Today in the Saintly Smackdown, we encounter a 19th century Canadian missionary and a 3rd century Roman martyr, as Henry Budd faces Cecilia. Will the entire nation of Canada rise up to vote for one of their own? Or will Cecilia, patron saint of musicians, strike a chord? Only the next 24 hours and your vote, will tell!
In yesterday's matchup, Moses the Black defeated John Wycliffe 65% to 35% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen where he'll face the winner of Raymond Nonnatus vs. John of Nepomuck.
Oh, and in case you missed yesterday's stirring edition of Monday Madness, watch it here. Tim and Scott give shout-outs to parishes and schools who are all in for Lent Madness 2017 (send us your photos!), discuss the importance of the comment section, and invite viewer mail. Yes, YOUR QUESTION for the SEC could be answered in an upcoming episode. Submit them via Facebook or Twitter.
Henry Budd
Sakachuwescam (Going-Up-The-Hill) was born to Cree parents in what is now Manitoba, Canada. He was baptized in 1822 by an Anglican missionary, who gave him the name Henry Budd (Budd is thought to be the surname of Henry’s father). Budd, his wife Betsy, and their children, as well as extended family moved to the Red River area where he taught at St. John’s parish school and served as a lay minister in the church. Budd proved a capable and enthusiastic teacher and a dedicated Christian serving the Cree community.
His success at St. John’s eventually led Budd to move with his family to W’passkwayaw (The Pas). He built a house church and held regular worship services. In June 1842, John Smithurst (another Anglican missionary) was overjoyed to see the result of Budd’s dedicated ministry: baptisms of 39 adults, 27 infants, and 22 schoolchildren. Pretty impressive numbers!
Budd was tutored and mentored by other clergy in the area, including Bishop David Anderson. Budd was ordained to the diaconate on December 22, 1850—the first person of First Nations ancestry to be ordained in the Anglican tradition in North America. Ordained a priest three years later, Budd served in Saskatchewan until 1867 and then resumed his previous ministry in The Pas. That same year, the local ministry board recommended reclassifying The Pas from a missionary station to one requiring a priest, preferably a First Nations pastor. Four previous English missionaries had failed to establish any thriving mission, complaining of “lack of evangelistic opportunities.” For all his success and exemplary ministry, Budd was paid half of what white missionaries in the same position made.
Budd was an eloquent preacher in Cree and English. His missions exhibited the highest standards of good management, self-sustainability, and outreach to the community. He translated the Bible and The Book of Common Prayer into Cree. He remained at The Pas until his death in 1875. His legacy includes the Henry Budd College for Ministry in Canada, which seeks to form Indigenous people for Christian ministry in the Anglican Church in Canada and to further the Christian expression of faith within the traditions of First Nations’ cultures and languages.
Collect for Henry Budd
Creator of the light, we thank you for your priest Henry Budd, who carried the great treasure of Scripture to his people the Cree nation, earning their trust and love. Grant that his example may call us to reverence, orderliness and love, that we may give you glory in word and action; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Cecilia
Cecilia harkens from the second century in Rome. Like many of the ancient saints, she is found somewhere in the mix of truth, legend, myth, and fiction. Whichever pieces of the story are “real,” they combine for a compelling picture of faith, belief, and devoutness to God’s calling.
Born to a wealthy Roman family, Cecilia was betrothed to a man named Valerian. Her family wanted her marraige to strengthen the bonds between the two families. Cecilia did not listen, instead insisting that she heard a chorus of angels calling her to a life of chastity and virginity. In the days before her wedding, Cecilia prayed, fasted, and sang, imploring God to protect her virginity. God sent an angel to protect Cecilia on her wedding bed. She told her husband that if he tried to consummate their marriage, the angel would smite him. Valerian could not see the angel, so Cecilia instructed him to walk to the third milestone on the Roman road, Via Appia, where his eyes would be opened. True to Cecilia’s word, an angel appeared to Valerian and his brother, and in short order, both converted to Christianity and were baptized. The brothers dedicated their lives to burying martyrs of the church who were persecuted by the local Roman officials.
While Valerian and his brother tended the dead, Cecilia preached and encouraged more than 400 souls to dedicate their lives to Christ. Her fervor attracted the wrath of the local prefect, and Valerian and his brother were executed, with the presiding prefect ordering Cecilia to be killed as well. They attempted to drown her. Then, they tried to burn the building down around her. An executioner was summoned by the prefect to behead her, and though he struck her three times, Cecilia remained in possession of her head. Three days later, she succumbed to her wounds and was buried by Pope Urban.
About 1,300 years later, in 1569, the church exhumed her body and found it to be incorrupt—without decay, the first saint to be found in such condition. The feast of Saint Cecilia is celebrated on November 22. Cecilia is the patron saint of music, in commemoration and honor of the heavenly chorus she is said to have heard each time she prayed to know and do God’s will in her life.
Collect for Cecilia
Saint Cecilia, heroic martyr who stayed faithful to Jesus your divine bridegroom, give us faith to rise above our persecutors and to see in them the image of our Lord. We know that you were a musician, and we are told that you heard angels sing. Inspire musicians to gladden the hearts of people by filling the air with God’s gift of music and reminding them of the Divine Musician Who created all beauty. Amen.
UPDATE This morning at about 11:45 EST, we became aware of voting patterns that are against the rules of Lent Madness. We discovered some 546 votes for Cecilia cast from a computer in Austin, TX, apparently at St. Andrew's Episcopal School (according to IP address databases). These votes have been removed, and the address in question has been banned. Please remember: vote once only! If you can encourage your friends to vote, that is wonderful. But do not attempt to cheat the system by using a single computer to vote multiple times. Big Lent is watching.
UPDATE AGAIN: A student has admitted gaming the system, apology has been accepted, and we've restored voting to the school in question. Please don't try to cheat. It's Lent, for Pete's sake!
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375 comments on “Henry Budd vs. Cecilia”
St. Cecelia already has many honors--such as sainthood--though her story is certainly compelling.
However, the obstacles Budd overcame in his life and ministry as a First Nations layman and priest were truly daunting. The fact that he persevered as he did and served his people and the church so well earns him my vote.
I too was impressed by Henry Budd's Cree ancestry. However, I was particularly moved by Cecelia's plight...in her day, convincing a "husband" not to consummate a marriage, well, I believe would have been nearly impossible, but she did it with God's help. And, most significant for me, she is the patron saint of music and I sing in the choir and I believe music is such a vital part of the "evangelism" part of our walk with God!
This was a really tough decision. I sing in the church choir and music is a very special part of my life. But, as a Canadian and someone who has a degree in translation, I admire Henry Budd. I think what clinched the vote for him was that he translated the Bible AND the Book of Common Prayer to Cree to reach the indigenous people. Sorry, Cecilia, you had my vote last time, but this time I went with Budd.
As a church musician, my vote is clear-cut. But this was a tough choice, honestly. Resurrect for the First Peoples is a high bar to cross.
I went back and forth many times with this one. Even though I have already voted, I am still not sure.
This is a no- brainer. It's gotta be Cecelia! Why, just for the simple fact that she is the patron saint of music and keeps our parish choirs from going flat on Sundays! Her image also is beautifully painted on the wall of Eastman Theater, part of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. George Eastman, founder of Kodak, built the school and theater in the 1920s. He was no dummy.
Tough choice. I admire the devotion and hard work of Henry Budd. I also admire Cecilia for having the courage to stand up for herself in a culture that gave women no voice in decisions affecting their lives. I voted for Cecilia.
It was on November 22, 1956 - the Feast of St. Cecilia that I married and my attendant was my cousin Cecilia..It was also Thanksgiving Day! St. Cecilia was always a beloved saint with/without stories of her life.
Henry Budd who did so much for the Cree was difficult for me to place second.
Marie Cantrell, you said it! I love your rationale! I voted for Cecilia. This has been a tough year for me. A lifelong church musician, I lost my singing voice and haven't quite figured out how to worship without it. I'm counting on Cecilia's celestial music to carry me through this new turn in my life.
How awful to lose your singing voice. I am so sorry. I hope music will continue to delight you. Can you take up an instrument? There are many ways to enjoy music. I hope you will have music in your life always . . .
Thank you, Cecilia. It is awful. I'm still in our choir, but I keep a low profile. I guess it's a good time to learn humility! I'll figure it out eventually, but it's still pretty new and strange.
My name's Celia. The real saint for the day is Cecilia. I hope you can keep your singing voice; I know opera singers eventually have to retire. Is it the thinning of the vocal chords? Whether breathing or throat exercises would help, I don't know. But perhaps a good vocal trainer could help. Anyway, I am sorry for your loss. I know how terrible it is to lose a capacity; it's a true physical disability. I hope it can be overcome. But wish you blessings through music regardless.
Celia, essential tremors. Thanks for your encouragement. Many, many thanks.
Susan, I am so sorry to hear that you have lost yo7r singing voice. May you find many ways to let your music flow in praise of God. May you know deep peace.
Susan, perhaps signing the songs and hymns would help adjust to the new normal. Hopefully, your singing voice will recover. God bless you!
Thanks, Diana and Ginny. Your encouragement means a lot. <3
Had to go with Henry Budd, who was the outlier in this round. He did what others could not.
Cecilia, you're breakin' my heart ...
Absolutely !
I stuck my neck out for our choir directress, Cecilia, on this one. I wonder if this is where the term "The third time's the charm" came from...Both are pretty compelling stories though.
I love music and find it is often the pathway to joyous praise of our Lord and Savior, and I admire Cecelia for her courage in moving against the culture of her time and her parents' wishes. But, I felt Henry Budd's work to translate scripture and preach to his people in their native tongue while being treated less than fairly as a call to vote to protest the diminishing of those who seem to be "other".
I've worked with musicians for too many years not to go with Cecilia.
I am a singer and musician. Go Cecilia!!
I am in shock! I never look at the results before I vote, so when I made my choice for Henry Budd, I was sure I was voting for the underdog. I thought the matchup for the Golden Halo would be Cecilia from the left-hand brackets and Martin Luther from the right-hand ones. I was, in fact, getting ready to scold the SEC for burying the First Nation saints in this year's competition against unbeatable opponents. Why not match David Oakerhater against Henry Budd and let at least one advance to the next round? (I still think that would have been a good idea, by the way.) Well, today I will definitely be returning to the site to follow the vote during the course of the day. I chose Henry Budd for my own vote because of his exemplary life which bore so much fruit, even though he faced prejudice for his ethnicity. Now I'm going to go back and read the other comments.
What an amazing demonstration of dedication is the work of Henry Budd. Converted to a religion of those he had every reason to despise, declared a second class adherent to the faith by their behavior if not their words, he was more successful in this mission then either his predecessors or his contemporaries. Imagine how difficult it was to translate the Bible and BCP into Cree, a language that may not have had a written form. What an exemplary Christian!
I voted for Henry Budd in honor of my grandmother who immigrated to Canada in June of 1924--she was a widow. A widower became enthralled with her on the voyage from Germany, but she stuck to her plan and went on to live with her late husband's relatives in northern Saskatchewan, my grandfather traveled on to Jersey City. What happened between June 1924 and February 1925 is a bit of a mystery, because she married my grandfather in Toronto in February at the Cathedral of St. James--there must not have been a Lutheran church and well Anglican is close. One theory--after a chunk of winter in the north she said--"hmm, there was that nice man from Jersey City and I bet it is warmer there." She lived to be 97 3/4 and was a remarkable woman with a strong faith that was quite ecumenical though she was a life long Lutheran and trust me the German Lutherans are the toughest. So Henry Budd I am honored to vote for you--you and grandma should look each other up, you could both tell each other great stories.
Great story!!
Love me some St. Cecelia!
Howell's Hymn of St. Cecilia. The Church of Santa Cecilia in Rome. It's gotta be Cecilia!
I went with Budd .... totally impressed by anyone who in a single lifetime could do all he did AND translate the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer into a native language.
Tough match up. A First Nation Canadian missionary would have gotten my vote were it not for the "strong headed" (or at least strong necked) Roman who stood up to the Patriarchy.
I choose St. Cecelia. It must have been very difficult for her to have a strong opinion and a voice back then, and for a woman to go against her wealthy and powerful family speaks to me of a courage of a lioness. Not to mention the conversion of all those pagan souls! I sing as I vote for mt lady, Cecelia.
Cecelia is my sister's name, so I voted for Saint Cecelia. My vote for her was not a vote against
Budd. If he wins, I won't be sorry.
Uh-oh. Voted for Budd, forgetting my dear great Auntie Cecile, and all the other women in my family who bear Cecile as a middle name. (We are of French Canadian descent.)
This was so hard! But I decided on Cecilia because of my love of music.
My husband of less than a year is a Henry and I find the life of Henry Budd impelling. Go Henry!
One of my favorite aspects of Lent Madness is exposure to saints I never knew, so Henry Budd gets my vote - though Cecilia might have the better kitsch (just saying). Btw, the mystic won yesterday, so "reality" does not always trump "visionary".
I was going to vote for Cecelia as her feast day is my birthday and also my grandmother was named for her. Her date is also CS Lewis' but Budd's story captured my vote
I voted for Henry Beard Delaney, but I thought going for two Henrys was too much (as a Henry myself). Looks like I should've gone with the namesake. But I voted for Cecelia because I just met a woman named Cecelia after worship on Sunday and we had a nice chat about Paul Simon's homage.
For Henry Budd (Sakachuwescam - Going-Up-The-Hill) and Cecelia of Rome
They plowed the fields of mission
Where Christ led through the wilds.
Where people liked how things had been
Responses were not mild.
They coped with great injustice
In very different ways.
Persisted in their service
No matter who they riled.
All good saints around us
Find ways to share Christ’s love.
So thank our God, O thank our God
They speak the truth thereof.
His name was taken from him
A name that tells his tale.
He heard the love of Jesus
And climbed the mount of faith.
He served his people always
With passion, wisdom too.
His priestly heart was open
To share Christ’s loving truth.
All good saints around us
Find ways to share Christ’s love.
So thank our God, O thank our God
They speak the truth thereof.
Cecelia heard the angels
And she would not deny
She had a higher calling
And that she would obey.
She prayed with heartfelt passion
(Was spared the other kind.)
Converted, taught and nurtured
Was killed but still she shines.
All good saints around us
Find ways to share Christ’s love.
So thank our God, O thank our God
They speak the truth thereof.
This is lovely!!! Thanks for sharing. ( I hear an echo of "All good gifts around us" and I love it!)
Diana, you are remarkable - kudos!
A most excellent hymn, Diana. Thank you.
Thanks for another inspired poem! I, too, recognize "All Good Gifts" As I'm a singer, my vote goes to Cecelia.