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Anna Cooper vs. J.S. Bach
In a 2014 bracket quirk, Celebrity Blogger Heidi Shott is shepherding her “Killer B’s” through the Saintly Sixteen this week. Bach, Bedell, and Brooks are all doing battle over the next few days. Today we begin Heidi Week with J.S. Bach taking on Anna Cooper in a contest between an activist and a musician. One […]
Harriet Beecher Stowe vs. Alcuin
You know what’s great about today? (Well, besides the fact that it’s Monday and a lot of clergy — and half of the Supreme Executive Committee — have the day off). We begin an entire week of Saintly Sixteen match-ups! We kick things off with a 19th century laywoman taking on an 8th century deacon. […]
F.D. Maurice vs. Julia Chester Emery
With their life spans overlapping by 20 years, today’s battle sees F.D. Maurice take on Julia Chester Emery as both vie to advance to the next round. The pairing of contemporaries in Lent Madness is rare (unless they happen to be siblings) so there’s that. They’re also closely identified with initials: “F.D.” Maurice and Julia […]
Basil the Great vs. Antony of Egypt
Welcome to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen! After sixteen bruising, gut-wrenching, heart-pounding battles, we have cut the field of 32 saints in half. We’ve already seen our fair share of hotly contested match-ups, blow-outs, and Cinderellas and we’re only half-way through the bracket. Lent Madness, like Lent, is part endurance race and we encourage […]
John Wesley vs. Charles Wesley
Ah, this long anticipated family battle has finally arrived. Methodist Meltdown, Fratricide-apalooza, whatever you choose to call it, today’s match-up will be epic. While they share a Collect, today the sibling rivalry will be bitter. A fitting end to the Round of 32 as tomorrow we kick off the Round of the Saintly Sixteen. Yesterday, […]
Joseph Schereschewsky vs. Harriet Bedell
What’s in a name? Fortunately for Harriet Bedell, this contest won’t be decided by the number of letters in one’s name. In this category Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereshewsky would not only win 30 to 13 but he’d run the entire Lent Madness table. Two fascinating stories, two amazingly saintly lives, yet only one will move […]
Phillips Brooks vs. Simeon
And…we’re back for another week of hard-hitting, halo-busting Lent Madness action! Today we have a battle between a renowned 19th century preacher and an aged Biblical figure who held the newborn Jesus in his arms. It’s “O Little Town of Bethlehem” vs. the Nunc Dimittis as can only happen in Lent Madness. This week we’ll […]
Nicholas Ridley vs. John of the Cross
Will John of the Cross get “rid” of Ridley? Or will Nicholas Ridley “crucify” John of the Cross? These are the questions that emerge when an English martyr faces a Spanish mystic. Enjoy the last saintly square-off of the week and stay tuned for more Madness on Monday as Phillips Brooks takes on Simeon. Yesterday […]
Thomas Merton vs. Aelred
The photograph vs. the icon points to the 800 years standing between these two giants of monasticism, Thomas Merton and Aelred of Rivaulx. And by “standing” we mean amid the blue grass of Kentucky for the one and among the moors of North Yorkshire, England for the other. While we generally try to keep any […]
Pastoral Epistle from the Archbishops
To: Our Well-Beloved Viewers in Christ From: The Archbishops — Colour Commentators of Lent Madness Heaven via The Clairvoyatron 2100 Maple Anglican’s Basement [Redacted] Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Greetings, It is with great joy that we wish to announce that our well-beloved in Christ, Mary Ann Grennen, has been drawn as the winner of the contest […]
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