In the penultimate (we love that word here at Lent Madness) matchup of the first round, it's Frances Joseph-Gaudet facing off against John Mason Neale. Six names, two saints, only one will emerge victorious and advance to the next round.
Yesterday Vida Dutton Scudder skated to an easy win over F.D. Maurice, 72% to 28%. She'll face Clare of Assisi in the Saintly Sixteen.
Stay tuned for a special "Tuesday Edition" of Monday Madness in which Tim and Scott wax eloquent(ish) on a variety of Lent Madness topics. It will be epic, as usual.
And finally, if you live in a Super Tuesday state, make your first and most important vote right here at Lent Madness, before heading out to those other polls.
Frances Joseph-Gaudet
Frances Joseph-Gaudet was born 1861 in Holmesville, Mississippi, during the American Civil War. Of Native American and African American parentage, she moved to New Orleans to pursue her education at Straight College. She breathed fire into every aspect of her calling: as an educator, single mother, social worker, principal, philanthropist, and Christian.
Joseph-Gaudet was a game changer in the world of African American prisoners and youth. She sought reform in the conditions and educational opportunities in prisons, and she brought clothes to the incarcerated. Joseph- Gaudet would often attend the juvenile courts, taking responsibility for youth offenders by bringing them into her home. Joseph-Gaudet wrapped these children and mothers in her love and care, giving them a chance at a better life.
When her home became too small for the number of individuals she brought home from the courts, she purchased a small farm that became the Gaudet Colored Normal and Industrial School. Joseph-Gaudet served as its principal until she donated it to the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana where it remained a school until the early 1950s. The building later reopened as the Gaudet Episcopal Home in 1954, as an African American children’s home. In 1966, it closed its doors permanently, but the proceeds from the sale of the land continues to fund scholarships for African American children pursuing higher education.
Joseph-Gaudet later moved to Chicago, Illinois, where she died on December 30, 1934. The Episcopal Church added Joseph-Gaudet to the calendar of saints in 2006 for her work in bringing a voice to all people—black, white, old, and young—in the prisons of the South.
Collect for Frances Joseph-Gaudet
Merciful God, who raised up your servant Frances Joseph-Gaudet to work for prison reform and the education of her people: Grant that we, encouraged by the example of her life, may work for those who are denied the fullness of life by reasons of incarceration and lack of access to education; through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
John Mason Neale
John Mason Neale, the prince of hymn translators, was born in the shadow of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, to an evangelical family in 1818. Neale was deeply influenced by the Oxford Movement, which stressed the apostolic character of the Church of England and sought to put it back in touch with its historical roots. Neale’s imagination was sparked by the vision of a church in touch with the medieval past and alive with the beauty of ornament, architecture, and song.
Neale was ordained a deacon in 1841, but his bishop refused to grant Neale a position based on his theological positions. After finally being ordained a priest, Neale was eventually appointed warden of Sackville College, a home for the elderly poor, in 1846. Refurbishing the chapel from his personal funds, he installed open pews, a rood screen, and two candles and a cross for the altar.
The Bishop of Chichester, offended by this “spiritual haberdashery,” inhibited Neale from functioning as a priest. Stymied, Neale threw himself into translating and writing, while also founding the Sisterhood of Saint Margaret. There were multiple riots because of his theological and liturgical beliefs between 1848 and 1866. His inhibition was formally withdrawn in 1863. Three years later, Neale died from exhaustion at the age of forty-eight on August 6, 1866.
Neale believed deeply in imagination and beauty as pathways to the holy. He won the Setonian Prize for Poetry at Cambridge ten years in a row, and while other members of the Oxford Movement had drawn attention to the old Latin hymns, Neale translated them with a beauty and vigor unsurpassed. Furthermore, he was the first to look eastward and to translate hymns from the great store of Eastern Orthodox materials. Neale communicated his faith with doctrines for the mind, beauty for the senses, and songs for the heart.
Collect for John Mason Neale
Grant, O God, that in all time of our testing we may know your presence and obey your will; that, following the example of your servant John Mason Neale, we may with integrity and courage accomplish what you give us to do, and endure what you give us to bear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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218 comments on “Frances Joseph-Gaudet vs. John Mason Neale”
Neale's love of music and beauty in our worship make him near and dear to my heart, but Joseph-Gaudet's love of the poor and imprisoned won my vote.
I have to vote for John Neale. I love to sing hymns and note his name often. Frances is quite saintly and I would have no trouble voting for her. This looks like a difficult bracket.
Had to vote for the founder of the Sisters of St. Margaret.
I knew I was voting for the underdog but being in the arts all of my life prompted me to vote for Neale. And the beauty of Episcopal churches has always touched my heart,
'haberdashery' or not.
It should come as no surprise that we Sisters are voting for our founder, John Mason Neale! It is difficult to describe him in a short biography, even so well written as the one above. As Project Canterbury’s biography of JMN remarks, “Neale was so many-sided that it is difficult to cram him into a pint pot.” (http://anglicanhistory.org/bios/jmneale.html) JMN was a famed hymnologist, author of History of the Holy Eastern Church in two volumes and A History of Pews, as well was stories for children and numerous other pamphlets and publications. I’m sure you all know the Christmas Carol “Good King Wenceslas.” Well, not only did he write it, he lived it. He was certainly not a king – he was warden of a home for the indigent elderly, which paid very little – but he did look out and see the needs of those living in poverty in his area and seek to address them. He founded our order, the Society of St. Margaret, in order to care for the sick in their own homes and to tend to anything else there that needed attention along the way. We continue to thrive and grow and seek to do “everything for God alone, to his greater glory and more perfect love.”
'@Sisters of St. Margaret I will be visiting your website probably often! What an inspiration!
Wow! Why wasn't this in the bio? I wish I had voted for J. M. Beale.
This isn't a fair match up! Pitting a woman with such a hard luck story who did great things for her people is too different from a religious man who had conflicts with the church hierarchy. To really compare such absolutely different practices of faith and determination is just not fair to either one.
Lent Madness, like life, is not fair.
I understand that, but if the whole thing is to be rigged from the get-go why bother with the formality of voting?
Rigged? What's rigged, pray tell. ya make your choice and ya votes.
We obviously have seen by now that people's "choice" will generally be to vote for whichever HWHM worthy ticks off the most "diversity" boxes rather than based on any respect for the many diverse forms saintly witness can take. If I've figured it out after only a couple of years of playing then even more would Tim and Scott, who have been here from the beginning, have had to know that by putting J.M.N. up against F.J.G. they were foreordaining him to a one-round appearance.
We've had a series of heavily skewed matchups now that the SEC have tried to play off as "part of the madness", as if there were something quirky or daring about being absolutely bloody predictable. I don't think anyone should be happy that "contestants" are winning by margins of 3-to-1. It says more about bad about our lack of imagination than about the merits of either saint. And I would suggest if you find, as some have commented openly, that the choice is not difficult, you're not trying hard enough. (Conversely, I'm grateful to those who expressed that it was a hard match-up).
In postulancy committee jargon, I'm an INTP. We can't all be strong black women who stand up to The Man in dramatic ways: our poets, mystics, and hermits are valuable too. Many members, one body. Most mornings, I can tell who's going to "win" before the first comment is left. So my question stands: why vote?
I was getting a tad antsy when Oliver Eight Years didn't lead off in the Comments section and finally, we read his choice. My choice was based on a basic needs assessment: it's hard to sing when your stomach is growling from hunger...when the plastic bag over your head and shoulders is no longer protection from the elements and so on and so on. Frances tended to those unable to do for themselves in many ways that were long-lived and based on Jesus' command: FEED MY SHEEP.
The classic false dichotomy: why are we singing hymns when there are hungry people? There is not and need not be conflict between these two. The church glorifies God in worship and is in turn equipped and fed to take God's love and mercy to the world. Which makes today's choice so difficult. Many here, I'm sure, would love to vote "Both of the Above."
Yes!
John Mason Neale ministered to the elderly poor. He founded an order of nuns who ministered to the downtrodden even to our won day. He suffered persecution at the hands of bishops. There are 40 plus hymns of his in the church's hymnal. He educated his daughters especially on languages and involved them in the work of translation. He fills my heart with joy on St Stephen's Day with "Good King Wenceslaus". His impact is much greater than is opponent.
As a musician, I cannot vote for anyone but John Mason Neale. I could listen to and sing his hymns all day long!!!! And I would bet that "O Come, O Come Emanuel" and "Christ is Made the Sure Foundation" are favorites among people here, and many, many more!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xtpJ4Q_Q-4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR9NHXnbxlU
A really difficult choice today but I finally voted for Neale.
Thanks for all the comments. They really enhance the Lent Madness experience.
I know there's no chance for the white dude but I had to vote for the man who reintroduced Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament to the Church of England.
Haha, Geoff! White dudes always lose in Lent Madness! I've noticed that, too!
Just as a matter of record -- 4 of the 6 Golden Halo winners have been white dudes.
True, but (I ask this seriously, I don't recall) whom were they paired against?
Not being familiar with Joseph-Gaudet, I originally assumed that I'd vote for Neale, the translator of some of my favorite hymns. After reading about her, I was so touched by her efforts on behalf of prisoners that she got my vote. "...I was in prison and you came to me." (Matthew 25:36) Especially after doing some further reading and finding out that she held prayer meetings for African American prisoners, I was sold. What a wonderful witness.
Is it just me , or do the match ups seem harder to choose from this year ? I find myself haveing a very hard time with a few of these.
Nearly impossible choice! But hymns have saved my life more than once, and I would gladly march to a liturgical riot. I'm not surprised the most worthy Frances is winning, and will be glad to see more of her, but the long-suffering Fr. Neale has my vote today.
Henceforth whenever I sing Neale's beautiful hymns and hymn translations, I will ask Blessed Frances to intercede for us at the Throne of Mercy. And yes, I am thinking of the primary here in Texas, when allegedly Christian candidates vie with one another in bloodthirstiness and cruelty merely to win votes for themselves. They have their reward. Matthew 25.
Amen, amen and amen.
Can't resist adding this practical joke attributed to Neale: [Neale] was invited by Mr. Keble and the Bishop of Salisbury to assist them with their new Hymnal, and for this reason he paid a visit to Hursley Parsonage [Keble’s residence]…[Keble] related that having to go to another room to find some papers he was detained a short time. On his return, Dr. Neale said, Why Keble! I thought you told me that the Christian Year was entirely original! Yes, he answered, it certainly is. Then how comes this? And Dr. Neale placed before him the Latin of one of Keble’s hymns for a Saint’s day—I think it was for St. Luke’s. Keble professed himself utterly confounded. There was the English, which he knew that he had made, and there too no less certainly was the Latin, with far too unpleasant a resemblance to his own to be fortuitous. He protested that he had never seen this original, no, not in all his life! etc. etc. After a few minutes, Neale relieved him by owning that he had just turned it into Latin in his absence.
Oh, wonderful!
Have a great affection for the Sisters of St. Margaret as they founded the nursing school at Children's Hospital Boston, my alma mater! JNM sounds to be a remarkable, faithful man- thanks for the additional information.
Thank you for the kind words Christine.
Aaaaaaarrrrrrgh!
Although both "contestants" are worthy, I must vote for John Mason Neale because of the work of the Sisters of St. Margaret in Haiti.
I voted for Frances Joseph-Gaudet, but then spent the morning making a list of all the John Mason Neale hymns in the two Episcopal Hymnals (1940 & 1982) that I have. I was surprised that there were a total of 84 (most translated by JMN, but some authored by and several listed as "after" JMN), 39 in the 1940 Hymnal and 45 in the 1982 Hymnal . . . though of course there are many duplicates and "same words, different tunes". (It is also interesting to me that when the 1982 Hymnal "updated" the words of some of his hymns, there is often no indication that the words presented are not the original words.) In any case, I'm now off to the piano to play through my list. As often happens, my entire day has been knocked off course by LENT MADNESS!!! 🙂
P.S. If anyone wants the list, just give a holler.
I knew before even reading Neale's story that Joseph-Gaudet would and should move on, but his life was lived following Christ's example, and his music so beautiful I HAD to vote for him.
Such a difficult decision. Having done volunteer work in prison I am drawn to Frances, but as a choir director, musician, reader, actor.... my vote goes to John.
It was hard to vote against Neale and those 84 hymns, many favorites of mine. But in this day and age of over incarceration and need for prison reform and education, Frances Joseph-Gaudet had to get my vote. I'm so happy to have learned about both of these, formerly unknown to me, Saints of the church.
I have 8 days until my 49th birthday. 8 days to get bold, offend a bishop with my “spiritual haberdashery,” cause some riots, and die of exhaustion...Neale has my vote!
Hustle! ANd great good luck. Spiritual haberdashers unite!
I haven't managed to offend a bishop with my spiritual haberdashery for nearly 50 years -- turned out he disapproved of my wearing my cassock after the service!
This one was difficult. Then I looked up the hymns that Neale gave us and thought of the richness they have added to my worship for many years and had to vote for him, although I don't think he will win.
As a former chorister and in honor of the Sisters of St. Margaret, I voted for John Mason Neale. I also liked the "spiritual haberdashery."
Voted Neale. We need visionaries too, who believe in the beauty of life itself and he died to keep the beauty alive. Teach them to fish...
As a native of New Orleans I have some sense of the poverty, racial oppression, lack of decent education for the poor, and high rates of incarceration that have been unfortunate features of that part of our country for too long. Frances Joseph-Gaudet fought against these terrible odds and made a difference. She has my vote today.
It was line-ball again for me today. As a hymn-writer myself, I went for JM Neale, suspecting that I'd get another chance to vote for FJ Gaudet.
All honor to Frances Joseph-Gaudet for her devotion and hard work. Nevertheless, "He who sings prays twice," I've heard, attributed to St. Augustine, so my vote today goes to John Mason Neale for his "spiritual haberdashery."
You have two matched evenly although so different. I can see myself working with Frances; I admire her dedication. His life was in such turmoil, I could not have identified with John had I lived alongside him, but now I treasure all the gifts he left us. Tough choice but I am going with Frances.