Only in Lent Madness would you find a monk battling a nun across the centuries. Yet this is exactly what we have today as Constance, a 19th century American nun takes on Dominic, a 12th century Spanish monk.
Yesterday Meister Eckhart squared off against Drogo, and, sadly, it appears that the Patron Saint of Coffee entered the Lent Dome after drinking some Sanka. Eckhart handed Drogo the cup of defeat 55% to 45% and will go on to face the winner of Columba vs. Kateri Tekawitha in the Saintly Sixteen.
It may surprise you, but Lent Madness is not the only way to learn about saints. If you're interested in online Christian formation opportunities, ChurchNext is a valuable resource, with online video classes on all sorts of topics. Click here for information about a four-part video series hosted by the SEC titled "Praying with the Saints with Scott Gunn and Tim Schenck." Here's the official blurb:
In the Christian faith, the lives of exemplary Christians have inspired countless people to live more selfless and charitable lives. While a the word 'saint' can apply to any believer, as Scott Gunn and Tim Schenck explain, the term can also be applied to those who have lived particularly faithful lives. In this class, they help us understand more deeply the roles of the saints in history - and in our lives. Their lectures include: 1) What Is a Saint? 2) A History 3) How Can We Be Saints? 4) How to Pray with the Saints.
Constance
In 1981 the Anglican Communion moved to recognize a group of Episcopal nuns, the Martyrs of Memphis (or Constance and her Companions) for their heroic efforts in caring for the victims of the yellow fever epidemic of 1878.
Constance and her sisters belonged to the Order of Saint Mary. Along with eight sisters, Constance moved to Memphis, Tennessee, to establish a school. Before the new school could open for the 1873 term, an epidemic of yellow fever hit the town. Over half of the city’s residents fled. Those who remained were poor, sick, and disenfranchised. Five thousand contracted the fever, and 2,000 died. Constance and her companions were the caregivers for sixty of these patients. Because of their amazing care, only eight of their patients died. As the epidemic subsided, the sisters were finally able to open their school in 1874.
Four years later, mosquitoes descended once again on the city. Once again, people fled Memphis. Constance (along with a number of other nuns—both Roman and Anglican—several priests, a handful of doctors, and a prostitute) remained in Memphis to care for the afflicted. Records from the 1878 epidemic indicate this strain of yellow fever infected around 90 percent of the city’s population. So many people died that Memphis lost its charter as a city. It took fourteen years for the population to recover from mass casualties.
Constance and her companions were victims of the epidemic. Constance died on September 8, 1878, and is buried in the historic Elmwood Cemetery. Her last words were, “Alleluia, Hosanna.”
Collect for Constance
We give you thanks and praise, O God of compassion, for the heroic witness of Constance and her companions, who, in a time of plague and pestilence, were steadfast in their care for the sick and the dying, and loved not their own lives, even unto death: Inspire in us a like love and commitment to those in need, following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dominic
Born in Castile, Spain, in 1170, Dominic entered the priesthood at Osma. In 1206, he accompanied his bishop on a visit to an area held by a group called Albigenses. Dominic and the bishop stayed at an Albigensian inn on the first night of their trip. Dominic didn’t get much sleep. Throughout the night, Dominic conversed with the innkeeper, and when the new day dawned, the innkeeper had been converted.
This conversion was a turning point in Dominic’s life. He felt called to study this sect’s beliefs and engage in public debates comparing Christianity to Albigensian beliefs. He and the bishop made some progress, but in 1207 the bishop died and the Albigensians murdered a papal legate, a personal representative of the pope. This murder prompted the pope to declare a crusade against the Albigenses.
One of the tenets of Dominic’s life was a commitment to living in poverty. He thought an obstacle to the conversion of heretics was the material wealth of some of the clergy. With the approval of the pope, the order founded by Dominic became officially known as the Order of Preachers. They became known informally as the Dominicans or Blackfriars (because of their black habits).
Dominic was offered a bishopric and refused three times, feeling called to his work as a preacher and teacher. He died in 1220 in Bologna, Italy, after returning from one of his many preaching missions.
Collect for Dominic
God of the prophets, you opened the eyes of your servant Dominic to perceive a famine of hearing the word of the Lord, and moved him, and those he drew about him, to satisfy that hunger with sound preaching and fervent devotion: Make your Church, dear Lord, in this and every age, attentive to the hungers of the world, and quick to respond in love to those who are perishing; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[poll id="146"]
249 comments on “Constance vs. Dominic”
As a graduate of St Mary's, Peekskill, I must vote for Constance. Although the Community of St Mary no longer includes nursing, the dedication to serving was still passed on to those of us who were educated by those nuns.
Living in Memphis, I'm voting for our hometown Saint. She was ever constant and an inspiration to many by her selfless love and devotion to others.
I love that Dominic recognized wealth as an obstacle to preaching the life & words of Jesus (which have a lot to say about the value of a simple lifestyle). I had to go with Constance. Inspired me that she served in an epidemic not once but twice! Then, as many other women leaders, moved on to more good works- education. Those are the top 2 on my list - health care & education.
DebK
Something is wrong! I've participated in Lent Madness for 3 or 4 years, and love it. In the past, whomever I vote for always loses. This year I'm batting 1,000 so far. Today, I can't decide. I may have to flip a coin. Or should I go with Constance just to stay a winner?
I went for Dominic for much the same reasons others went for Constance, and which I would have, had I done so. Her sacrificial love was no less extreme than his, and in fact, because the ardors of his life were longer-lived, his were, in that way, worse.
And he founded an order from which the church and the world has incalculably benefitted, an exponentially greater number of people. Plus, sound theology, well-expressed, is as essential to a healthy community as good pastoral care, as the church everywhere is discovering.
We voted for Dominic because he perceived a famine of hearing the word of the Lord (something we are very familiar with, sadly, in our day) and devoted his life to preaching and teaching, while giving up material comforts himself. Worldly riches are indeed a stumbling block to so many of us. Constance also led an exemplary life, very inspiring - tough decision today, indeed! Thanks, SEC, and friends, for this fabulous journey during Lent!
Engaging with someone who thinks differently than you - our current political discourse could benefit from Dominic's example but Constance commitment to the poor and dying in right here in the US deserves to be better known plus my mother's name was Constance. This one's for you Mom. I vote for Constance.
For "Constance-ly" remaining with the sick and poor and caring for their needs even to their own peril, Constance and her little gang (including the prostitute) have captured my vote...and probably God's
heart.
Constance won out for me. In this time in the world we need more people who give their lives to care for those suffering from diseases that are seemingly incurable. What an example for all of us.
I felt called to vote for the more contemporary Saint because of her proximity to our time. And because we need to raise awareness of American examples of sacrifice. However, I'm even happier with my vote after reading her story. Courage, strength, and undaunted commitment; what a powerful witness!
Striking contrast in the "mug" shots caught me right away. Dominic's face would be so much more appealing to look at as I sip my morning coffee so I had to go with him.
Difficult choice for me, as for so many others. Ultimately I voted for Dominic in appreciation for the rosary. In any event, because of the recentism which is LM's fundamental weakness, I'm not worried about spoiling Sr Constance's victory!
As the Ward Superior (he said lightly) of the Blessed Constance and Her Comapnions ward of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, I'm sticking with Constance today, although Dominic is equally as worthy.
My great-grandfather, Rev. Charles Carroll Parsons, is 1 of Constance's Companions (Martyrs of Memphis). He was 1 of 2 priests who chose to stay in Memphis to assist the victims of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878 and with Constance died of the disease.
Constance didn't just stay. She returned! She was safely far away in New York when the 1878 epidemic broke out. She and Sister Thecla returned to Memphis while everyone else was fleeing it. I wish this vote could be for all the Martyrs of Memphis, as there were many. But I will settle for casting my vote for Constance... who died on the floor so as not to spoil a mattress. http://www.socialwelfarehistory.com/religious/constance-and-her-companions/
Thank you, Lisa Rose. I wondered where they came FROM when I read that they came TO Memphis!
But, I don't remember Dominic objecting all that strenuously when Albigensians who would not "convert" were slaughtered.
A vote for Constance and the Sisters' , and next year I propose that you name the prostitute that helped in the epidemic, and make her a contender in Lent Madness 2017.
Have visited her grave and I say "go for it!"
I agree. Go Saint Annie Cook of Memphis!
Wow, tough choice! Both dedicated their lives to the church. Both were educators sent by their bishops to minister in a new place. Both wore black habits. Dominicans also served the poor and sick, like Constance. But they also were responsible for working the Inquisition later on. Well, well. In honor of my departed mother-in-law, Connie, I'm voting for Constance.
i vote for Saint Dominic, he have done great things for the Church
Dominic's biography only scratches the surface of what he did and how he impacted Christianity. He needs to get more credit than he did.
Another tough choice -- which is a compliment to the SEC. So many worthy saints!
I wondered about the companions of Constance and why we seldom or never hear their names. St. Mary's in Memphis lists them as:
Sister Constance (neé Caroline Louise Darling, b. Medway, Mass., 1846), superior of the work at Memphis, headmistress of St. Mary’s School for Girls.
Sister Thecla, sacristan of St. Mary’s Cathedral and its school chapel, instructor in music and grammar (English and Latin)
Sister Ruth, nurse at Trinity Infirmary, New York
Sister Frances, a newly professed nun given charge of the Church Home orphanage
The Rev. Charles Carroll Parsons, rector of Grace Episcopal Church, Memphis; former U.S. Army artillery commander, West Point alumnus and professor (Served with classmate Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer in Kansas, defense counsel in Custer's 1867 court-martial trial.)
The Rev. Louis S. Schuyler, newly ordained assistant rector at Parsons' prior parish, Holy Innocents Episcopal Church, Hoboken, New Jersey.
Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, nothing further on the site about the proprietress of the bordello who also tended to the sick.
Sister Constance for the Golden Halo! Such an easy choice for this native Memphian. Constance and her companions, the Martyrs of Memphis, are quite revered here. We remember them in prayers every Sunday at St. John's Episcopal Church. I lost family members in both yellow fever epidemics. Vote for the hometown girl. Go Connie!
Yet another site for learning about the saints is "Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints" at http://holywomenholymen.wordpress.com or on Facebook at http://facebook.com/HolyWomenHolyMen or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HolyWomHolyMen
As a former Memphian, I've always admired Constance and her companions for their selfless compassion. Thanks so much for including her here.
Our daughter went to a Dominican school. I have so much respect and affection for the sisters there that I knew this was a slam dunk...until I read about the one who stayed, and cared. Constance for me today.
I admire Constance immensely and am glad to have learned about her. And her great lead in the voting made the decision to vote for Dominic easier--he's the underdog (oops, that was a sort of unintended pun).
Dominic got my vote because of some terrific Dominicans who do campus mission work out of the Episcopal church I attend. They and our priests have gotten along so well that the two communities have the occasional service together, showing the world that Christians _can_ get along.
Constance it is, though Dominic' collect was persuasive. Like Constance, my mom nursed the sick, and had she not married, would have been right there with the Constances of today. Especially poignant today as she passed away four years ago today, beloved and admired by everyone who knew her.
Not only once did she stay for the sick and dieing but twice. She gave her life for the sick and dieing.
The prostitute's name was Annie Cook. She ran a bordello.
Thank you!!!
Thanks again.
i voted for constance because she stayed when people got sick