Category Archives: Saintly Sixteen
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 […]
Benedict of Nursia vs. Dorothy Day
Welcome, friends, to the last full week of Lent Madness. Today we get the final match-up of the Round of the Saintly Sixteen. Then Tuesday through Friday we’ll experience the four battles of the Elate Eight as we encounter the controversial mirth of saintly kitsch. More about that tomorrow. But first it’s Benedict of Nursia […]
Martha of Bethany vs. Harriet Tubman
A day after Florence Li Tim-Oi left Gregory the Great chanting to himself in despair, we have a clash of two women, one Biblical and one modern. Martha of Bethany and Harriet Tubman are duking it out for a chance at Hilda of Whitby (and NO this is not a conspiracy to have these worthy […]
Gregory the Great vs. Florence Li-Tim Oi
A day after the election of a new pope, the only pope in the bracket, Gregory the Great, digs in his (red, Prada-covered) heels against Florence Li-Tim Oi, the first female priest in the Anglican Communion. To make it to the Saintly Sixteen, Gregory defeated Martin of Tours and Florence bested, nay demolished, Chad of […]
Martin Luther King, Jr. vs. Frances Perkins
In a rare battle of contemporaries, Martin Luther King, Jr. takes on Frances Perkins in today’s Lent Madness match-up. Will quirks, quotes, or a combination win the day? To get to this point, MLK had to fend off his namesake, Protestant Reformer Martin Luther, while Frances Perkins felled Hawaiian Damien of Molokai. More questions: Will […]
Luke the Evangelist vs. John Donne
Today’s match-up pits two writers against one another. Evangelist vs. Poet. In other words if you’ve ever experienced the agony of writer’s block, this battle’s for you. No one seemed to experience voter’s block yesterday as Hilda of Whitby held off a feisty Ignatius of Antioch to advance to the Elate Eight. She’ll face the […]
Hilda of Whitby vs. Ignatius of Antioch
Welcome back, friends, to Lent Madness and the third match-up in the Round of the Saintly Sixteen. We’ll continue all week with this round featuring quirks and quotes from our saintly contestants. Today Hilda of Whitby takes on Ignatius of Antioch in a clash of influential figures about 600 years apart. To get to this […]
