Today's match-up is fraught with intrigue as two popular women from fabulous vacation spots duke it out for the right to advance to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen. If you were smart, you conducted some intense personal research by traveling to both Siena, Italy, and Honolulu, Hawaii, before the start of Lent Madness. If not, now is the time to lobby your travel agent for a 2013 Lent Madness vacation package.
In recent action, John Cassian coasted to victory over James Lloyd Breck (55% to 45%), making you wonder why Nashotah House graduates aren't more passionate about Lent Madness. Perhaps all that Tebowing (what we used to call genuflecting) distracted them from the task at hand. In any case, view the updated bracket and the calendar of upcoming match-ups and enjoy today's Lent Madness all-female revue.
Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) was a 14th century mystic, visionary, Dominican tertiary, and theologian. She’s best known for being an articulate critic of political battles among clergy within the Roman Catholic Church. Appalled by factional fighting that resulted in the Avignon papacy, she persuaded Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome and reform the clergy. When the next Great Schism broke out in 1378, Pope Urban VI demanded that Catherine come to Rome as his advocate.
In the midst of all this, Catherine experienced a “mystical marriage” with Jesus, received the stigmata, and found time to dictate a book of meditations and revelations, The Dialogue of Divine Providence. More than 300 of her letters to confessors, royalty, and church officials have survived over the centuries. Interestingly, 1/3 of her surviving letters were written to women.
Catherine was drawn to faith at an early age, having her first vision of Christ blessing her when she was five and vowing chastity at the age of seven. She died in 1380 at the age of 33 (by tradition, the same age as her Lord). She was canonized in 1461 and received the title of Doctor of the Church in 1970, one of the few women to ever receive this honor.
Collect for Catherine of Siena: Everlasting God, you so kindled the flame of holy love in the heart of blessed Catherine of Siena, as she meditated on the passion of your Son our Savior, that she devoted her life to the poor and the sick, and to the peace and unity of the Church: Grant that we also may share in the mystery of Christ’s death, and rejoice in the revelation of his glory; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Still revered by Hawaiians as “our beloved Queen,” Emma Kalanikaumakaamano Kaleleonālani Naʻea Rooke, or Queen Emma for short, was born to a royal family with direct lineage to King Kamehameha I. At 20 she married King Kamehameha IV with whom she shared a love for the Anglican church and its liturgy. In 1860, shortly after the birth of their son, the couple petitioned the Bishop of Oxford to send missionaries to establish the Anglican Church of Hawaii.
The Church of England was happy to oblige and soon dispatched a bishop and two priests to those pleasant shores. Unlike monarchs before her, Emma was a hands-on royal who commenced building a school for Hawaiian girls and St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Honolulu. Her deep concern for the well-being of her people, who had been ravaged by smallpox, was seen in the establishment of what would become Queen’s Medical Center. Today it is the premiere medical facility for the Pacific basin.
The personal tragedy of losing both her four-year-old son and her beloved husband in a 15-month span did not stop Emma from endeavoring on behalf of her people. To assume the throne after her husband’s death, Emma was required to enter Hawaii’s constitutionally-mandated election process. Though the Hawaiian people supported her candidacy, her opponent won a landslide victory in the Legislative Assembly. In the wake of this upset, her supporters rioted but were quickly quelled by the presence of American warships in the harbor.
Over the next 22 years, to the end of her life at age 49, the dowager queen remained steadfast in her faithfulness to the Church of Hawaii and her people. Comfortable in her identity as a descendant of both Hawaiians and Europeans, she was multi-cultural before it was cool. Her holy example and legacy of charity live on across the islands and beyond.
Collect for Kamehamha IV and Emma: O Sovereign God, who raised up Kamehameha and Emma to be rulers in Hawaii, and inspired and enabled them to be diligent in good works for the welfare of their people and the good of your Church: Receive our thanks for their witness to the Gospel; and grant that we, with them, may attain to the crown of glory that never fades away; through Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-- Heidi Shott
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88 comments on “Catherine of Siena vs. Emma of Hawaii”
Easy choice. My name is Katherine, so I have to go with Catherine.
Aloha, Church of England! I wonder if that terrific hat Emma is wearing was reserved for the queen or if it just reflects her own sartorial preferences.
Emma is the only saint known to have played the ukulele.
I play the ukulele.
Voting on this one was easy.
okay, that gets my vote, too.
Vowing chastity at age 7 kinda creeps me out. I appreciate Catherine's accomplishments, but I vote for Emma, wife and mother, and protector of her people.
Yes, Rosemary, that caught my notice as well. How does a seven year old even know about chastity? We are trained to suspect abuse when a child has precocious sexual knowledge. I'll add PTSD to the differential diagnosis.
I was also struck by how young both of these women were in their respective heydays. I don't think we are doing a very good job of listening to 20-somethings these days.
I think I will wait to vote.
I don't think we ought to try to understand Catherine in terms of our modern "crazy" labels. Most likely, at 7, she told her parents she wanted to devote her life to God, not that she wanted to remain chaste.
I had to go with Emma. We lived in Hawaii for 4 years & loved it! I have been in St. Andrew's Cathedral. Edmond Browning+ was Bishop of Hawaii when we were there. Aloha! Go Emma!
Having seen the love bestowed
On Emma by her people.
I cast my vote. Aloha!
We have a tertiary relic of St. Catherine of Siena in our altar at St. Matthias, Minocqua and I have also seen her sarcophagus in the high altar of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. All the same, I voted for Emma for her indomitable character and style. Plus, Hawaii Five -O(old and new) has always been one of my favorite shows.
Been to both Honolulu and Siena. I suspect Catherine is the greater saint but I've long had affection for Emma and Kamehameha. So Emma it is.
What a matchup! I'd love to learn more about both women because I found them absolutely fascinating. While Emma gets automatic extra points for not being white, I still had to go with Catherine. The mystics intrigue me, and besides, she actually got powerful men to listen to her.
After 11 years at St. Andrew's Cathedral in Honolulu, this was an easy one for me. Emma appreciated the balance of body (Queen's Hospital), mind (St. Andrew's Priory School) and spirit (St. Andrew's Cathedral). As long as you don't have to pronounce those Hawaiian names, she's a shoo-in, all the way to the Golden Halo! Me ke aloha pumehana!
Having been to Siena I was leaning toward Catherine but Lin's arguments tipped the balance. I am voting for Emma!
Hard to grapple with the mysticism of Catherine, so much we don't understand or even accept in our modern framework...but that's just what I love about her.
Remember ...even though she preferred to stay praying in her tiny cell in Siena, she traveled to Rome to make her voice heard on the issues of the day. And this was centuries before women had anything like a voice in the magisterium of the church. So my vote went to Catherine.
Lastly a seven year old might not fully understand the mechanics of chastity, but she would surelyknow that some women never marry and that she wanted to live in that state.
Emma definitely gets my vote -- Aloha!
Queen Emma, of course. Besides taking into account her personal qualifications for the honor, I lived on Queen Emma Square in Honolulu while teaching at St. Andrew's Priory, which she founded for "her girls;" my four children were born in the Queen's Hospital (it was Territory of Hawaii at the time); I was married in St. Andrew's Cathedral ; have an abiding admiration for the Hawaiian royalty and love for the Hawaiian people. How could I choose otherwise?
I cannot believe how pumped up I am about this. I was never this excited about basketball, and I went to Carolina!
One of the toughest choices yet today - but in the end I'll go with Catherine. I have a daughter Katherine who has the same sort of stroppy and articulate faith. Go team Catherine!
Come on West coast & beyond - bring in those votes for Emma of Hawaii!
I'm gonna go for Catherine (I'm more familiar with her, I've read--a little bit-- of her writings, she was an influential women in her time by the strength of her faith), but I really enjoyed learning about Emma. Wow! Quite of woman of spirit and Spirit.
If you think Emma's full name in Hawaiian is a mouthful, how about her full name in English -- Emma Alexandrina Francis Agnes Lowder Byde Rooke Young Kaleleokalani?
Gotta go with Catherine!
Queen Emma's hat is fierce!!
Good morning, friends in Hawaii!!! Vote!
Mystical marriage to Christ, the stigmata, Doctor of the Church AND she had to be called in to be muscle for Pope Urban - let's call it Super thursday for Catherine of Siena!
Anyone at Christ Church, Kealakekua, playing Lent Madness?? Please vote for Emma!
Lots going for both these contenders, and I have been both places. Nothing like seeing the relic in Siena. I have to go with Catherine, whose presence and command and power in her time were remarkable.
Aloha Ke Akua- Love of God- the goodness and grace of Women throughout history to have love and compassion for the ugliness of their times shows us Women of today that we are NO different- we can and we do make a difference within our own time and place. WE need to recognize this in ourselves and get to work. WE are as they are in our own way...FEARLESS!!!
My mother's name is Catherine. That does it for me.
Emma and Kamehameha stand in the long line or royal rulers who brought Christianity to their nation, including Constantine, Vladimir, and many others. As a Slav, I'm grateful to Vladimir who not only brought Christianity but also European civilization to the people of the Russia and the Ukraine. So I cast my vote out of solidarity for Emma.
I'm sorry, but I don't see how Emma is a saint. Really nice, faithful lady...sure. But saint deserving of the Saintly 16? Absolutely not.
Catherine has my vote
AARGH!!! First we have voted the apostles out. Apparently being hand picked by the son of God is not good enough to get you out of the first round. Now we have a middle ages theologian and visionary going down to defeat by a person whose attributes are playing the ukelele and coming from a cool place to vacation in. Tim was right in saying that "reason" does not apply to Lent Madness. Oh well, it is still a lot of fun.