Today in Lent Madness it's Wulfstan vs. Katharina von Bora. Anglican bishop of the Middle Ages facing off against an important figure of the Protestant Reformation.
Yesterday, Lazarus was sent back to the grave in a drubbing at the hand of Esther 77% to 23%. Unlike Lazarus, Esther will live to fight another day as she will face the winner of Anna the Prophet vs. Michael the Archangel.
And just in case you missed yesterday's stellar edition of Monday Madness, which seems an impossibility as it's undoubtedly the highlight of your week, you can watch it here. In this week's episode, Tim and Scott answer Viewer Mail. Have a burning question about Lent Madness? Leave it on our Facebook or Twitter page and it just may get answered on the air.
Wulfstan
Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester in the eleventh century, was the last surviving bishop to have been consecrated before the Norman conquest of England.
He was born around 1008 in Warwickshire. Likely named after his uncle, Wulfstan II, archbishop of York, he studied at monasteries and eventually became a clerk at Worcester. He earned an honorable reputation for his dedication and chastity, and his superiors encouraged him to become a priest. Wulfstan was ordained in 1038 and joined a monastery of Benedictines at Worcester. When Pope Nicholas forced Ealdred, archbishop of York, to relinquish his secondary role as bishop of Worcester, Ealdred appointed Wulfstan in his place.
After the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, Wulfstan was one of only a handful of English-born bishops to retain their diocese because William the Conqueror deemed him especially skillful. For the next three decades, Wulfstan became known for his pastoral care, especially of the poor, and as a champion for the vanquished Saxons who labored under the harsh decrees of the Normans. Wulfstan acted as an ambassador to bridge the old and new regimes. An outspoken opponent of the slave trade, he helped end the practice in his region.
Wulfstan oversaw significant rebuilding projects, including Worcester Cathedral, Hereford Cathedral, and Tewkesbury Abbey as well as founding the Great Malvern Priory. After the Conquest, he claimed an unprecedented authority for the church over the Oswaldslow, a large tract of land he held for the diocese as free of interference by the local sheriff. Presumably, he felt the church could better guard the interests of the Saxon peasants. Wulfstan also helped compile the Domesday Book, a land survey of much of England and parts of Wales.
Wulfstan died on January 20, 1095, after a long illness, the last surviving pre-Conquest bishop. Wulfstan was canonized in 1203 by Pope Innocent III. His feast day is January 19; he is the patron of vegetarians and dieters.
Collect for Wulfstan
Almighty God, your only-begotten Son led captivity captive and gave gifts to your people: Multiply among us faithful pastors, who, like your holy bishop Wulfstan, will give courage to those who are oppressed and held in bondage; and bring us all, we pray, into the true freedom of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Katharina von Bora
“There’s a reason we remember her as Katharina von Bora and not Mrs. Martin Luther,” according to church historian James A. Nestingen. That’s because von Bora was the original girl boss and a key collaborator of Luther’s, shaping the Reformation not only by defining marriage for Protestant clergy but also by challenging the Reformer in theological discussions.
Born into a Saxon family in Germany that had nobility but little money, von Bora entered a Benedictine cloister school as a young child. Her family later arranged her transfer to a Cistercian convent, where—just two years before Martin Luther reportedly nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door on Oct. 31, 1517—she professed vows to become a nun. Somehow the ideas expressed in those theses, which sparked the Protestant Reformation, found their way beyond the cloister walls. And on Good Friday in 1523, twelve nuns left religious life, smuggled out of the convent in herring barrels. Among them was Katharina von Bora.
The women eventually made their way to Wittenberg, where Luther helped them find homes or husbands—all except for von Bora. Finally in control of her own life, Katharina told Luther’s friend Nikolaus von Amsdorf she would marry only him or Luther.
Luther and von Bora were married—a somewhat scandalous action for a former monk and nun—on June 13, 1525. With von Bora’s determination and hard work, she transformed the town’s abandoned monastery not just into a home but “a boarding house the size of a Holiday Inn,” according to biographer Ruth A. Tucker. She brewed beer and cooked meals for the students and friends Luther hosted in their home. She managed the Luther household and its finances, investing in other properties—and she raised six children.
Along the way, she so impressed her husband that he referred to her as “Doctora Lutherin” and, unusually for the time, made her his sole heir when he passed away in 1546. But the law required a guardian for widows and children, making Luther’s will unenforceable and leaving von Bora pleading for money from benefactors. Six years later, von Bora died after an accident involving her horses and wagon in Torgau while fleeing a plague in Wittenberg. Still determined as ever, her last words reportedly were, “I will stick to Christ as a burr to cloth.”
Collect for Katharina von Bora
Great Lover of Souls, you call us to companionship with you and with each other: Grant that we, like your servant Katharina von Bora, would have the deep courage, fearless love, and lively energy to embrace the vocations to which you call us and to stand as strong support for those with whom we live, work, and bear your love into the world. We pray this in the name of him who first loved us, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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280 comments on “Wulfstan vs. Katharina von Bora”
Von Bora has a really interesting bio, but a person with the name ‘Wulfstan’ needs more than a little help.
This time Wulfstan gets my vote.
The choice is more difficult than I anticipated. I have a soft spot for those who served Christ in pre-Norman Conquest Britain. But ultimately I had to vote for Katerina Von Bora. She influenced Martin Luther’s thinking on the value of educating girls, on Christian vocation not being limited to religious vows and occupations, and on the problematic aspects of mandatory celibacy for priests. And she was a strong Christian thinker in her own right, with a faith that stood up to many trials. A saint to model one’s life after.
Y'all let me know when there's a patron saint of red meat and ice cream in the competition. That guy/gal will get my vote. Until then, it's Katharina for me. Simply putting up with Martin and brewing beer makes her a saint, plus all those kiddos. A patron saint of multitaskers, I understand.
According to Sister Mary Martha ("Life is tough; nuns are tougher"): "There isn't actually a patron saint of ice cream per se. . . . [so] we'll have to extrapolate. Off the bat, we have a couple of great saints as patron saints of cooks: St. Martha and St. Lawrence. Next, we have the patron saint of bakers and sweets, who has a scrumptious thigh expanding cake named for him, the French St. Honore, also known as Honorius." As for red meat, St. Lawrence is the patron saint of cooks (he got grilled). St Anthony the Abbot is the patron saint of butchers, specializing in bacon. I believe St. Lawrence was in the lineup last year; sounds as though St Anthony the Abbot is the one after your heart. What you need is a recipe for bacon ice cream. Something to pray for during your examen today.
There is in fact at Genius Kitchen a recipe for bacon ice cream:
Ingredients:
8 slices maple bacon
1⁄4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 cups half-and-half cream
1 cup heavy cream
1⁄3 cup brown sugar
1⁄3 cup vanilla sugar
1⁄3 cup maple syrup
1 pinch kosher salt
1⁄4 teaspoon maple flavoring (optional)
Directions:
To candy the Bacon:
Pre Heat oven to 400°F.
Mix the 1 tablespoon of syrup and the 1/4 cup brown sugar to form a paste.
Lay the bacon out on a cooling rack on a lined sheet pan (lining the sheet pan will save you some nasty clean up).
Spread the paste on one side of the bacon and then bake for 10 minutes.
Pull out bacon and turn each slice over. Spread the paste the other side of the bacon and out back in the oven for another 10 minutes.
Pull bacon out and turn it over again, then bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until bacon is evenly glazed.
Cool completely and then chop into small pieces.
Maple Ice Cream:
Combine all the ice cream ingredients except the bacon in a medium sauce pan and heat to 170°F.
Cool completely before adding to your ice cream maker.
Follow your ice cream maker’s directions, but the basics are:
make sure your machine has been in the freezer for 24 hours and that the mixture is chilled completely.
add the mixture to the machine while it's running.
wait until the ice cream is at a soft serve consistency before adding the bacon pieces.
Put the ice cream in an airtight container and put in the freezer for a few hours before enjoying.
Heart heart heart
Katharina, girl boss, brewer of beer, passenger of a herring barrel. Go forth and read the marvelous "Luther and Katharina" by Jody Hedlund for a spectacular fictionalized account of their relationship.
Many comments posted on Katerina's domestic capablities - however by all accounts she was very much an equal partner with Luther as a sounding board for his ideas as well as a thinker in her own right. After visiting Wittenberg I began following writings about her life and find her to be one of the more interesting and effective 'saints' we're offered this year. Katarina comes across as a contemporary in her work and life - could fit well in our world. To me Wulfstan is another historical curiosity. By the way if anyone has the opportunity go to Wittenberg any June and celebrate the marriage weekend of Martin Luther and Katarina von Bora - one would have no doubt as to the equality of their partnership - a city still celebrating this amazing couple!
Those nuns had to stink when they got out of those barrels! Luther got them husbands or places to stay. Katherina was so smart Luther called her doc. She ran the business, raised kids, some died, she adopted 3. Took people in. Bred cattle. What she missed was selling it all. He tried to leave to her, but was against the law. She wound up poor. Her kids were grown. Katherina was ahead of her time and still has a message for us all. Pay attention to the laws or you may lose your property. I love smart women so I voted for her. Wulfstan''s cathedrals are incredible, so is the priory. Ending slavery in his area is also amazing. I imagine he lived a privileged life though as he oversaw the restorations and even when he built the priory, which I can't imagine was completed in his lifetime.
Wulfstan. When his country was conquered, he figured out how to navigate the new regime without sacrificing his principles. The blog post says he hung onto his job because he was so good at it, but I'll bet he also had serious diplomatic skills. And he obviously had courage. Because he kept fighting for the poor and marginalized for 30 years, and you know that can't have been popular with the Norman overlords. Wulfstan!
Voted for Wulfstan, on the basis of his opposition to slavery.
Reading some of the uncharitable comments in today's post, I've decided that I am giving up Lent Madness for Lent. This will be my last LM post.
LM was a good idea. It's too bad it's jumped the shark.
I didn't see any uncharitable comments in the actual post, but especially in some of the replies to comments, there was definitely unkindness. Defeats the purpose....
I agree. Don’t give up, though, Bob.
Et tu, Bob? I hope you will stay. I have enjoyed reading your comments.
Love the will of this woman Katharina von Bora or known as Doctora Lutherin
Brewing beer, cooking, raising a string of children, and extending bountiful hospitality are all admirable activities. Fighting slavery and championing the poor and oppressed got my vote, though. Wulfstan's work is even more remarkable because he himself was a member of the oppressed group, the Anglo-Saxons.
Wulfstan was not only respected by people who had the ability to have him beheaded, but he also stopped the slave trade in his area.
You got me with this phrase:
"Still determined as ever, her last words reportedly were, “I will stick to Christ as a burr to cloth.” "
Katharina for the win!
A test between two
Chief Lutheran or Bishop
I chose Katharin(a)
For those of us with wonderful partners in ministry... thanks be for Katherina!
I'm going with Katherine, the original girl boss and co-theologian.
Not sure why either one of these folks are Saints, but okay. Martin Luther's wife really did rock though.
What would a saint be like, if not like these?
Wish I'd known there was a saint for dieters. Maybe I would have been more successful! Still had to go with Katharina, though.
I have missed a few votes as I've had to let things settle - I don't like having to vote for one or the other. In this case, I finally settled on Wulfstan. This is due to his protection of the poor and the oppressed. Both did this within their spheres of influence, but I have to especially appreciate right now when someone with power, as a bishop has, maintains their integrity and values.
Another tough one: both of these two are well filled out historical personalities who labored gallantly without expectation of fame, reward or advancement, just doing the work to which God had called them. I remember the affectionate portrait of "Katie" in Roland Bainton's biography of Luther, "Here I Stand;" and Wulfstan comes across as a faithful pastor and administrator, as Chaucer (a couple of hundred years later) describes his simple parson: "But christes lore and his apostles twelve / he taught, but first he folwed it himselve."
Now you've given me two bits to chew on--"Here I Stand" and Chaucer. Thanks, Gretchen!
Tough choice but as a life-long Lutheran (I just work for the Episcopal Church) and the daughter of a line of Lutherans (including many, many pastors) going back many, many, many years I had to go with Katharina. And by the way, I love reading the comments. There are so many clever people out there.....
I voted for Katharina because she was a true revolutionary and she stood up for what she believed in. Supported wife an mother.0
Well, with Katharina's win, now three of my brackets are busted. However, my candidate for the Golden Halo is still in it!