In the fullness of time, the Supreme Executive Committee rests from its Lenten labors and begins accepting nominations for Lent Madness 2018.
In other words...
Welcome to Nominationtide!
For one full week, Tim and Scott will be accepting nominations for Lent Madness 2018. The nominating period will remain open through the evening of Monday, May 22. At which point the window will unceremoniously slam shut.
Please note that the ONLY way to nominate a saint is to leave a comment in this post. Nominations will not be accepted via social media, e-mail, carrier pigeon, brick through a window at Forward Movement headquarters, singing telegram, sky writer, or giant billboard along I-95. Also, at least officially, bribes are discouraged.
As you discern saints to nominate, please keep in mind that a number of saints are ineligible for next year’s “saintly smackdown.” This includes the entire field of Lent Madness 2017, those saints who made it to the Round of the Elate Eight in 2016 and 2015, and those from the 2014 Faithful Four. Needless to say Jesus, Mary, Tim, Scott, and previous Golden Halo Winners are also ineligible. Below is a comprehensive list of ineligible saints. Please keep this in mind as you submit your nominations.
It takes Herculean amounts of shade grown, single-origin coffee for Tim and Scott to put together the Lent Madness bracket.
Also, note that the saints you nominate should be in the sanctoral calendar of one or more churches. When it comes to nominations, the SEC has seen it all over the years: people who are still alive, people who are not Christians, non-humans, etc. While these folks (and animals) may well be wonderful, they are not eligible for Lent Madness. To reiterate, being DEAD is part of the criteria.
As always, we seek to put together a balanced bracket of saints ancient and modern, Biblical and ecclesiastical representing the breadth and diversity of Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
And remember that when it comes to saints in Lent Madness, many are called yet few are chosen (by the SEC). So leave a comment below with your (eligible) nomination! The 2018 field of 32 awaits your input.
The Saints of Lent Madness 2017 (all ineligible)
Fanny Crosby
G.F. Handel
Sarah
Elizabeth Ann Seton
Joseph Schereschewsky
Nikolaus von Zinzendorf
Scholastica
Macrina the Younger
Amelia Bloomer
Phillip Melanchton
Franz Jagerstatter
Joan of Arc
Martin Luther
David Oakerhater
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Canterbury
Raymond Nonnatus
John of Nepomuk
Odo of Cluny
Theodore the Studite
Florence of Nightingale
Anselm of Canterbury
Henry Budd
Cecilia
Moses the Black
John Wycliffe
Mechtild of Magdeburg
Henry Beard Delaney
Aelred of Riveaulx
Stephen
Alban
Past Golden Halo Winners (ineligible)
George Herbert, C.S. Lewis, Mary Magdalene, Frances Perkins, Charles Wesley, Francis of Assisi, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Florence Nightingale
From 2014 to 2016 (ineligible)
Thecla
Bernard Mizecki
Frederick Douglass
Molly Brant
Egeria
Brigid of Kildare
Columba
Albert Schweitzer
Julian of Norwich
Absalom Jones
Sojourner Truth
Constance
Vida Dutton Scudder
Kamehameha
Phillips Brooks
Lydia
Harriet Bedell
After the SEC culls through the hundreds of nominations at their annual spring retreat, the 2018 Bracket will be announced on All Brackets’ Day (November 3rd).
In the meantime, we wish you all a joyous Nominationtide.
527 comments on “Nominationtide Is Here!”
John Wesley
Father Damian
Mary Mackillop - Australian nun who founded the Sisters of St. Joseph - excommunicated after she complained about a priest abusing children - held her ground and was reinstated by Rome - canonised a few years ago
John Flynn - Australian Presbyterian minister who founded the Royal Flying Doctor Service in the early 20th c. - brought reliable emergency medical care to remote Australia - in the calendar of the Uniting Church in Australia
(I'd be happy to offer my services doing the write-ups for either of the Aussies or for John Wesley - or for any other likely candidates.)
Two nominations:
Ida Wells
Jael
I nominate Peirre Teilhard de Chardin who published works which attempted to make sense of our Israelite-Judeao-Christian spirirtual heritage in the light of our modern scientific discoveries, particularly in regard to Evolution. Many have been spiritualy energized by his ideas and carried his thinking further.
1. Bertha 0f Kent: Frankish princess who married (pagan) Aethelbert, King of Kent, on the condition that she could continue to practice her faith and bring a priest with her. Aethelbert consented, they married, and she prayed continually for the conversion of England. It was only years later that Pope Gregory sent Augustine to Kent in 596. Bertha was responsible for her husband's welcoming reception to Augustine which allowed Augustine to settle and preach there.
2. Christina Rossetti, poet: Many of her poems have themes of Christian faith.
3. Anne Hutchinson: member of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; banished for holding Bible studies in her house (attended by both women and men) and her ideas/beliefs about faith and doctrine that differed from those accepted by the Puritan leaders.
St. Isidore the Farmer (1070-1130)
Written by Daniel G P Gutiérrez, Presiding Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania.
In March 1622, many were surprised by Isidore becoming a saint. He founded no order, nor did he write a single book. He was a simple farm worker who spent his life tilling the land, mostly for the same wealthy landowner. With his wife, Maria, he bore a son who died in childhood.
Isidore knew the hardship, toil, and sorrow that are very familiar to many. He went to worship daily and prayed continuously in the fields, displaying the simple and profound faith shared by many in this world. It was said that angels could be seen assisting Isidore in the fields as he plowed. Though he had very little wealth, he became known for generosity and hospitality, especially to the stranger or the lonely. He died on May 15, 1130.
Father Stan Rather,
martyred in Guatemala for continuing to provide pastoral care to the indigenous population after being forbidden to.
Hilda of Whitby
Thomas Merton, for what Robert Inchausti has called his "subversive Orthodoxy;" for making contemplative prayer available to non-monastic Christians of every denomination; for his extensive, beautiful writings, including his poetry; for his essays on the perilous spiritual state of the modern world, and resisting evil non-violently by confronting it with truth, and love; for his contribution to Vatican II and for opening many doors to interfaith dialogue.
St. Nicholas
St. Cuthbert
St. John Bosco, founder of the Salesian order or St. Dominic Savio, who was his student.
(Yes, I am of Cuban descent and both of these saints hold a special place in our hearts and I am ex-Roman Catholic.)
I was thinking about including St. J. Bosco in my own list. I love chocolate syrup!
Funny you should ask on May 15, the feast day of St. Isidore, the farmer. The farmer who leases my land is planting it as I type this, as are the neighbors. Surely the parton saint of these hard-working custodians of the land deserves a golden halo.
My husband would like to nominate Noah of Genesis fame and I would like to nominate, Junia, New Testament apostle. Thanks!!
I nominate John Dewey. He developed an education model that we still use today. He stood up for public education and women's rights.
St. Polycarp, an early martyr in Rome who waved his hand with impunity at the Roman emperor. He has no chance of winning I am sure but his story should be better known!
Saint Ansgar- The first legate to Scandinavia
Teresa of liseaux
Mother Theresa
Hildagarde von bingen
julian of Norwich
Harriet Tubman
Philip M. Hannan, Archbishop of New Orleans, deceased.
Katherine of Alexandria
St Quiteria
St. Rachael
St. Sarah
I nominate
William Stringfellow
Pauli Murray
I nominate
William Stringfellow
Pauli Murray
My nominees are:
Gregor the Great (the pope after whom the Gregorian Chant was named)
Cesar Auguste Franck, organist of St Clothilde in Paris, composer of wonderful liturgical and organ music, and a very pious man
Anton Bruckner, another great organist and composer and very pious man
Dr Martin Luther King Jr (nominated by others!)
How about Olivier Messiaen? But I second the nomination of Cesar Franck and Anton Bruckner.
Saint Ildefonsus (San Ildefonso; Hildefuns), feast day 23 January
J.S. Bach
I nominate st ann the grandmother of jesus. I also agee with veronica being nominated.
I'd love to see Thomas a Kempis and Thomas Aquinas go head to head.
How about Saint "Aussie" Mary MacKillop?
Hilda of Whitby
Hildegard of Bingen
Julian of Norwich
Ælfflæd of Whitby
Ælfthryth of Crowland
Æthelburh of Faremoutiers
Æthelburh of Barking
Æthelburh of Kent
Æthelthryth
Eadburh of Bicester
Eadburh of Winchester
Eadgyth of Aylesbury
Eanflæd
Edburga of Minster-in-Thanet
Seaxburh of Ely
Werburgh
Wihtburh
Do I notice a pattern here, Raewynne? Lovely name, Raewynne, by the way. First time I've encountered it.
Mother Teresa, recently canonized! Declared to be the "saint of the gutters" before the crowds at the Vatican. Pope Francis described her as: "She bowed down before those who were spent, left to die on the side of the road, seeing in them their God-given dignity. She made her voice heard before the powers of this world, so that they might recognize their guilt for the crime of poverty they created."
St. Peter
Teilhard de Chardin
Saint Faith of Agen
Saint Expeditus