184 comments on “2013 Bracket -- Accepting Nominations!”

1. I nominate Frances Perkins, who was the brains, passion and person of deep faith ( Episcopalian) who had the vision and got the president (FDR) and the congress to pass the Social Security Bill and much else besides such as ending child labor, the right to organize, unemployment insurance, and safe working conditions. The only piece that didn't get passed was universal health care! She served others until her death and died without a home.

2. seconding Oscar Romero
   and how about JS Bach?

   1. Judithio......I must admit I'm of two minds about JS Bach.....I sing in the choir at my church, have sung several pieces of his and that lovely mathematical precision that makes his music so enjoyable to listen to is also a TOTAL PAIN IN THE YOU-KNOW-WHAT to learn. maybe he shoulda stuck to mathematics.
      yours,
      Madeleine Borthwick

3. John Mason Neale -- hymnographer (check the index of authors in The Hymnal 1982) and founder of the Society of St Margaret [of Antioch, not of Scotland], of which I'm an Associate.
   I'll also pull for T.S. Eliot, and especially Charles Williams -- poet, novelist, theologian, close friend of Lewis, Tolkien, and Eliot. (Full disclosure: I'm also a member of the Charles Williams Society.)

4. As a member of St. Matha's of Bethany I would like to nominate her.

5. That would be St. Martha! I think i had a typo . Hail St. Martha of Bethany!

6. I nominate my patron saint, St. Theresa the Little Flower (of Lisieux), for her little way!

   1. I nominate W.E.B DuBois, and Paul Jones!

7. Among the moderns, how about Mother Theresa of Calcutta, surely a strong candidate for a golden halo!

8. J.S. Bach - and I bet he takes the Golden Halo next year.

9. St. Timothy and St. Richard of Chichester. I don't believe there is a St. Scott 🙂

10. My biggest request is that you improve gender balance to roughly half women rather than this year's problematic field with barely more than one quarter women.

    To add to some of the other great suggestions here on that count : Junia the Apostle, Phoebe the Deacon, Felicitas/Felicity of Carthage, Gertrud of Helfta, Mechthild of Magdeburg, Mechtild of Hackeborn, Macrina the fourth Cappadocian, Katie von Bora Luther, Susannah Wesley, Frances of Rome.

    Seconding suggestions here on Therese the Little Flower (patron of women's ordination) Madeleine L'Engle, and Kateri Tekawitha--particularly apt as this year she bumped from Blessed to full St. in the RC system, first Native American to be so honored by them.

    1. St. Bridget (family spelling) of Ireland. Her 1 February date covers a lot of Celtic spiritualities. Here's to all the Bridies.

    2. I was also thinking about deacon Phoebe and Susanna Wesley. (But let's not pair her against any of her sons, eh?)

11. I nominate The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Been playing the LEVAS hymn honoring him as a Saint for 25 years in Episcopal churches from Atlanta, to Ohio, and even in Vegas baby. This saint gets cheers after singing a hymn honoring him. People look forward to the service nearest to January 15th. No other hymn honoring Saints gets as many positive comments. Only St. Patrick comes close in a musical smack down, but this Saint requires lots of beer drinking and green clothing to get the congregation in a frenzy. Yes this is a challenge worthy of Lent madness. It plays out every year in the church music and will continue for the forseeable future.

12. I nominate Kateri Tekakwitha

13. Fannie Lou Hamer
    Jane Addams
    Dorothy Day
    William Wilberforce
    Martin Luther
    and I second Oscar Romero along with Jean Donovan, Sr. Dorothy Kazel, Sr. Maura Clarke and Sr. Ita Ford

14. Please consider for consideration St. Luke (for the healers), St. George (for the dragon lovers--and think of the tchotske possibilities with armor involved), St. Cecilia (for the musicians), and St. Mark (for St. Mark's Place as well as for his cool winged lion).

15. My father had an exclamation "Great Jehosaphat!" I didn't know it was a real person until recently, but he fought the Syrians, which recommended him to me.

16. Seconding Niebuhr, Nouen and Johann Sebastian, while confessing that I do not know if they qualify under the rigidly flexible eligibility requirements of the SEC. Would also second Thomas Merton, but he was in this year's bracket (and should have gone MUCH deeper than he did!) Alas, JUST WAIT 'TIL 2014! (I almost observed that that sounded a lot like a UNC fan during football season, i.e., "just wait til basketball season.") 😉

17. Absalom Jones deserves a spot!

18. I'd like to nominate Sainte Foy, a local favorite here in France. Martryed in 303AD at the age of 12, I think she could be a real contender as a Cinderella favorite. She loves playing tricks and is especially fond of releasing prisoners who pray to her...guilty or not. She also has one of the richest treasuries in France because both Charlemagne and Pepin loved her and her abbey and because she'd appear to rich women in their dreams and convince them to bring her their gold jewelry! She also did a lot of curing blindness (helpful when dealing with blind referees) and assisting women in childbirth.

    1. And has the most beautiful Romanesque church in the world (in Conques)!

19. Saint Patrick, Mother Theresa,

20. As one half of a clergy couple, I think it's time for a couples/pairs Lent Madness. Priscilla and Aquila, for starters. It could include those who were not connected romantically, but whom the Holy Spirit brought together in mission: Cyril & Methodius, e.g. Or Tim and Scott -- sorry, I meant Timothy and Titus! And how about those who were always on the opposite sides of issues, but helped clarify one another's vision, starting with Peter and Paul? "Year of the pairs" could help remind us all that we do our best work for God when we don't try to be Lone Rangers, but listen to each other.

21. I nominate Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton. She was raised in the Episcopal Church, but later converted to Catholicism. A hospital in Waterville, ME carries her name. Following is a portion of of her bio on Wikipedia:
    Foundress:
    After struggling through some trying and difficult years, in 1809 Elizabeth accepted the invitation of support the Sulpicians had made to her and moved to Emmitsburg, Maryland. A year later she established the Saint Joseph's Academy and Free School, a school dedicated to the education of Catholic girls. This was possible due to the financial support of Samuel Sutherland Cooper, a wealthy convert and seminarian at the newly established Mount Saint Mary's University, begun by John Dubois, S.S., and the Sulpicians.

    On 31 July, Elizabeth established a religious community in Emmitsburg dedicated to the care of the children of the poor. It was the first congregation of religious sisters to be founded in the United States, and its school was the first free Catholic school in America. The order was initially called the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph. From that point on, she became known as "Mother Seton".

    The remainder of her life was spent in leading and developing the new congregation. Mother Seton was described as a charming and cultured lady. Her connections to New York society and the accompanying social pressures to leave the new life she had created for herself did not deter her from embracing her religious vocation and charitable mission. The greatest difficulties she faced were actually internal, stemming from misunderstandings, interpersonal conflicts and the deaths of two daughters, other loved ones, and young Sisters in the community. She died of tuberculosis on 4 January 1821, at the age of 46. Today, her remains are entombed in the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.

    Legacy:
    Dedicated to following the will of God, Elizabeth Ann had a deep devotion to the Eucharist, Sacred Scripture and the Virgin Mary. The 23rd Psalm was her favorite prayer throughout her life. She was a woman of prayer and service who embraced the apostolic spirituality of Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul. It had been her original intention to join the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, but the embargo of France due to the Napoleonic Wars prevented this connection. It was only decades later, in 1850, that the Emmitsburg community took the steps to merge with the Daughters, and to become their American branch, as their foundress had envisioned.

    Statue in St. Raymond's Cemetery
    Bronx, New York
    Today, six separate religious congregations trace their roots to the beginnings of the Sisters of Charity in Emmitsburg. In addition to the original community of Sisters at Emmitsburg (now part of the Vincentian order), they are based in New York City, Cincinnati, Ohio, Halifax Regional Municipality, Convent Station, New Jersey, and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

    Veneration:
    On the 18 December 1959 Elizabeth was declared Venerable by the Sacred Congregation of Rites. She was beatified by Pope John XXIII on the 17 March 1963, and canonized by Pope Paul VI on the 14 September 1975, making her the first native-born United States citizen to be canonized. As a condition for canonization, the Catholic Church requires that for a saint who has not been martyred, at least two miracles take place at his or her intercession.[5] The Holy See recognized that this condition was met when attributing three miracles to Seton's intercession: curing Sister Gertrude Korzendorfer, S.C., of cancer, curing Ann Theresa O’Neill of acute lymphatic leukemia, and curing Carl Kalin of encephalitis.[6][7]

    Her feast day is celebrated as a memorial in the dioceses of the United States on the 4 January.

    1. I would love to see her get the nomination! As a Sister of Charity I'd love it!

22. Second Oscar Romero and MLK

23. Jonathan Myrick Daniels.

24. I nominate (or second the nominations of) Fred Rogers, Martin Luther, Flannery O'Connor, and J.S. Bach.

25. I nominate St. Catherine of Alexandria - patron saint of theologians and philosophers and our Episcopal Church in Temple Terrace Florida

    1. Ditto!!

26. I nominate the Trinity. (Counts as one, y'know...)

27. Vassar Miller

28. John of Damascus, defender of icons in the first Iconoclastic Controversy, who said, "I worship not matter, but the Creator of matter, who became matter for my sake."

29. St. Stephen - deacon and martyr

30. St. Dymphna