In the penultimate battle of the first round, it's John of Beverley vs. Martin de Porres. The people of Beverley and of Porres have been agitating for this matchup for years -- it's a huge rivalry and hooligans are involved.
Yesterday, Phocas the Gardener maintained his focus in burying Isidore the Farmer 60% to 40%. He'll face Katharina von Bora in the Saintly Sixteen.
If you missed yesterday's episode of the award-winning (in the SEC's own mind) Monday Madness, watch it here. And then, as punishment for missing it, watch it again.
John of Beverley
John of Beverley has a posse.
John was bishop of Hexham, then of York, England, where he was renowned for his preaching and dedicated to his students. He founded a monastery in Beverley, where he later retired and died in 721. Beverley became an important ecclesiastical center in John’s day and thrived after his death largely because of his cult following. He was canonized in 1037 by Pope Benedict IX.
But while John was at one time one of the most celebrated medieval English saints, his popularity since has waned. Little is known about his early life. None of his writings remain.
In fact, John probably is remembered best by the influence he had on others. Among his posse are Berthun, the first abbot of Beverley; Saint Wilfrid the Younger, who followed John as bishop of York; and, most notably, Saint Bede the Venerable, who was ordained by John and recorded a number of stories about him in his Ecclesiastical History of England.
“Those that knew him well are wont to tell many miracles,” Bede wrote. That includes John healing a man with a scabby head who was able to speak for the first time and grow “hair curling in comely fashion.”
After his death, John also reportedly appeared to Julian of Norwich in a vision. She described him in The Showings of Julian of Norwich as “a very exalted saint, who is also a neighbor close at hand, and we are all acquainted with him.”
To Julian, the life of John of Beverley illustrated that “even some very serious sinners are honored by Holy Church here on earth and in heaven for all eternity.”
To the rest of us, his example is a reminder that we may never know the impact we have on others— those in our posses and those who cross our paths, and even those God touches through our legacies long after our earthly lives have ended.
Collect for John of Beverley
God of time and space, you have called each of us to holy tasks and given us companions for our journey: Look with favor upon us, and grant that like your servant John of Beverley, we may be good stewards for our friends and family and living examples of your love and mercy, so that when the account of our lives is given, we may be found to have befriended your Son our Lord Jesus Christ in each face we have greeted. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Martin de Porres
Martin de Porres Velázquez experienced many challenges at the hands of others, but he transformed his hardships into ministry and a lifelong commitment to providing aid to the downtrodden.
Martin hailed from Peru, where he was born on December 9, 1579. He and his sister were considered illegitimate children—their mother was a freed slave and their father was a Spanish nobleman who abandoned the family when he saw the children’s dark skin. Martin endured a life of bullying and abuse. Limited by certain social mores, Martin turned to a trade that his status in life would allow, training as a barber and a surgeon.
He aspired to join the Dominicans, but at the time, they did not allow brothers with such a background as Martin—his dark skin and illegitimate birth. Undaunted, Martin became a lay helper to the Dominicans at age fifteen, starting as a donado, a volunteer who lived in the community, wore the habit, and carried out menial, unwanted tasks.
In time, however, after witnessing Martin’s deep Christian faith and ministry, the Dominicans dropped the rule that “no black person may be received to the holy habit or profession of our Order.” Martin professed his religious vows to the Dominicans in 1603 at the age of twenty-four.
Martin was zealous in his work for those who had no hope. He established orphanages and hospitals and ministered tirelessly to the poor and the forgotten. His caring and compassion for the sick were well-known and highly regarded. According to tradition, Martin also exhibited miraculous behavior, from providing instant cures to having the ability to fly.
Martin died November 3, 1639. He was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII. He is honored on August 23.
Martin is the patron saint of hairstylists, innkeepers, lottery winners, mixed-race people, Peru, poor people, public schools, television, Mexico, public health workers, and all who endeavor for racial reconciliation.
Collect for Martin de Porres
Merciful God, you sent your Gospel to the people of Peru through Martin de Porres, who brought its comfort even to slaves. Help us to follow his example in bringing fearlessly the comfort of your grace to all downtrodden and outcast people, that your Church may be renewed with songs of salvation and praise; through Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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216 comments on “John of Beverley vs. Martin de Porres”
Martin de Porres for me. It's inspiring how he so patiently worked his way into the Dominicans, overcoming prejudice by his example of loving service.
John of Beverley for me. I am always inspired by the thought that what we think may be mundane encounters with others may be flickers of light along their paths of faith.
Martin de Porres, no contest on this one. I've known and respected him since I was just a very young child. We revered him as one of the patrons of students and children living in orphanages, of which, I was one.
Will someone please explain why/how Martin de Porres became the patron saint of television??? Anyone??? Anyone??? Bueller, Bueller???
most likely the same reasons that Isidore of Seville is the patron saint of the Internet.
Someone had to do it!
I voted for Martin...he was a champion for the marginalized of society.
Did he need wings to fly and, if so, where are they in the picture!
Way too sketchy for me and too little but oral tradition.
I don't care whether Martin de Porres could fly or not, but he was a holy man who ministered to the poor and outcast. In a time when my country desperately needs to achieve racial reconciliation, it's Martin for me!
Today I voted for John of Beverly because his ministry speaks very personally to mine. Martin DePorres is more politically correct, for lack of a better term, but John of Beverly left a legacy that is more far-reaching then we can know.
I had to think carefully about my vote today. The influence of John was obviously great, and for that alone he is to be honored. I voted for Martin because he persisted and is the patron saint of public health workers. I shall consider both of them a blessing to all of us
The fact that Martin de Porres was canonized by our most beloved Pope John (even to those of us who are most solidly Protestant) is icing on the cake of his very important life. For his faithfulness to his calling, even though the order to which he was called did not recognize that calling for many years; for his devotion to helping orphans, the sick, and many others with special needs; and for the importance of recognizing the beauty and multitude of graces God has given people of many varying mixtures of heritage and customs, I vote for Martin of Porres.
Could someone please translate. "ROTFLMAO"? Never heard of that word.
You can easily google all these acronyms. This one is: Rolling on the Floor Laughing my A-- Off.
Thank you St. Celia. I didn't want to ask.
How to tell you’re doing Lent Madness:
LOL = Loving Order of Loyola
ROFL = Rites of Office for Fridays in Lent
NSFW = Network of Saintly Franciscan Women
IMHO = Interdenominational Missal for the Martyr Oswald
TL;DR = Theology of Luther; Doctrine of the Reformation
You'd have to be an Anglophile with the name of John Lewis! Count me in on Anglophile.
Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow.
"Rolling on the floor, laughing my ass off:~
Thank you. Not very elegant, but it does get the point across...
Fly, Martin, fly. You got my vote.
Martin is clearly the more "saintly", living a life worthy of a halo, but John of Beverly's collect really touched me. I could never be as noble and king and generous as Martin, perhaps I could live my life in a way worthy of John.
My home parish is St. Bede in Forest Grove, OR., which lent thought to the possibility of voting for John, since it was he who ordained Bede. Alas, I must go with Martin, for the example of his life and work, and the fact his Saint's Day is my birthday!
Go Boxers.
Yes indeed!
that is the message I got to. He didn't give up. He did what he could do and eventually got what he wanted.
I voted for Martin. My church is St Martin's and I support all that he represents as a Saint.
I really wanted to vote for John. What a wonderful lesson for all of us - we touch the lives around us. I hope the lives I touch see God’s love. In the end I voted for Martin because of all he did.
Have to go with the man with perseverance to serve God when others did not want him and for the one who serves the poor , orphans and the sick. Full of humility.
As a Public Health Nurse for 20 years working with many poor and both documented and undocumented in southern New Mexico - Martin is my man. A man of compassion and persistence in the face of repeated rejections.
Anybody who can fly (my little Nancy can fly very well) deserves a vote. Ah, but they both fly. Boy you SEC guys know how to make it hard.
Still, had to go with DePorres. There's something about tenacity against all odds, and doing something that needs to be done, and nobody seems to be doing it.
That nobleman who abandoned the family when he saw how dark the children's skin was must not been paying much attention if he fathered (at a minimum) two children before he figured it out.
I feel this election has been tampered with. Clearly the blah description of John as someone whose life we know nothing about will keep people from voting for him. And I see it has! I think the biaised PR given to Martin over John is a form of election rigging and highly reprehensible. In fact, there ought to be an investigation.
By his example Martin persuaded the Dominicans to change their views. He gets my vote.
I expected to vote for Martin -- his candles are big sellers in bodegas around here -- but
I decided to learn more about John of Beverly. That's how I learned about his banner. The banner was carried into battle by a ragtag English army fighting against the invading King David of Scotland, and the English won. So revered was the banner that when troops were levied in Yorkshire, the town of Beverly only had to supply a single man carrying John's banner. Five English kings carried the banner into battle, most notably Henry V. Henry V attributed his victory at Agincourt to John of Beverly.
Emily certainly had the tougher job, campaigning for the saint about whose life so little is known, but I have to object to the use of "posse" not once, but twice! Just because "All the kids are saying it," doesn't mean the word belongs in a piece with more scholarly vocabulary and syntax, and frankly, references to "posses" are getting rather twee. Believe me, I have a 17-year-old.
Being a Yorkshire lass born and bred I had to vote for John of Beverly - and while we may have none of his writings and scant information about him, I was impressed by the impact he had on others. The Collect said it all - we are called to be "living examples" and clearly John of Beverly was such.