Although not technically a Celebrity Blogger, we are using the term "Celebrity Blogger Week" to highlight all the members of the Lent Madness Team. Maria is our Resident Foodie whose recipes, or Saintly Sprinkles, can be found in the Saintly Scorecard: The Definitive Guide to Lent Madness 2016.
What's that you say? You haven't yet ordered your copy? Act now -- they've sold out the last couple of years. Don't be the only Lent Madness fan on your block without one. It will make you feel marginalized. And hopeless.
Maria Nolletti Ross, Lent Madness Resident Foodie, is a member of Church of the Servant Episcopal Church in Wilmington, North Carolina, where she serves in the Wilmington Faiths Against Gun Violence, Youth Group, and Communion Bread Baking Team. She’s a year one student in the Education for Ministry program and in a group that meets in participants’ homes on a rotating basis. Therefore, she’s resolved to spend more time cleaning her house which she shares with her husband, daughter, visiting college son, a geriatric miracle cat, two teenage cats, and fish galore. She invites you to follow along with her as she studies the lives of the saints, uncovers their modern-day messages, and cooks up related recipes on her blog Saints and Recipes. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram (marianollettiross) and check out her Saints and Recipes Facebook page.
1. Since being named a Celebrity Blogger is obviously your greatest lifetime achievement, how will you handle the inevitable post-Lenten letdown?
I will plant tomato, basil, and sunflower seeds. And I will water them with my tears.
2. What is the single strangest thing you’ve learned about one of your assigned saints?
I am intrigued by the trend in which most of the saints honor and pray to previous saints for intercession. The devout humility of this act is a significant ingredient in saintworthiness. For example, St. Bernadette of Lourdes mostly prayed directly to Jesus or with the Blessed Mother Mary. But sometimes when her suffering overwhelmed her, she’d ask her beloved St. Joseph to, “Help me pray!” I love how she turned to the quietest of all saints for help in finding her words.
(Speaking of which, influenced by St. Joseph, I will campaign for him in a relatively quiet manner. If he doesn’t win that which all saints after him know he deserves mostest of all, I promise to handle his defeat with quiet, dignity, and grace. #holyfamily)
3. What is your favorite saint-inspired food and why?
St. Francis of Assisi inspired my love of the significance of bread – it’s served as alms to the poor, shared in friendship and trust, and gifted to us by Jesus Christ in Love. St. Francis adored Communion bread and honored deeply those whom were charged with its care and service. Plus, bread is as versatile as faith and is mostly yummy most of the time.
4. Besides Lent Madness, what do you most look forward to during the season of Lent?
Wearing lots o’ purple! It’s the color associated with St. Michael the Archangel and the crown chakra. Purple is a powerful spiritual color AND it’s in my color wheel.