It's hard to believe but we are now officially halfway through the Round of the Saintly Sixteen. Four more battles and we're on to the Elate Eight. But let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet. To savor each day and immerse ourselves in the match-up at hand is part of the Lent Madness discipline. Speaking of which, we really do need to update the Ash Wednesday liturgy's "Invitation to a Holy Lent" to read:
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; by reading and meditating on God's holy Word; and by participating in Lent Madness.
But we digress. Today it's the Biblical vs. the Mystical as Lydia takes on John of the Cross.
Yesterday Anna Cooper shocked the G-clef off J.S. Bach 54% to 46% to advance to the Elate Eight. She'll face the winner of Thomas Merton vs. Charles Wesley. We also learned of the impending cross-marketing deal between McDonald's and Lent Madness that perhaps fell under the "Fool for Christ" heading.
And finally, you may have been rudely roused from your dreams this morning by a story about Lent Madness on National Public Radio. We apologize.
Lydia
St. Lydia Thyatira appears only twice in the Biblical text, but her impact is much larger.
As the first European convert to Christianity, she was baptized by Paul right after he came to Philippi, and there, she started a church in her own household. Early church planter, that's Lydia! She starts the community that will grow into the church at Philippi, and receive the famous letter from Paul.
This is a big deal, scholars opine, not only because it indicates that Lydia was clearly calling all the shots for her household, and established one of the first Christian communities in Europe, but also because of what it means for gender roles in the early church: men and women were called, men and women were baptized, and men and women led in ministry. And after his release from prison, Paul and Silas headed right back to Lydia's house. It served as a de facto home base the entire time they were in Philippi.
It also indicates that Lydia, who had amassed quite a fortune as a dyer, had decided to dedicate her considerable financial resources to Paul and his work. This would be why she is now invoked as the patron saint of dyers, and all fabric workers, and a good thing, too. Obtaining the purple dye for which the city of Thytira was known required the patience of a saint all by itself.
Purple dye came from a particular secretion from the spiny dye-murex, a sort of carnivorous sea snail. (Yes, such a thing exists). You obtained it in one of two ways: either you 'milked' the sea snail and poked the thing until it spat purple goo at you, or you gathered a lot of them together and crushed them into a mass of purple goo. And even then, twelve thousand snails yields only enough dye for the hem of a single garment, which is why purple was reserved for the very rich, for emperors. (This is also why the Church adopted purple for the Lenten array -- to emphasize the kingship of Christ. Sorry, snails).
To this day, no one has managed to recreate the special sort of Thyatiran purple exactly as it was back then. The exact recipe is lost to history. But Lydia's legacy of leadership, ministry, and giving nothing less than her best to Christ endures.
John of the Cross
If you’ve ever endured debilitating periods of loneliness and despair in your life of faith, you have a loving companion in Saint John of the Cross. John of the Cross, a sixteenth-century Spanish mystic, wrote about such experiences in his popular and well-regarded books, The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night of the Soul, both of which he wrote while being imprisoned by his fellow friars. John explained that the journey toward union with God necessitated detaching from self and the world. Noting that often times this process felt excruciating and ripe with loss, dejection, and uncertainty, John encouraged believers to remember that God had not abandoned them. As he said,
Faith is a dark night for man, but in this very way it gives him light...God sustains every soul and dwells in it substantially, even though it be that of the greatest sinner in the world, and this union is natural. The supernatural union exists when God’s will and the soul’s will are in conformity. Therefore the soul rests transformed in God through love.
Although John wrote most of his works in his mid-thirties, he had long been a person of deep compassion and faith. When he was 14, he served as a caregiver to hospital patients suffering from mental or terminal illnesses. Doing so helped him realize the richness of life with God and the futility of finding happiness in worldly possessions. For John, happiness was circumstantial, but joy was eternal and rooted in God’s love. He likened someone who settled for happiness alone to a “famished person who opens his mouth to satisfy himself with air.”
John’s works and humble life have influenced people for generations, including fellow Lent Madness competitor Thomas Merton, who wrote about John’s influence in his well-regarded Seven Story Mountain. John’s Dark Night also found voice in the work of T.S. Eliot, who expressed the sentiment of John’s works through poetry:
To arrive where you are, to get from you are not,
You must go by a way in which there is no ecstasy.
In order to arrive at what you do not know
You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.
In order to possess what you do not possess
You must go by the way of dispossession.
In order to arrive at what you are no
You must go through the way in which you are not.
John’s life of love, poverty, and selflessness reminds us of the joy of seeking Christ and the eternal love of God that always enfolds us –- no matter what we feel or endure.
-- Maria Kane
Vote!
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150 comments on “Lydia vs. John of the Cross”
P.S. Congrats on the Golden Halo the SEC received today ... a story on NPR! Let's see how celebrity influences the future.
I enjoyed the NPR link, but wasn't it Charles Wesley, not John, who wrote all the hymns?
That's exactly what I said!
I have to go along with Lydia because she also has been made famous by Groucho the Great in the lyrics of his chant "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Heard that interview on NPR this morning!! Way to go! Only one question, I thought, and I may remember this wrong, but thought I heard some on who just learned about John Wesley and that he wrote some 6,000 or more hymns, and here all these years (a fair percentage as a Methodist) I thought it was Charles that was the author of great numbers of hymns. Hmmmmmm! I'm voting for St John of the Cross.
Right you are. And I hope that nice 12-year old learned something about Catherine of Siena in addition to the fact that she was some kind of nun!
Yep can't handle the snail thing. Can't imagine poking a living bring to make a pretty color.
My grandfather was a master dyer, both in Kidderminster, England, and later for early Mohawk Carpets in Amsterdam NY. Lydia's my choice, for sure!
Had to choose Lydia. It is a little known story but certainly shows the place of women in the early Church.
Just loved the story on NPR. (It was about time)
Oh purple schmurple !!!!! I like purple too but you won't see me killing innocent harmless creatures for it. Sheeeeesh.
After re-reading the original bios & today's information, like so many of you I am finding this another difficult choice. Interesting comments from everyone and I have given lots of thought and prayed and finally have come to the decision to vote for John of The Cross. At our Bible Study this morning we talked a great deal about our feelings where God and Jesus are concerned and know Johns love for them, I find that my vote needs to be for John. Nothing against Lydia, but John it is.
Loved the NPR interview and have printed the text off for future reference. I am hoping to bring Lent Madness to Grace Church in Bath, ME next year. My parish pries and several of my friends are 100% behind the idea.
Lydia was a wealthy lady who used God's creation (snails!) for her own personal gain - which is probably what gave her the means to start a church. Just sayin'.
John is the complete saintly package.
"To this day, no one has managed to recreate the special sort of Thyatiran purple exactly as it was back then." Please note that several people have recreated the dye using snails by the old method. Also, the color is mainly due to a compound whose structure is known (6,6′-dibromoindigo) and which has been synthesized in the lab so no more snails need to die/dye. In my dark times, remembering someone who helped build up the church in spite of possible persecution (and maybe wore purple) is still a more uplifting reminder of G-d's good work on earth - going for Lydia.
As a costume designer, and someone who has often had my hands stained with colors from the dye pot, I'll go with Lydia as a planter of the church, even though John's story is compelling.
BUT, on to an absolute heresy that was perpetrated upon listeners of NPR this morning. I too was awakened to the story about Lent Madness and was Shocked, Shocked I tell you not to hear any credit given to Scott Gunn! (or was I still sleeping?)
surprise surprise, the woman wins again.
This was, for me, the hardest vote to date. I could easily have gone either way. Read the comments, re-read the bios. Voted for Lydia, as I expected she would be the underdog, but SO impressed that it WAS probably her household and her that received Paul's letter to the Philippians (my favorite Pauline letter). That had never occurred to me before. Thank you Lent Madness.
BTW, Vote Catherine of Siena tomorrow! She was a Lay Dominican (not a nun)--my Dominican patron.
Whoa there girl, let's leave the voting, or the suggestions pertaining thereto, for tomorrow which is 3 hours, 46 minutes away(here in Michigan anyway). "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof"..
Hi Aleathia,
Madeleine here, no I am not mad at you, remember that I too like Eddie Murphy and his spin on Fred Rogers! I think they should go after the golden halo as a duo. I can just see them both smiling, arm-in-arm, wearing golden haloes, with a nice background faintly reminiscent of the Mona Lisa. Ahh, art.
Another tough choice. I had to with Lydia because I had an aunt Lydia Liefeld and grandmother Lydia Link!
I had to go with Lydia because of two Lydias in my family
As a lover of fabrics, art, and color I enjoy the banter about the snails. It's a good thing then that in the Eastern world a plant based purple dye was found and popularized. Squishing or milking snails sounds just awful. My vote goes to Lydia for her example in the community and for not just talking her faith but backing it up with all her resources,which in that time had to take considerable courage.
Dcn Lisa: I too am a lover of fabric art, and Lydia (the purple maker) has always spoken to me as a strong women of the bible. A woman before her time; before it was common for a woman to be a leader in her community, much less in the church. I agree she showed incredible courage in leading by example. Lydia is one of my heroes of the bible.
I couldn't vote to Lydia - was afraid I would set myself up for buying a LM mug with a picture of a squshed snail on it... and just cannot stomach that. John is so inspiring!
It was tough, but I do speak Spanish, so Juan de la Cruz had to get my vote. Besides as an Episcopalian, I try to take the Bible seriously without always taking it literally. Not that that has anything to with any of this.
John of the Cross got me through my own "dark night of the soul" and for that I'll be forever grateful.
periwinkle tinkle stink
-- I remember that as part of +Susan's sermon contrasting two images of this cypher of a woman. Why was she at that riverside? Because unwelcome in close company? Recall Simon the tanner (Acts 9:43) I like my saints in debased, not exalted circumstances. I vote for that Lydia. The one stained, not dressed, in purple. John is a cypher of many words. Best one of few.
Because I'm a therapist who deals with those in places of emotional and spiritual turmoil--and because I'm a little discomfited by the notion that men are being overlooked for being men, despite the profound impacts they've had on the world--I'm going with John of the Cross. Those who live in solidarity with the poor always seem saintlier to me.
Hi Bob,
I tried to Google " periwinkle tinkle stink" and the closest thing I found was a website for nail polish. I don't think that was what you were referring to.....care to shed some light on this? 🙂
A sainted tradeswoman named Lydia
Whose townsmen said "Glad to be rid o' ya"
In need of deodorant
Met an itinerant
Named Paul whom she showed no perfidy. Ya!
As for the tongue twister -- I was trying to recall a Naked Archaeologist episode about making Tyrian purple -- from a Murex snail, I've since found out -- not a periwinkle, which is what someone told me I was actually eating when I ordered snail salad in Warwick RI.
Just to keep things up-to-date — it was discovered that, when the snail supply was getting pitifully small, there was a way to remove the purple without crushing the little guy and he was returned to the sea to purple again. Archeologists have ezamples of murex snail shells that were tapped for their purple two and three times, at least.
If Lydia wasn't running against John of the Cross, i would have voted for her.
However, -my Confirmation name is Theresa (of Avila), and my pet name for my husband is John (of the Cross). Theresa and John were spiritual soul-mates, so i had to vote for John for personal and sentimental reasons.
I just wanted to mention there is an icon in Gravity. Who is it? And I love being Episcopal. And I love the different images included in Lentmadness. They might help me decide my votes.
Thanks Bob, for both the clarification and the chuckle!
Good night y'all.
Where's the collect?
Collects given in initial round of 32. Click BRACKETS tab to get there.
Agreed (voting FOR Anna). Fortunately for me, I have yet to attend an Episcopal Church with "follow the bouncing ball" on a screen for music. Don't forget: this is called Lent MADNESS.
I voted for Lydia, not out of feminist "a woman at all costs!" rigidity but because she played a vital role in the foundation of the faith. I appreciate St. John of the Cross' contributions, but without the earliest saints, he might never have developed the deep faith that has inspired those who came after him.