Constance vs. Dominic

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

constance-martyrsofmemphis300

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.

— Anna Fitch Courie

Dominic

800px-SAN_DOMENICO_primo_piano_affresco

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.

— Beth Lewis

[poll id="146"]

Constance: historic-memphis.com
Dominic: By Marco Ferrero - Lavoro Personale, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3021941

Subscribe

* indicates required

Recent Posts

Archive

Archive

249 comments on “Constance vs. Dominic”

  1. Interesting links between this pair of saints and some who have entered the "Lent Dome" previously. Here we have Dominic, the founder of the order that Meister Eckhart would later join, and Constance, who faithfully nursed yellow fever victims like Absalom Jones had before her. As I was reading the write-up for Constance, I felt certain I'd vote for her, especially in light of the current yellow fever epidemic in Angola (the country where I live and work). However, I went with Dominic in the end, for his dedication to spreading God's Word and his gentle witness to the Albigenses.

  2. Thank you for an easy one Today. Definitely Constance who put her health and safety above everything else.

  3. Constance, because her story brought me to tears when I reached the end. To stay through two epidemics when other fled is such a beautiful sacrifice.

  4. For me this was a tough vote. Both served their fellow human beings well.

    I do admire Constance's compassion for the sick a little than Dom's vow of poverty

  5. Constance, for staying to help a city that eventually produced one of my dear friends when others ran away to save themselves. It's the kind of selfless love and compassion I want to grow to emulate.

  6. All honor to Constance and her heroic companions in Memphis during the two epidemics. They all deserve golden halos with precious stones in the Hereafter. My vote, however, goes to Dominic. I learned early on how much good sound theology can do and how much harm bad theology can do. Transfiguration is a teaching parish, and two of the best preachers and teachers I've ever know were born to do do both.

  7. I was all ready to vote for the Spanish Monk, because my daughter is visiting Spain this summer to walk the Camino.... but Constance won me over. I adore that photo of her. The fact that she set out to educate children and instead nursed victims of the epidemic, and putting her own life at risk - what an inspiration!

  8. As a physician (retired), I had to vote for Constance who acted in the finest traditions of health care, risking her own life to treat others that they might live! Philip M. Kober, JD, MD, PhD

  9. Another round in which the choice was easy to make. As a physician, I would be hard put to explain why I didn't vote for such a committed health care provider who put herself in harm's way. She calls to mind the health care providers and others who sacrified their lives during the Ebola epidemic. I don't know if I personally would find the strength to put my life at risk during an epidemic caused by such a dangerous infectious agent. Constance serves as an excellent role model for us all. I hope she gets the Golden Halo!

  10. Constance for me! She gave her life willingly. She and her sisters saved so many people. I hope some day to visit Memphis and see where they worked with the sick.

  11. A hard choice. A nun who gave her life in service and care of others vs a priest who founded an order.
    After some pondering it was Constance.

  12. I am from Memphis and grew up attending St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral where Constance and her companions served and has the alter dedicated to them. There are stainglass windows behind the alter depicting her that you need to drop by and see if you are in town. So, I had to go with the hometown hero. While I know they have limited space in Madness, I have read an incredible amount about them and the service to others Constance and her companions performed is amazing. Having said all that, I have to admit that Dominic is worthy of the Golden Halo on any year -- he just didn't live my hometown. But, the Domicans to this day continue to serve the Memphis community out of St. Peter Catholic Church with 175 yearss of service in Memphis -- something that would never have happened but for Dominic.

  13. I was moved to tears by Constance's devotion to the sick and dying, and hoped I wouldn't like Dominic better because I recognized her as vote-worthy! When I started reading Dominic's bio, I got all excited when I read he'd been born in Spain; however, I thought I'd better check to see if he actually was actually Santo Domingo de la Calzada of Camino de Santiago bridge and road-building fame. He wasn't - different years, different town, different saint altogether, and different reason for historical notoriety, so Constance got my vote.

  14. Dom gets credit for PC hoops. Kind of. But we experienced dengue in our family and Constance wins the vote based on a firmly anti-mosquito platform. And Oliver. Of course.

  15. I have to vote for Dominic out of respect for the education I received from the "Blackfriars" during my HS Years (long long ago). Love "Courageous Constance" and her fearless commitment and she is way ahead in the voting but my heart says Dom!

    1. I voted for Dominic because he lived the Great Commission -- going into the world and preaching. He also lived a life of poverty to separate himself from the mainstream, rich church.

  16. After knowing some Dominicans during my chaplaincy days, I am so grateful to and for the founder of the order. This was a hard choice, though, considering my respect and admiration for Constance.

  17. I grew up in a Catholic "orphanage" in Mobile, Alabama (St. Mary's), that had been established for the care of children orphaned during the Yellow Fever epidemic(s) there. I learned my patron saint was a first century martyr of noble birth or a fourth century daughter of one of the Constantine's, referred to as a violent Fury, more blood thirsty than her husband (yikes!). I was so disappointed! Amazing that there was another Constance right up there in Tennessee and I only heard of her today. Of course those were the days when a good Roman Catholic child would not have known about any Episcopal "saints". Thank you so much for enlightening me! My first thought on seeing Constance vs Dominic was that Constance didn't have a prayer. Go Constance!!

  18. Constance. One of my early memories in life was a visit to a cemetery in Mobile, AL, the city of my birth, where yellow fever victims are buried. That Romans, Anglicans and a prostitute could work side by side, bravely nursing the yellow fever victims, reminds me that we are all sinners, it's just a matter of degree. The good heart, and its intentions, is the most important thing, when it comes down to the brass tacks. How many so called pious people fled Memphis, fear for their own comfort and lives? Constance gets my vote for her good heart, selflessness and bravery.

  19. I had to vote for Constance as she most probably was one of the people who saved many my ancestors, who had lived in the Memphis area at that time.

  20. I had to vote for St. Constance. Our Daughters of the King Chapter is named for St. Constance because of her devotion to the suffering people of Memphis.

  21. (Nathan 8yrs) I voted for Constance because she helped many people and was very selfless.
    (Colin 5yrs) I like Constance because she was like Supergirl saving that many people!

  22. The SEC gave us another impossible choice today. I voted for Constance because of her stirring and fearless faithfulness in caring for the sick and dying even at the price of her own death. I must say I was a bit disappointed with today's bios of both Constance and Dominic. Neither bio communicated a sense of the passion and deep devotion with which these two saints lived out their lives. Even a very brief biography should give us that sense, as indeed some of the earlier notices have. Perhaps there could have been a quote from Constance's moving notes which she kept during the epidemic and some acknowledgment of the enormous influence of Dominic on the history and thinking of the church from his time until our own day through the religious order he founded, including by such of its members as Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas and Catherine of Siena, all saints in their own right.

  23. I voted for Constance. Love in action is always a win for me. As an aside, I would love to know more about the prostitute

  24. Actually - Constance and her sisters were out of town at the Hudson River, when the epidemic broke out and RUSHED back to Memphis to serve others. She died about 20 days after she arrived to help others. It sounds like such a chaotic and tragic time. She and Dominic were both great people. Tough choice, but I am going to give Dominic a vote!

  25. My grandmother was a nursing nun in the Order of St Anne until she nursed my grandfather back to health and then married him. After she left the order, she nursed neighbors in her small town. So, Constance!

    Furthermore, Dominic has a lot to answer for. I lived in Southern France for six years and heard how much people there despised the Northern French for the Albigensian Crusade- probably 100,000 dead, which resulted in successful extermination of not only the believers, but the belief. There are no more Cathars. They all died. They called themselves Les Bons Chretiens, good Christians, and their beliefs were just a local form of Christianity that had evolved in Southern France from early times. Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, wrote On Heresy about his neighbors' beliefs. The Cathars were pacifists and vegetarians who believed in reincarnation. Their belief system was certainly Gnostic. They thought Satan ruled on earth, but we all have a divine spark that will be released after enough cycles of virtuous living. Even virtuous animals are part of the cycle. They had no professional clergy, but had itinerant clerics, both men and women, who went from place to place in pairs. They believed in tolerating all beliefs. The Cathars were highly respected by their Catholic/orthodox neighbors, who refused to denounce them to the Northern crusaders- hence the order, "Kill them all, God will recognize His own." The French historian Le Roy Ladurie has written about them. There's also a good popular history: Pilgrims, Heretics and Lovers. The Albigensian Crusade was a tragic case of the bad guys winning in the end. I wonder how history would have changed had they not exterminated this gentle version of Christian belief. The Domine Cane- Dominicans, hounds of God- hunted down the heretics as part of their mission. No doubt the order has done wonderful things since, but I can't imagine voting for Dominic.