After a long off season, it has finally arrived! No, not pumpkin spice season...
IT'S LENT MADNESS NOMINATIONTIDE
Before we can pit saint against saint in the madness, we need you, yes, you in the pew, the pulpit, or just procrastinating at your desk, to help us decide who will enter the Lenten bracket! For one glorious week, you get to nominate a saint you believe is fit for a chance to win the coveted Golden Halo. Will it be a desert dwelling hermit? A hymn writing bishop? A martyred monastic with a flair for hospitality and a killer bread recipe? Only you can decide!
Fr. Michael and Fr. Christian are keeping the tradition fun, holy, and wholly Lent Madness.. Through laughter, bracketology, and some surprisingly intense saintly showdowns, we continue growing in the knowledge and witness of the saints, and through them, in the love of Christ!
To ensure your SUCCESSFUL nomination, please consult the sacred Nominationtide Rules & Regulations, which are lovingly inscribed on a weathered scroll, sealed with a kiss, and currently housed in the archives of the Lent Madness studio. Here are the cliff notes…
- 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. A brief paragraph (or even a long one) will suffice. Comments about anything other than a nomination, will be disregarded.
As you discern which saint 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 2026, those saints who made it to the Round of the Elate Eight in 2025 and 2024, and those from the 2023 Faithful Four.
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! (it happens more than you'd think).
Happy Nominationtide!
Time to nominate your favorite saint! But first, look over this list.
Entire 2026 Bracket (Ineligible for 2027)
- John Wesley
- Martin Luther
- Elizabeth Ann Seton
- Desmond Tutu
- Basil the Great
- Benedict of Nursia
- Paul the Apostle
- Peter the Apostle
- Thomas Cranmer
- Richard Hooker
- Amy Carmichael
- Edith Stein
- Paul of Thebes
- Anthony the Great
- Seven Sleepers of Ephesus
- Thomas the Apostle
- Gregory the Illuminator
- Nino of Georgia
- Wang Zhiming
- Janani Luwum
- Scholastica
- Clare of Assisi
- Priscilla and Aquila
- Cosmas and Damian
- Macrina the Younger
- Joan of Arc
- Brother Roger of Taizé
- Damien of Hawai'i
- Julie Billiart
- Blessed Gerard
- Martyrs of Uganda
- Constance and Her Companions
2025 Elate Eight
- Irenaeus of Lyons
- Zechariah
- Sundar Singh
- Emily Cooper
- Elizabeth of Hungary
- Verena of Zurzach
- Philip, Deacon and Evangelist
- Nicolaus Zinzendorf
2024 Elate Eight
- Albert Schweitzer
- Cornelius the Centurion
- Henry Whipple
- Canaire
- Joseph of Arimathea
- Julian of Norwich
- Ambrose of Milan
- Andrew the Fisherman
2023 Faithful Four
- Joanna the Myrrhbearer
- Martin de Porres
- Jonathan Daniels
- Chief Seattle
Past Golden Halo Winners
- 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
- José Hernández
- Jonathan Daniels
- Julian of Norwich
- Zechariah
- Constance and Her Companions
Eligible again: 2022 Faithful Four: Teresa of Avila, Madeleine Barart, Thomas of Villanova, Jose Hernandez
