With the final battle of Elate Eight week, we will head into the weekend with the full slate of the Faithful Four. After yesterday's victory by Franz Jägerstätter over Mecthild of Magdeburg 67% to 33%, three of the four tickets have been punched. Franz will join Stephen and Florence Nightingale while we await the outcome of today's battle between Raymond Nonnatus and Amelia Bloomer.
To make it this far, Raymond defeated John of Nepomuk and Moses the Black while Amelia made it past Philipp Melanchthon and Fanny Crosby.
Are you ready for the final three days of the 2017 Saintly Smackdown? Here's how it will go: On Monday Stephen will face Franz. On Tuesday today's winner will face Florence Nightingale. On Spy Wednesday, we'll send one of the two remaining saints to (additional) eternal glory by awarding the coveted Golden Halo. There's a lot more Madness to come but that's how next week will go.
In the meantime, vote! And spend the weekend preparing for next week's final flourish.
Raymond Nonnatus
To no one’s surprise, Raymond Nonnatus is a kitsch-heavy saint.
There are, of course, the assortment of kitschy items dedicated to Raymond himself. There’s a catchy album of music, if you would care to calmly meditate upon getting your mouth drilled with a red-hot poker. Unfortunately, from the samples provided, it sounds like a head-on collision between Kenny G and that NPR show that comes on at 2:00 am and only plays music about space.
There is also this helpful magnet of a St. Raymond icon, that you could stick to your office filing cabinet, to remind you to cut down on malicious office gossip. To further this endeavor, you might also want to sprinkle around some St. Raymond oil. The seller helpfully indicates that the oil does not smell like the name -- so if you were concerned that it would have Eau de Really Dead Guy, worry not! (No word on what it DOES smell like though. If one of the Lent Madness Commentariat would like to purchase it and report back, please do!)
On a more serious side, the Library of Seville, in Spain, has a 17th century manuscript detailing the feats and miracles of St. Raymond that is available for free download. If your Spanish is good, you can grab it for free, and read all about the testimony of the cardinals about the holy saint!
We cannot forget that St. Raymond also has his very own TV show. ‘Call the Midwife’ is also a font of lovely tie-in kitsch, from DVDs and cardigans to felt mice and color-coordinated yarn. If you have always wanted to be a do-gooder in the slums of pre-welfare state Britain, you can! Or at least look like it. 
However, perhaps you have more pressing concerns in the present. Perhaps you are turning to St. Raymond in an effort to stop slander against yourself or a loved one, and what you require is a lock. But not just any lock -- no! What you need is a special padlock to empower your particular prayer of intercession in this unique case. In such a situation, may I interest you in one of the many antique padlocks the internet helpfully has on offer? Such as this magnificent example, which was made in 1904 with the state seal of Missouri on it to honor the World’s Fair! With this, I imagine you could stop the ENTIRE STATE OF MISSOURI from talking about you.
“But Megan!” you protest, “The person who is slandering me is known unto me! He is a retired professional baseball player and I must specifically target my prayers accordingly! What then can I do?”
Fear not, brave friend. There is also hope for you. For in the depths of their wisdom, Major League Baseball released a series of commemorative padlocks with the images of pro ball players upon them! Yes! And so you may stop the trash talking of Andy Horner, outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals with a specific padlock, through the wonders of modern late-stage capitalism.
Amelia Bloomer
Amelia Bloomer -- reformer, suffragette, temperance leader, and Christian. She’s a woman of substance who did not let the limitations placed on her by others define her.
So, as you’re challenging expectations and limitations and marching for justice, don’t forget your Amelia Bloomer tote bag, complete with images of not one but TWO pair of bloomers drying on the line. Comfortable clothing and environmentally friendly, all in one!
After a long day of marching for the dignity of every human being, relax by having your beverage of choice poured from your very own Amelia Bloomer flask. Of course, because Amelia found alcohol completely immoral, so much so that she wouldn’t dine in a home that had spirits within, you’d only put appropriate beverages in the flask.
Amelia’s story is quite amazing, so if you need to brush up on her adventures, you can read all about it at Lent Madness or this nifty children’s book.
Let’s not forget that for all Amelia did for women’s rights, she is most commonly remembered not for her intelligent and witty writings in the first newspaper published by and for women, nor for the dedicated work she did to gain women the right to vote and run for public office, nor for the way she challenged the church hierarchy to face their gender bias, but for a pair of pants, bloomers, as they came to be called.
We are fortunate that women and men still benefit from her faithful work, and we are fortunate we still benefit from her savvy fashion sense. Don’t you want your very own modern interpretation of Amelia Bloomer’s bloomers? 
-- Laurie Brock
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176 comments on “Raymond Nonnatus vs. Amelia Bloomer”
I believe it is important to look at temperance in context. Women had few options for income and were dependent on their husbands not only for themselves but for their children. Alcohol was largely consumed by men, yet many of it's consequences dramatically affected women and children. There was little understanding of alcoholism, and no effective treatment. Temperance was the only known method for prevention and treatment. The temperance movement also advocated for labor laws, prison reform and women's voting rights
Thank you, Ellen, for giving the temperance movement some context. It's always risky to judge people of another time and place without context!
Raymond Nonnatus, who dedicated his life to freeing Christians and slaves vs Ms Bloomer, an ardent defender of the marginalized and disenfranchised. Amelia is cool but Nonnatus wins for me.
I'm struck by Raymond's box score: first he freed 140 victims in Valencia hen 280 in Algiers. Then out of cash, he soldiered on and negotiated he release of 28 souls in Tunis with the currency of his own life. Nothing speaks louder about this man's depth of faith than that. His value wasn't on huge numbers, even a fractional win, that perverbal raindrop in the ocean was a trade worthy of his life. Reminds me of a certain Son of God we so admire!
I wonder if Raymond would have had a better shot in Lent Madness if we called him by his non-Anglicized name, Father Ramon Nonato? Ah well! I'm grateful to have 'met' this noble Christian soul.
I grew up in St. Raymond's parish in the Bronx which has a lovely stained glass window of its namesake. Gotta go with Raymond.
I knit. The yarn tipped the scale. And a Raymond Nonnatus v Florence Nightingale match up would be interesting (except for the nurse midwives of the Lent Madness-verse who would be split between the mother of modern nursing and the patron saint of midwifery).
Amelia Bloomer represents all the best in fortitude and get-it-fineness! She is my vote for the Golden Halo!
Praise to Diana for putting our saints in prospective in such a way as to aid me in my voting and I marvel at her talent.
It is Raymond Nonnatus for me! His Christian self sacrifice, unwavering position against gossip and of course, being the patron saint of midwives, does it for me. Besides, what would communion be without wine being blessed on the altar?
Although I voted as I thought I would for Amelia, I did take the offerings from the bloggers quite seriously and listened to a couple of the catchy hits from Celebrar la Vida Santuario San Ramon Nonatus, which is available in its entirety on iTunes for some unknown reason. Megan you nailed it, that album sounds exactly like "a head-on collision between Kenny G and that NPR show that comes on at 2:00 am and only plays music about space.” Yikes!
While I still think most highly of Amelia .this vote I must go with Raymond Nonnatus ..AND LIFT MY CUP TO "CALL THE MIDWIFE" and to FRONTIER NURSING UNIVERSITY and the fantastic words on Midwifery they have dispenced..
I write to thank our bloggers for a terrific round of kitsch highlighting the creative imago dei. Indeed, God has a sense of humor and nowhere is this more evident than in saintly kitsch. Now, if we could just find a way to padlock missiles and clothe the world what kind of holy madness that would be.
Very well put, Heather. I like your thinking.
"Padlock missiles as holy madness." I too like your thinking. At $3MM per Tomahawk missile, a "symbolic" gesture such as, say, pounding an empty airstrip could cost $180MM, which would fund a lot of Meals on Wheels and Planned Parenthood and PBS and, oh let's swing for the bleachers here, support for resettlement as our own neighbors of refugees from sarin gas attacks.
Has to be Amelia. Can you imagine drinking from a mug with padlocked lips on it?
A great match-up. But the best kitsch for this baseball lover is the padlocks with baseball players depicted on them. Raymond of the (baseball) padlocks for me! If my husband were still alive, he'd be searching for those for his baseball memorabilia collection.
I'm voting for Raymond Nonnatus, for reasons unrelated to his kitsch, but I loved Megan Castellan's witty write up. And there's something just wonderfully nonsensical about an Amelia Bloomer hip flask.
Go Amelia but gotta love dead guy perfume.
Actually, it's not perfume. It's used to cast spells (Santeria, I would guess). I went to the site that sells it, and they also offer Graveyard Dirt.
That IS Eau de Dead Guy then!
Much as I admire Raymond Nonnatus, I'm pleased Amelia Bloomer is doing as well as she is. I hope in time this sort of feeling gets reflected with visible results in our church hierarchy, but we've still got a ways to go in shattering the stained glass ceiling.
We (in a large part of the Anglican Communion) have female bishops and we (The Episcopal Church) have had a female Presiding Bishop (and I suspect that I will even live to see a female Archbishop of Canterbury).
Voted for each of this noted pair once so far (Nonnatus in the first round, Bloomer in the second).
Plenty of good reasons to vote FOR either. No really compelling reason to vote AGAINST either.
While I'm not a Kitsch Krank, I tend not to vote according to the kitsch. Nevertheless, both of them have decent kitsch.
While there's a strong a "Call the Midwife" vibe to Raymond, one can say that (as Ms. Nightingale was the founder of the ethos of the nursing profession AND was involved in sharp-end wartime health care), a vote for Nurse Flo in previous (and future) rounds could count as a proxy vote for everyone on "Call the Midwife" AS WELL AS everyone on "M*A*S*H" (even the patron saint of everyone who studied theology in the '70s and early '80s, Father Mulcahy). So there's "Call the Midwife" covered.
Still hoping for a Nightingale-Jägerstätter final, but voting for Ms. Bloomer today.
I'm glad you brought up "MASH"!
Hardest decision yet having voted for both. However in the end the environmentally friendly and comfortable bloomers won me over, alongside the slogan 'Well behaved women seldom make history'.
Liked the flask with the picture of Amelia. On the Bloomer suit:
"And now I’m dressed like a little girl, in a dress both loose and short,
Oh with what freedom I can sing, and walk all ‘round about!
And when I get a little strength, some work I think I can do,
‘Twill give me health and comfort, and make me useful too." — The Sibyl magazine, April 15, 1859.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomers_(clothing)
Go Amelia! Pants!
SEC - don't know how to say this otherwise.
I haven't tried, but it looks like I can vote twice - once on my mac and once on my kindle. As I haven't tried, I don't know if it would actually go through with the same email. Since we've had a try at gaming the madness, I thought I'd let you know that smaller possibility seems to exist. Perhaps it doesn't and if I'd tried I 'd know. I have been sorely tempted, but since Flo won easily, I'm figuring on honesty as the best policy.
It appears that Monday will be the Battle of the Male Martyrs and Tuesday will be the Battle of the Persistent Women. Then on Spy Wednesday it will be one of the following:
Amelia v Franz
Amelia v Stephen
Florence v Franz
Florence v Stephen
Raymond Nonnatus