toward their execution, they sang hymns, and prayed for those about to execute them. Those who witnessed the way they faced their death began to seek out other Christians and the faith spread rapidly throughout the country, in spite of renewed persecution under Idi Amin in the 1970s.
The Martyrs of Uganda provide an example of how Christians might respond in the face of mistreatment.
I would like to nominate missionary doctor Paul Carlson who was martyred in the Congo. Here is a snippet from Wikipedia. Before I joined the Episcopal church I was member of the Evangelical Covenant Church – the denomination that raised up Paul and have worked to keep his legacy going.
“Carlson became known as the “Congo Martyr” and was featured on the covers of both Time and Life magazines. His tombstone, at Karawa, bears the inscription “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”— John 15:13[2] Shortly after Carlson’s death, Lois and others formed the Paul Carlson Medical Program with the goal of raising money to support the Loko hospital. They expanded with agricultural programs to teach nutrition, agronomy, and microenterprise.[10] In 2000, the Paul Carlson Medical Program was revitalized and now operates under the name the Paul Carlson Partnership. The Paul Carlson Partnership[11] is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization with a mission that focuses on investing in health care, economic development, and education in Central Africa.[12]”
I nominate John Woolman for his abolitionist work among as well as his ministry for economic justice, against conscription, & animal cruelty. He was responsible for the Quaker’s early denuncuation of slavery & was the inspiration for Wilberforce.
I nominate Mychal Judge, gay Catholic priest, Franciscan brother and chaplain who was killed on 9/11 while serving with firefighters and praying for victims. He also had been an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, being part of Dignity, the Catholic Church’s LGBT ministry and helping AIDS patients. He was canonized in 2002 by the Orthodox-Catholic Church of America.
Thank you for introducing me to an amazing person!
I nominate St. Swithun (d.862), bishop of Winchester, capital of the kingdom of Wessex at the time of the first Viking raids on England. Famous for charitable gifts and building churches, chaplain to King Egbert and educator of King Ethelwulf. The translation of his relics from the churchyard into the cathedral was marked by miraculous healings and heavy rainfall (both much needed just now). It is said he made diocesan journeys on foot and gave banquets for the poor rather than the rich. His shrine was a popular goal of pilgrims throughout the Middle Ages. Mostly, I just like his name (saying it three times fast is a good way to know if you’ve been drinking too much), and the list of nominations I’ve seen seems a bit top heavy on the side of, however worthy, very recent saints.
I nominate St. Oscar Romero. He worked very hard for the poor and the marginalized. He was strong for social justice for all. He was a very outspoken critic of the military government in El Salvador.
I nominate St Dismas, known as “the Good Thief.” He is one of the two men who were crucified with Jesus, the one who rebuked the first criminal: “Have you no fear of God? You received the same sentence he did, but in our case we deserved it; we are paying for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus said: Today you will be with me in Paradise.
On earth our main goal in life is to attain such faith in God that we rely on Him completely. Dismas was dying on a cross, no possible help in sight. Another man dying there on the next cross, and he (Dismas) asked him humbly to remember him when he gets into his kingdom. Think about that. That is the apex of faith. Dismas was the first Christian to die and go to Heaven with Jesus. I will line up with Dismas any day of my life – singing and praying for his faith.
I have nominated St Disman, but my wife wanted me to nominate St DYMPHNA. I was happy to see that she has already been nominated. She was killed by her father in what is now Belgium but what had been The Netherlands in a town called Geel. My name is Geels (originally Geelsohn =son of Geel). I first heard of St Dymphna when I was introduced to a Dutchman and he said: “Geels, huh? Are you one of the sane ones or one of the sick ones?” He said the town of Geel is well known for their “natural” care of people with mental problems. The residents take the mentally ill into their homes so that with a normal life the ill may get better. This all started due to St Dymphna and her mentally troubled father back in the 14th century. My wife and I visited the church there; the work of Sy Dymphna is still going on, helping the
less fortunate.
I nominate Fr. Emil Kapaun who was a Catholic Chaplin in the Korean War. He died as a prisoner of war. His comrades who bore witnesses to his tireless ministry to the prisoners, petitioned the U.S. government until his was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Obama. His remains were found a couple of months ago, which was considered a miracle. He was laid to rest in his native Kansas. Steps have been taken in Rome to declare him a saint. He lived the gospel.
St. Mesrop Mashtots, creator of the Armenian alphabet. Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as its national religion in 301 A.D. But, there was no alphabet to translate the Bible into the Armenian language. Mesrop Mashtots created this new alphabet in the early fifth century. Besides the Bible, many things were translated into Armenian solidifying the transmission of Christianity within Armenia and unifying the Armenian people. Many works in Greek were translated into Armenian and are preserved in their entirety in Armenian manuscripts while only fragments are extant today in Greek. Plus, he has a cool sounding name! He is recognized as a saint across several churches including the Roman Catholic Church.