Nominations for next year's saints are currently being accepted from the floor! And the ceiling and the undercroft and the slate roof and any other part of the church that might be susceptible to a touch of deferred maintenance.
As always, we seek to put together a balanced bracket of saints ancient and modern, Biblical and ecclesiastical representing the breadth and diversity of God’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. In other words, kindly submit your nominations to the Supreme Executive Committee but don't throw a hissy fit if he/she is not accepted this year. There's always Lent Madness 2014 or Lent Madness 2029.
This year's bracket was formed with input from the Celebrity Bloggers and a Ouija Board (with the Holy Spirit hanging around behind the scenes). But for next year we decided to open the nominations to everybody. Don't worry, the SEC is not suddenly becoming a democratic institution -- the only time democracy rears its ugly head in Lent Madness is during the actual voting. Still, there may well be saints we didn't think of (hard to fathom) or a particular pairing that is worthy of the madness.
We're also considering two or three pre-Lenten play-in match-ups to keep things interesting and whet everyone's voting whistle in the waning days of the Season after the Epiphany.
As you discern saints to nominate, please keep in mind that a number of saints are ineligible for next year’s "saintly smack down." This includes the entire field of Lent Madness 2012 and those saints who made it to the Round of the Elate Eight in 2010 and 2011. Here is a comprehensive list of ineligible saints. Please keep this in mind as you submit your nominations.
The field from 2012:
Joan of Arc
Lancelot Andrewes
Mary Magdalene
Augustine of Hippo
Monnica
Evelyn Underhill
Nicholas
Margaret of Scotland
William Temple
James Lloyd Breck
John Cassian
Thomas the Apostle
Enmegahbowh
David Oakerhater
Martin of Porres
Thomas Cranmer
William Law
Columba
Catherine of Siena
Emma of Hawaii
Paul of Tarsus
Theodore of Tarsus
Rose of Lima
Brigid of Kildare
James the Apostle
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Thomas Merton
Philander Chase
Jerome
John Patteson
From 2010 & 2011:
Aelred
Francis of Assisi
Julian of Norwich
Peter
Theresa of Avila
Hildegard of Bingen
George Herbert
John Chrysostom
Polycarp
C.S. Lewis
Clare of Assisi
William Tyndale
Thomas Beckett
Constance
Perpetua
Vincent of Saragossa
184 comments on “2013 Bracket -- Accepting Nominations!”
Florence Li Tim-Oi
We propose a paradigm shift. Instead of existing Saints, what about a bracket consisting solely of POTENTIAL saints, such as Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa, etc.? This idea would allow us to investigate the living as well as the dead and to learn about a wide variety of kind people who sacrificed for others or for the church.
This guy:
http://www.theworld.org/2012/04/chaplain-kapaun-sainthood/
I would like to nominate Jeremy Taylor who lived from 8/15/1613 to 8/19, 1667. Very interesting man
[...] mention of fictional saints over at the Lent Madness 2013 bracket nomination thread reminded me of my favorite fictional saint, whose story was eloquently told by Christopher Stasheff [...]
St. Patrick
Martin Luther King
Joseph of Aramethea
All deserving of the Golden Halo!!!!
I like St. Dymphna and Elizabeth of Hungary.
How 'bout John of the Cross, C.S. Lewis, Maximilian Kolbe, and/or Dorothy Day?
C.S. Lewis won the Golden Halo in 2011 -- see list above . . . .
Oops! I missed that! And I thought I had read through pretty thoroughly. Time to put the bifocals on?
John and/or Charles Wesley
Moses of Ethiopia
Absalom Jones
I'd also add Oscar Romero, but I might throw a fit if he lost.
Alphege
Archbishop of Canterbury, and Martyr, 1012
Did I already nominate St. Drogo? if not, consider it done.
I would like to nominate Cardinal Newman and Henri Nouwen.
Nominations: Isabel Florence Hopgood, Frances Joseph Gaudet, Samuel Ajayi Crowther, Florence Li Tim-Oi, James Theodore Holly, Francis Perkins, Julia Chester Emery.
I nominate St. Jude because“No lost cause is too lost”. FYI St. Jude bath crystals are available from The Lucky Mojo Curio Co. I also nominate Philip Neri the patron saint of taking yourself less seriously. His official prayer from Catholic.org: “Saint Philip Neri, we take ourselves far too seriously most of the time. Help us to add humor to our perspective -- remembering always that humor is a gift from God. Amen.” Or Genesius of Rome who is the patron saint of comedians, clowns and lawyers. Hmmm…
I always got a kick out of Teresa of Avila's sense of humor. She's reported to have prayed -- during a particularly difficult period -- "Lord, if this is how you treat your friends, it's no wonder you have so few of them."
What a jewel 🙂 Thanks Katherine!
I would like to nominate Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria.
J.S, Bach, John Donne,
Please consider --
Roger Williams: founder of Rhode Island, Baptist for a time, seeker, and restless spirit.
John Bunyan: "Pilgrim's Progress".
Cyprian of Carthage: leader in a time of trouble; martyr.
I recommend:
St. Charbel of Annaya,
Please consider Peter Ronald Bentley Henery (1911-1999) A Christian man who lived his faith, a Christian enabler.
I support the nominations of OSCAR ROMERO, HENRY NOUWEN, and JONATHAN DANIELS.
I too would like to nominate Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a true Christian voice for truth in a time of madness, and apparently (like all the other saints!) an imperfect human being whom God used for a great purpose.
Also Roger Williams--just read an article about him, what he did was amazing! True religious freedom/freedom of conscience when everybody else was all about doing things their way & forcing everyone else to conform (we seem to be getting back to that now--aaaghhhh!)