In the final battle of a week filled with saintly thrills and spills, Balthazar squares off against Cecilia. And you, yes YOU, get to decide whether to vote against Christmas pageants or against church choirs. So good luck with that. Actually, both saints have inspired many people over the generations -- from those who love frankincense, to those who are allergic to it; from those with melodic voices to the tone deaf.
Yesterday's hotly contested battle between Egeria and Hildegard of Bingen ended with the bracket-busting Egeria edging out Hildegard by the slimmest of margins, 51% to 49%. With almost 6,800 votes cast, Egeria prevailed by less than 140. See, your (single) vote counts!
While we've had our share of nail biters over the years, this ranks up there and was the first truly close battle of Lent Madness 2015. And the comments. The comments! We set a record for most comments ever with nearly 370. Kudos to the commenters!
Balthazar
The story of the Three Wise Men is a beloved part of Christmas crèches and pageants, albeit exercising a bit of editorial license. In Matthew’s Gospel, the text only says that sages and magi traveled from the East to find the infant King — not how many there were or what their names were.
Nonetheless, over time, tradition has narrowed the number of the Eastern travelers down to three and assigned them names — one of which is Balthazar. (In many medieval depictions of the Wise Men, Balthazar is depicted as a young African man). Aside from his presence in Matthew’s story, we don’t know much about Balthazar. He’s a mysterious figure, along with Melchior and Caspar, the other two kings named by tradition. The story goes that they brought frankincense, myrrh, and gold to the baby, carried all the way from the distant lands of Africa, Asia, and Europe.The kings were warned in a dream not to return to the genocidal King Herod, so they headed for home by a different path.
At some point, Balthazar and the other kings were martyred and buried, but we aren’t quite sure where. The explorer Marco Polo thought they were near Tehran, while Saint Helena thought she had found them in Palestine, along with the true cross, and brought everything with her to be enshrined at the Hagia Sophia. When Constantinople fell, the kings were moved to Milan, then Germany. You can now see what are believed to be Balthazar’s bones at a cathedral in Cologne, Germany.
But here is where the story gets really good.
It’s easy to dismiss Balthazar’s story as medieval hagiographic fan fiction. Yet alongside these Western Christian stories ran traditions from within Ethiopia and within Central and Southeast Asia, which traced their Christianity back to the return from Bethlehem of theWise Men. In 1243, Sempad, the elder brother of the Armenian king wrote a letter to his sister, Queen Stephanie of Cyprus, saying “Tanchat [Tangut, or Western Xia], which is the land from whence came the Three Kings to Bethlem [sic] to worship the Lord Jesus which was born. And know that the power of Christ has been, and is, so great, that the people of that land are Christians; and the whole land of Chata [Khitai, or Kara-Khitai] believes those Three Kings. I have myself been in their churches and have seen pictures of Jesus Christ and the Three Kings, one offering gold, the second frankincense, and the third myrrh. And it is through those Three Kings that they believe in Christ, and that the Chan and his people have now become Christians.”
At the time of Christ, the trade routes of present-day India, China, Egypt, and Ethiopia, all flowed through Jerusalem, so it’s not unreasonable to imagine that a curious young trader heard of an unusual baby, grabbed some friends, and decided to go investigate.
What is clear, however, is that his investigations, and the fruit of his travels, changed the world.
Collect for Balthazaar
Lord God, you set the stars in motion and give us wisdom. Bless us this day with the curiosity of Balthazar, that we would seek your will and know your ways, even as those signs pointing toward them would lead us over and beyond the horizons of familiarity. Make us restless to seek your face and your kingdom, knowing that resting in your knowledge and love is to truly come home. Bless all those who travel, and all those who seek the truth as part of their journey. Amen.
Cecilia
Cecilia is the patron saint of singers, musicians, and poets. She was martyred in Rome in the third century. Finding historically factual information regarding her life is a real heartbreaker and can shake the confidence of even the most devoted researcher.
Nevertheless, it is believed that Cecilia was born into nobility and privilege. She was a woman of strong faith and was credited with converting four hundred people. She was married to a pagan named Valerian. With Cecilia’s faith as a living example, Valerian and his brother Tiburtius, along with Maximus, a Roman soldier, were converted. After their baptism, the two brothers devoted themselves to burying the martyrs who were being slain daily. In about 230 CE, the brothers were arrested for practicing their faith. They were executed—and while she was burying her husband and brother-in-law, Cecilia was arrested.
There were several unsuccessful efforts to slay Cecilia, including stabbing, suffocation, and attempts at beheading, but she clung to life. After three days, she died as a result of the injuries.
Many reports tell of Cecilia’s courage and unfailing faith, revealing that she sang praises to God throughout her torment and slow death, hence her musical connection.
Cecilia is among the most famous and honored of the Roman martyrs. Since at least the fifth century, a church named in her honor has been located on the site of ruins believed to have been her home.
Cecilia is widely depicted in art, from paintings and sculptures to stained glass and mosaics and of course, music. Musical works by the greats — Handel, Purcell, Gounod, and Britten, and even contemporary artists such as Paul Simon, The Andrews Sisters, and Blue Oyster Cult, draw on Cecilia’s life and legacy as part of their own expressions. John Dryden, Alexander Pope, and W. H. Auden are among the great poets whose works honor Cecilia. Musical societies and choirs are also frequently named in her honor, including the National Academy of Saint Cecilia. In some places, concerts are presented on her feast day, which is November 22.
Collect for Cecilia
Most gracious God, whose blessed martyr Cecilia sang in her heart to strengthen her witness to you: We give you thanks for the makers of music whom you have gifted with Pentecostal fire; and we pray that we may join with them in creation’s song of praise until at the last, with Cecilia and all your saints, we come to share in the song of those redeemed by our Savior Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
-- Neva Rae Fox
Vote!
[poll id="120"]
225 comments on “Balthazar vs. Cecilia”
"Cecelia, your breaking my heart, you're shaking my confidence daily"
I'm voting Balthazaar, it's about the Collect.
Balthazar.
Can't, as some have said, say that the Maji/Wise Men/Sages were not real, I think they were. However, the name was made up somewhere in the depths of time long after the visit. By vote goes to Cecelia a true matter of the faith.
I've often wanted to choke the church organist, so as penance, I voted for Cecelia.
LOL
I've wanted to choke the off-key person who stood behind me in choir but I never got the chance. Dang. But still unrepentant, I voted for Balthazar. Neener neener.
David, your comment made me laugh out loud! I shall always fondly remember an organist (location, name withheld) who started to play the organ during the rector's sermon. It is quite a long story, but remember the near riot it caused, even though I was about 12 at the time.
Easy choice today.
While I admire the wise man who sought out Our Savior, I have to do with Cecilia.
I am a singer, but I am inspired by her faith in action.
Any woman who can convert her husband and brother-in-law impresses me.
But and woman who continues to praise God while being stabbed, suffocated and beheaded has my vote!!!!!
Well, music lost out yesterday when Egeria trumped Hildegard. Where would be without music -- in the liturgy and in the world. My vote goes to St. Cecelia!
Tough choice today. Both outstanding saints. Had to vote for St. Cecilia.
My birthday is the same as the Feast Day of St. Cecilia (Nov. 22nd), and I am a professional musician. Whom do you think I voted?
These words by W.H Auden say it all. If you've never heard the Britten setting, listen now, and be inspired to vote for the blessed Cecilia...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGyB7_2RnS4
My vote goes to Cecilia.
"In a garden shady this holy lady
With reverent cadence and subtle psalm,
Like a black swan as death came on
Poured forth her song in perfect calm:
And by ocean's margin this innocent virgin
Constructed an organ to enlarge her prayer,
And notes tremendous from her great engine
Thundered out on the Roman air.
Blonde Aphrodite rose up excited,
Moved to delight by the melody,
White as an orchid she rode quite naked
In an oyster shell on top of the sea;
At sounds so entrancing the angels dancing
Came out of their trance into time again,
And around the wicked in Hell's abysses
The huge flame flickered and eased their pain.
****
Blessed Cecilia, appear in visions
To all musicians, appear and inspire:
Translated Daughter, come down and startle
Composing mortals with immortal fire."
Wow, that's wonderful! Thanks for posting it.....
One of my favorite pieces by Britten! As a life-long church musician (singer since I was 3), I had to vote for Cecilia today and Hildegard yesterday. Both votes seemed to me to be a moral imperative.
Against almost anyone else, I'd have voted for Balthazaar, but I've sung in too many church choirs not to vote for Cecilia.
Poor SEC: the electrons are against you. Good luck getting it fixed; I am not sure even this comment will work. But, FWIW: yesterday I could not vote for BOTH the musician and the chronicler, so today I vote for the musician. None of the 3 kings stack up well against other saints, I'm afraid!
We three kings of Orient are...
Cecilia because 1)there's more evidence that she actually lived, 2) she was martyred, and 3) I love music, especially the late 16th century's greatest hits.
"...is a real heartbreaker and can shake the confidence of even the most devoted researcher."
I see what you did there. I see it, and I like it.
As between the two, Cecilia's legends at least accrete around an actual person. Balthazar, on the other hand, seems himself to be a symbolic accretion around persons, known to Scripture only as an indefinite group, who may themselves be legendary. A personification of a concept, in other words. For me that should disqualify him from brackethood. If he actually won the Halo, it might dissolve into a miasma -- imagine the consternation that would create at the Awards Ceremony!
Besides, in my comparative youth I sang with the Boston Cecelia and will never forget doing Benjamin Britten's setting of the Auden text kindly provided by Sudie Blanchard.
Casting a vote for Balthazaar, a sage of curiosity, vision and perseverance.
What about James Taylor and Home By Another Way? Go Balthazar..
Same continuing server problems, SEC. I voted ,but my computer is stuck in limboland. Ceceilia gets my vote even though I could not carry a tune in a large bucket.
Easy to vote for someone who probably existed over someone who is clearly the figment of the imagination
Thank Heaven for now-working servers!
I do love incense, but I knew I would vote for Cecilia from the beginning. I sang in St. Cecilia's Choir as a child, but more importantly, my mother, Cecilia, was named for her (using the Latin spelling, with two i's), and, while she would bristle at being called saintly, she certainly was a woman of strong faith, courage, and perseverance. And so, to honor my mother as well as the music of the Church, I raise my glass to (and cast my vote for) St. Cecilia!
Tried to vote this morning and couldn't-glad you're back up and running.
Had to vote for Cecelia as I love to sing.
Balthazaar - as a Zoroastrian he would have held dogs in high esteem, as do I. I live with many dogs at Sanctuary House and am currently writing a book about them, so had to go with the wise man!
I was pretty sure I would vote for Cecilia, but after reading the bios, I decided to support the underdog and man of mystery. I'm quite sure he'll lose, but I'm happy to give Balthazaar one more point on his way out.
I was SO GRATEFUL that Lent Madness has a Facebook page and to be able to follow what was going on while the site was down. If there's an app that counts ATTEMPTED sign-ons, I'll bet LM has maxed out to number 1.
See you Monday.
My confirmation name is Cecilia, as I was an aspiring pianist, and it was my grandmother's confirmation name, too. And the Simon and Garfunkel song rocks, so there's that.
I have celebrated three Kings Night in Venezuela and Puerto Rico, a lovely tradition involving children roller skating for hours and, of course, candy and gifts. Balthazar for me!
To the SEC: no blaming during Lent for blizzards and breakdowns beyond your control. Absolve, absolve!
"Bless all those who travel, and all those who seek the truth as part of their journey." - To seek the truth is the ultimate journey! Balthazar it is.
There is a good overview of the multiplicity of pious traditions concerning the Magi, their number, names, places of origin, further adventures and eventual demises at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Magi. Cecelia, despite the incompleteness of her CV, has the great advantage of having apparently been a real, identifiable person.
The many, many points of connection between my faith journey and music, learning to sing well, singing with choirs of several different denominations (and also the local Jewish synagogue when our friends were in Bar- and Bat-Mitzvah time), and how music led into other life paths and relationships, all lead me to vote for Cecilia. The "this is a brutal choice" piece for me in today's match-up is my memory of preparing and ultimately singing with two extraordinary gentlemen the Journey of the Magi canticle by Benjamin Britten -- a musical and spiritual high point. And so Balthazaar and his traveling companions pull on my heart. In the end, gratitude for the numerous church musicians I have been blessed to know, and agreement with the sense that God's vocalization is singing, clinches the deal for Cecilia. Or so it seems to me.
As a musician and music teacher I had to vote for Cecilia - but my heart is with Balthazar! That collect!