Holy Blowout Week continued yesterday as Benedict took Anne to the (holy vestment) cleaners. Today, features the long-anticipated match-up between Big Pineapple and Big Lobster as the Hawaiian Damien of Molokai takes on the Mainer Frances Perkins. Can the Hawaii lobby do for Damien what it did for Queen Emma last year? Last year's Lent Madness cinderella, Emma, rode the wave all the way to the finals. Will Damien have a similar run or will he be pounded into the surf by Frances?
In other news, the Supreme Executive Committee answered some critics even as they prepare to co-lead a workshop today titled "Stealth Christian Formation" at the CEEP conference in San Diego. They're amazing multi-taskers (with enough coffee and a deadline).
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Damien of Molokai
Jozef de Veuster was born to a Flemish corn merchant in 1840. His fondest dream was to be a missionary-priest like his hero, St. Francis Xavier, but his teachers thought he was unintelligent and delayed his ordination. Finally, he was ordained, taking the name Damien and was eventually sent overseas, taking the place of his brother, who had fallen ill.
He arrived in the kingdom of Hawaii on March 19, 1864, and was assigned initially to his order’s mission on Oahu. But Damien had landed in a community struggling with the effects of colonialism, including foreign diseases to which Hawaiians had no immunity. One of these was leprosy, and in 1865, the kingdom’s government set up quarantines for the afflicted on the island of Molokai, fearing a complete epidemic.
The government’s plan was for the lepers’ colonies to grow their own food and to be largely self-sustaining. This plan had some major logic-holes in it, however, and after a while, it became clear to the local bishop that the people were in trouble. A priest was needed in Molokai but he was reluctant to assign anyone fearing the assignment would be tantamount to a death sentence.
After much prayer, in 1873, Damien volunteered. In May, he arrived in Molokai, and promptly set to work. He lived as one of the people. He set up a church, schools, and farms. He tended gardens and built houses. He organized activities and choirs for the living. He built coffins and dug graves for the dying. When his agreed-upon time was up, the lepers and Fr. Damien went to the bishop, and asked if he could remain with them. The bishop agreed, and Fr. Damien stayed on.
Six months after his arrival on Molokai, Damien wrote back to his brother in Belgium, “I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ.” His words turned out to be prescient. In 1884 he was diagnosed with the disease himself and died on Molokai in April, 1889.
After his death, his fame spread. After being attacked by an anti-Catholic Presbyterian minister, Robert Louis Stevenson (yes, that Robert Louis Stevenson) wrote an open letter defending him, and no less than Mahatma Ghandi claimed Fr. Damien as an inspiration for his work with the outcast. He was made a saint in the Roman church in October of 2009.
Collect for Damien of Molokai
God of compassion, we bless your Name for the ministries of Damien [and Marianne,] who ministered to the lepers abandoned on Molokai in the Hawaiian Islands. Help us, following their examples, to be bold and loving in confronting the incurable plagues of our time, that your people may live in health and hope; through Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Frances Perkins
Born in Boston in 1880 with roots in Maine, Frances Perkins studied at Mount Holyoke College and completed a masters degree in economics and sociology at Columbia University. While working as a young woman in Chicago, she was drawn to the Episcopal Church and confirmed in 1905.
At 31, working for the Factory Investigation Commission in New York City, she witnessed the Triangle Shirtwaist fire that resulted in the death of 146 people, primarily young women factory workers. Perkins often said later, “The New Deal was born on March 25, 1911.” That experience galvanized her career as an advocate for workers. At a time when few women enjoyed a professional career after marriage and children, Perkins was spurred in her career by the emergence of her husband’s mental illness and his inability to earn an income. As the mother of a young daughter, she understood on a deep personal level the importance of work and the urgency of supporting a family.
In 1918, New York Governor Al Smith invited her serve in his administration and, with the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt to governor in 1928, she was named Commissioner of Labor. When he was elected to the presidency in 1932, Roosevelt asked Perkins to serve as his Secretary of Labor, the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet and the longest-serving cabinet member in U.S. history.
Roosevelt called her “the cornerstone of his administration” for her tireless work in gaining passage of the Social Security Act of 1935 and the Fair Labor Standards of 1938 which established the minimum wage and prohibited child labor in most workplaces. Other New Deal efforts championed by Perkins included the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), unemployment insurance, a shorter work week, and worker safety regulations.
She has been called Roosevelt’s moral conscience. Donn Mitchell, in his 2010 profile of Frances Perkins published at www.AnglicanExaminer.com, “Architect of the Gracious Society,” suggests she was the “most overtly religious and theologically articulate member of the New Deal team.” Throughout her 12 years as Secretary she took a monthly retreat with the Episcopal order of All Saints’ Sisters of the Poor, with whom she was a lay associate
“I came to Washington to serve God, FDR, and millions of forgotten, plain common workingmen,” she said. Her theology of generosity informed her professional life and, in turn, transformed the lives of millions of Americans.
She remained active in teaching, social justice advocacy, and in the mission of the Episcopal Church until her death in 1965.
Collect for Frances Perkins
Loving God, whose Name is blest for Frances Perkins, who lived out her belief that the special vocation of the laity is to conduct the secular affairs of society that all may be maintained in health and decency: Help us, following her example, to contend tirelessly for justice and for the protection of all in need, that we may be faithful followers of Jesus Christ; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-- Heidi Shott
UPDATE: At 2:06 a.m. EST, the SEC noticed some irregular voting in this contest. About 200 votes were cast from one address in Arizona on behalf of Damien. Those votes have been deleted, and the address has been banned.
Vote!
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177 comments on “Damien of Molokai vs. Frances Perkins”
I have to go with Frances. How to live a life grounded in faith and action seems so relevant today.
I'm going pineapple over lobster today (never enough meat on lobsters anyway and to order two just seems indecent). What Perkins did protecting child laborers and establishing minimum wage was so important, and mayeven have trumped Damien's decision to go to Molokai. But then he asked for more; he asked to stay, eventually contracting the disease himself. As the Ward Superiod for the Blessed Constance and her companions chapter of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, I hear Constance's story echo Damien's and so cast my vote for the Hawaiian leper missionary.
Wow. This is a tough call.....I'm glad to see others struggled too. Damien is a model of commitment and giving; Perkins a model for making Christianity matter in the world. I initially thought I would vote for Damien but find myself drawn to Perkins. Thanks for letting us know more about two incredible folks.
This one is really, really hard ... Even though I knew whom I had chosen for my bracket, I still wavered this morning. Damien a model for Gandhi? Oh, my. Frances watching out for millions during the worst economic depression this country had ever seen? Oh, my. For the sake of my bracket - I voted Frances. I shall be happy with either winner.
Looking forward to today's match-up I was fully prepared to cast my vote for Damien. The fictional book "Moloka'i" by Alan Brennert introduced me to Damien and the struggles of that community. BUT, my father was employed by the CCC and this saw the family through those very tough times. I had to go with Frances Perkins for being the force behind the food on my mother's table. Also as a displaced New Englander, I long for lobster.
What a tortured choice today -- those blasted ferrets! How to choose only one?!
A man who "built coffins and dug graves for the dying" is truly a saint, especially knowing that he lived among the lepers and knew that was the only way to minister with them, but then, there is Frances whose work has so affected my parents' lives today, and I suspect, had an impact on my grandparents' lives as well. But I think I shall go with Damien as I consider how forgotten the lepers must have felt until his arrival. That is holy work not many of us would do. But thank you, Frances. Thank you so very much.
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Both touched me, both deserve -- can we have a tie for the Golden Halo like the Academy Awards? In the end I went with Damien -- even Ghandi was inspired by him. I've always been fascinated by stories of the leper colonies. But Frances.... to work for the people, inspired by the great tragedy of the Triange Shirtwaist Fire. Tough, tough choice.
For many personal reasons, not least of all the isolation and lonliness inherent in his vocation, voting for Damien.
I only have to look at my retirement check each month and see the SS portion to know who helped make it possible. As a non-stipendiary VocDeac, I don't owe the Pension Fund any thanks but I surely do owe Frances Perkins! I worked some 40+years in classrooms of the good ole US of A for those ducats! My parents didn't fare that well due to their age so "Thanks!" Sister Frances for enabling me to eat decently, keep the heat on, and fill up the gas tank......Oh! and pay the mortgage...and make my monthly church pledge...the vestry thanks you, too, for the last one.
AMEN!!
This series is amazing ! I look forward to the scenios andenjoy the history I am learnng
“I came to Washington to serve God, FDR, and millions of forgotten, plain common workingmen,” she said. Her theology of generosity informed her professional life and, in turn, transformed the lives of millions of Americans. This phrase resonates with me as I watch how our elected officials appear to put partisanship and self interest over the well being of "plain common American men and women." Frances is an inspiration for all of us - she received my vote.
this should not even be a contest! Damien volunteered his life - literally - in a foreign land, under foreign dominion, with the dying and outcast. In contrast, Ms Perkins had it quite "easy" - well educated and the dinner guest of the Washington elite. Yes, she did use her position to do good, but she never "went to work in the 'factory." She had Roosevelt has her champion while Damian had Ghandi!
I too was struck that Damian lived in hard, hard conditions and knowingly gave his life. Frances Perkins is truly inspirational and I am so glad to know more about her. But, Damian is the saint here. Go Pineapples!
Yeah for Frances Perkins!! I was going to apply for the scholarship in her memory for older students, but didn't have the backup from my ex! but she rocks!!
If it weren't for the sequestration, I don't think I could've decided. My vote for Frances was a statement to Wash.D.C. But actually, Damien might be showing all of us an equally valid direction to go in such a world.
Voted for Damien last year, BUT reading about Frances Perkins is a revelation. (That's how Lent Madness's "serious silliness" expands awareness.)
A lay woman who lives her faith and the gospel in her daily life and work gets my vote today. And what an effect she had for millions. There are many ways to serve.
Love the deep faith of Damien, but had to go Big Lobster, because my life is so directly impacted by the work of Frances. Furthermore, I love seeing this example of a lay person doing the work and ministry Christ has called us to do.
This is the most difficult choice yet. Both are an example of Christ in the world. But in the end it was Fr. Damien's courage in the face of life threatening obstacles that swayed my vote. The courage and faith it took to volunteer, then to actually go, to choose to stay and to minister to the forgotten, is an example of all that one looks for in a Saint. Frances was a wonderful person and lived out her call to serve Christ in all persons, but my heart is with Damien (and Mother Marianne).
I agree it was an extremely difficult choice! I wound up voting for Frances however on the grounds that her example is more closely relevant for most of us participating in Lent Madness, and therefore I would like to see her advance and have another opportunity to educate us all.
One of the best match-ups so far, and a good example of The Madness: I picked Frances in my bracket (and do think she will win) but Damien's story pierces me to the heart and I voted for him.
Went with Frances today. Lay folks doing the work in the world is always a great example that all are called to be faithful wherever in their lives they might - bloom where you are planted, my mother is fond of saying. Damien, though, is an amazing, incredible example of living as Christ, being Christ, and reflecting Christ. This was a hard choice. I'm blessed to contemplate them both this day.
I respect Fr. Damien's calling but am voting for Frances Perkins for her dedication to workers.
Wonderful write-ups today; I was immediately moved by Fr. Damien's story, and voted for him with only a little hesitation. Was glad to read above about Mother Marianne, too. Although I had never heard his story before, Wikipedia says that "In the Anglican communion, as well as other denominations of Christianity, Damien is considered the spiritual patron for leprosy and outcasts." (The whole article is an interesting read, BTW: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Damien )
The Lord is glorious in his saints!
Come let us adore him.
😉
Thank you for including Marianne Cope in the collect for Damien. So few people know of this courageous American nun who took over the care of Damien's lepers when he was dying. Maybe she can be in the brackets next year.
For many personal reasons, not least because of the isolation and lonliness inherent in his vocation, voting for Damien.
. . . and I know it was the style of the day, but it's unfortunate that Frances Perkins is wearing a fox -- OK with my beagles, of course, but the cats and I are not amused.
You made me chuckle. Thank you.
Hard decision between two I greatly admire. Finally, as a social worker, had to support Frances!
Yes! It's the first day of Social Work month!
Very tough choice today, as both are so deserving. Had to go with Frances Perkins, however, since for a number of years I worked for the Labor Department in the building in DC named for her.
How AWESOME is Lent Madness! Just learned about it this year and have been very moved by the stories of these holy saints! With respect to critics of Lent Madness, loved the reply from SEC! Amen! I remember reading that Damian had to be rowed out to a ship for a Bishop to hear his confession(because others were afraid they would contact leprosy); he stood in the boat in front of everyone to recite publicly all his sins. His story of sacrifice and his humility reminds me of Paul's words: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me."
This was the first really challenging choice....went with Damien...personal sacrifice, in full knowledge of what his death would be. Frances....as a moral compass for a Presidency and a nation.....societal change on a grand level.....but already well recognized.
Each were saints in a different way. Damien chose obscurity and deep impact with few people. Frances gets the nod because she has had a tremendous, positive impact on millions. Too many believe that sainthood only means obscurity, poverty, and suffering physical harm. I hope Frances' story gets out. Yes, a saintly life can also mean living in the intersection of faith and politics. Plus, the name Damien reminds me of that creepy movie.
I think Damien's life and witness was heroic. However, once you decide to stand with the poor and outcast, there is a certain grace that holds you up. He also had a loving community that embraced him. When you slog in the trenches of bureaucracy, the slings and arrows are frequent and the awareness of your individual heroism is less clear. I vote for Frances because I think her efforts required even more faith and perseverance.
Damien! who knowingly went into harm's way and laid down his life for those outcast and 'unclean'.