668 comments on “Nominationtide has arrived!”

1. I nominate Ted Howden, and Episcopal Chaplain during WWII. He ministered to all with whom he was imprisoned, and was an example of how Christians should live. We celebrate him annually in the Diocese of the Rio Grande.

2. I nominate Sr. Dorothy Mae Stang. I learned of Sr. Dorothy's work with the poor people of the Brazilian Amazon while listening to a podcast about her assassination at the hands of wealthy land owners. A citizen of Brazil and the United States, Sister Dorothy worked with the Pastoral Land Commission, an organization of the Catholic Church that fights for the rights of rural workers and peasants, and defends land reforms in Brazil. Before her murder, Sister Dorothy was named "Woman of the Year" by the state of Para for her work in the Amazon region. She also received the Humanitarian of the Year award from the Brazilian Bar Association for her work helping the local rural workers. She is venerated in the Catholic church with a 5 day Novena and has been formally recognized by the Vatican as a modern day martyr.

3. I would like to nominate St. Jean de Brebeuf. St. Jean was a 17th Century Jesuit and Missionary who ministered to the Wendat Nation in New France. He was a highly skilled linguist, learning the Wendat language and culture and then teaching it to other missionaries and fur traders. St. Jean used parallels in Wendat spirituality and culture to teach the Gospel to the Wendat people. During his time in New France de Brebeuf was caught in the middle of fighting between the Wendat and Haudenosaunee and was captured, tortured and martyred by Haudenosaunee warriors in 1649. St. Jean de Brebeuf is credited with writing the hymn 'Twas Moon in Wintertime" a.k.a. "The Huron Carol."

4. I nominate Saint Drogo of Sebourg (March 14, 1105– April 16, 1186, also known as Dreux, Drugo, and Druron). His mother, a Flemish noblewoman, died when he was born and his father, and before adulthood he also lost his father. He gave away his inherited wealth to become a monk. As a young man, he acquired a disease so disfiguring he was shut up in his monastic cell, though he could supposedly appear in two places at once, which he used to attend mass while also working. His horrible appearance made him the patron saint of people who are not attractive to others and he is also (for what reason I don't know) the patron of coffee houses. One of those patronages may endear him to Scott and Tim.

   1. Here's a good article on him: https://www.crisismagazine.com/2015/rediscovering-saint-drogo-sebourg

5. I nominate Thurgood Marshall. At a time in our country when Justice for people of color is still not a reality, I think he would make a fine candidate for Golden Halo.

6. St Aiden

7. I would like to nominate Pauli Murray. She was the first African American woman priest, and a trailblazer in many ways. She wrote a critique of Plessy v. Ferguson that became the basis for Brown v. Board of Education. She wrote the constitution of Ghana. She considered herself what we now call gender fluid, or non-binary - she used the word "mixies" to refer to her mixed-race and mixed-gender identities.
   She was an amazing person.

8. I nominate Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat and convert to the Russian Orthodox Church who saved the lives of thousands of Lithuanian Jews by using his diplomatic post to issue vast numbers of exit visas, enabling them to flee to safety from the Nazi regime. When his government was silent, refusing to provide authorization or guidance, he took matters into his own hands, and is quoted as saying that he might be disobeying his government, but to ignore the plight of the Jews would be disobeying God. When he was called back to Japan, he famously continued writing visas even as his train pulled out of the station, flinging papers from the windows. After returning to Japan, he was forced to resign his position and struggled to support his family, and received little recognition until very late in life when his deeds were brought to light by the survivors he saved, but he always maintained that he had no regrets about what he had done. The estimate of lives saved by his actions ranges from 4,000 to 10,000. I would love to see him honored with a spot in next year's bracket, so that more people can learn his story.

9. St. Damiano, because the only thing I know about him/her/them is something to do with
   St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi.

10. The most righteous man in the Bible: Abimelech of Gerar. Thinking Sarah was Abraham's sister, he attempted to take her as a wife. He did it with "integrity in his heart and innocence of his hands." When warned by God that she was indeed Abraham's wife, he was entirely repentant. He strove in every way possible to make amends with God and Abraham.

11. Rev. Antoinette Brown Blackwell, first ordained woman, 1870 by the Congregational Church in upstate New York. Struggled for a seminary education, sister in law to Elizabeth Blackwell, first woman doctor. Part of the woman's sufferage movement. UCC does not have a "list of saints" but at General Synod every two years, there is the Antoinette Brown Blackwell award given...that is about as good as it gets for "formal" recognition.

12. I nominate Florence Li Tim Oi. First woman ordained in the Anglican Communion, she stepped up to serve the people, the Church, and Jesus in China when no men would do so.

13. I did not know that Tim and Scott were dead
    May they rest in peace.

14. I nominate ST. MAXIMILIAN KOLBE, the Polish priest who took the place of a condemned prisoner in a concentration camp. they don't come much more noble than that.

15. I nominate Saint Nino of Georgia. Evangelizing the country of Georgia as a teenage girl is a pretty awesome feat...

    1. An enthusiastic second! St. Nino/Nina of Georgia was known as "the Christian" or "La Chrétienne" and is the patron saint of an order of Roman Catholic sisters whose motherhouse is in Metz, France. They taught in several communities in New England in the 20th cent. and I attended their school in Salem, MA for 12 years.

16. St Rita of Cascia

17. Re St. Anthony, another version that I have heard is: Tony, Tony Listen, listen Hurry, hurry Somethings missin'

18. I nominate St. Rose of Lima, patron saint of embroiderers and lacemakers, gardeners and florists, Latin America and indigenous peoples of the Americas. She also protects against vanity.

19. St. Kateri Tekakwitha is my nominee. She may have been nominated before, but I think the first Native American saint deserves a place in the bracket

20. My last post was just a comment. I would like to nominate Kateri Tekakwitha, an Algonquin-mohawk born near Auriesville NY in 1656. She was converted to Christianity by Jesuit missionaries and was given the baptismal name of Catherine. She was known as "the Lily of the Mohawks" and is the first North American Indigenous woman to be canonized.

21. St Andre Bessette! A humble, gentle, and underrated saint! His story is awesome and many miracles have been performed through his intercession!

22. I nominate St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. He was in the 2010 Lent Madness race against St. Peter. It is time for him to run again and show his true colors. The miracle of the candles with his mother Cynethryth, the miracle of the king being saved from plummeting over the cliffs of Cheddar, and the fact that both the devil and the angels appeared to him are reason enough for him to claim the Golden Halo. But he also brought back to life monasticism in a country that was in a sad and ravaged condition. He was a great councilor to several kings and served both the spiritual and the temporal well-being of the English people in a very dark time in their history. Thank you for considering St. Dunstan for the 2020 Lent Madness competition.

    1. Anna, you beat me to it! So I second your motion for St. Dunstan! And may I add....

       Dunstan is remembered as the patron saint of bell ringers and blacksmiths; legend has it that he once grabbed the devil by the nose with his blacksmith tongs. He is referenced in Dickens' *A Christmas Carol*.

       Here is the opening of a song our choir sang for Dunstan's feast day (to the tune of "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" from "Show Boat"):

       "In his early life St. Dunstan chose to lead a life monastic.
       Even so, he did some things that really seem to be fantastic.
       When the devil asked him to do wrong
       St. Dunstan tweaked him with hot tongs and .... (It goes on for three verses!)

       For kitsch, you've got a video game (Runescape) where Dunstan is a scary-looking character;
       * a plainsong psalter named after him;
       * a book called *The True Legend of St. Dunstan and the Devil: How the Horse-Shoe Came to Be a Charm Against the Devil*;
       * blacksmith tongs, bellows, or even a Cuisinart grill tool set (including tongs, of course);
       * a 27-piece set of copper handbells (covers the metallurgical and musical aspects of his life story!)

       You could pit him against Lucy of Syracuse, the patron saint of glassblowers, or against St. Iranaeus, his ecclesiastical counterpart in France (primate of the Gauls).

       St. Dunstan in 2020!

23. St. Christopher is my suggestion. This saint, like Nicholas of Myra, has been done ill by the institutional church, and I would like to see recognition given.

24. I nominate Queen Emma of Hawai'i, who came as a runner-up to Golden Halo winner Mary Magdalene in 2012. She and her husband, King Kamehameha IV, adopted the Anglican/Episcopalian faith, and it was that faith that resonated with her Hawaiian spirituality as well as gave her the inspiration to truly serve those of her people who were on the margins of society. She founded hospitals and schools by literally going door-to-door, cap in hand, for donations. She even traveled to London to meet Queen Victoria in her quest to secure enough funds to help those of the indigenous Hawaiian population who were impoverished and suffering from non-native diseases like Hansen's Disease (leprosy), small pox, and herpes.

25. St. Dominic Savio. His piety and innocence are inspirational, as well as his dedication to holiness and Sainthood. He is a loyal advocate for students and young people. His example of devotion and faith are worthy of rememberance.

26. Deconess Harriet Bedell, missionary to the Cheyenne in Oklahoma, Alaska Natives, and the Seminole of Florida. She worshipped at my parish - St Stephen's Episcopal, Coconut Grove FL - and, although officially retired by the Board of Missions at age 72, she arranged for the Glades mission to be funded by the parish in 1943 and continued her ministry well into her 80s. At the encouragement of the Bishop, 85-year-old Deaconess Bedell entered the Bishop Gray Inn in Davenport, where she lived until she was 94, recruiting missionaries, teaching Sunday School and working in the infirmary for many years.

27. I nominate Thomas More, who defied Henry VIII and refused to sign the oath acknowledging Anne Boleyn as Queen and Henry as head of the Church in England. This ultimately cost him his life. I admire the way he stuck by his beliefs (that Catherine was Queen and that Parliament had no authority to name Henry head of the Church).

28. St Joseph, father of our Lord, is my pick for many reasons - faithful obedience to God, love and care of Mary and Jesus, and patron saint of fathers. He is an excellent example for step parents, and he is a favour saint of mine in prayer.

29. What if your altar guild discovered that hidden away in your sacristy was the Holy Grail? How can ordinary people handle the holiness of the relic and the potential for evil that such divine connection can engender. Way before Indiana Jones his screens, Charles Williams explored these themes, which is why I nominate him to Lent Madness 2020.

    Williams, the "forgotten Inkling" was a contemporary and friend of C.S. Lewis, and was one of the band of writers (along with Dorothy Sayers and JRR Tolkien) who met regularly in Oxford. A novelist, poet, playwright, and theologian, he was a prolific writer. He is particularly known for his reflections on the connection between romantic love and divine love. He believed that in romantic love, we catch a glimpse of the ideal person in the one we love, see a little bit of what God sees in us, which draws us into deeper relationship with both the beloved person and also the person of God. His imaginative novels explored the connections between the divine and everyday human experience. A common theme in his work is what he called "co-inherence," a term used in Patristic theology that describes the relationship between the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ and the relationship between the persons of the blessed Trinity. Using images of magic (Many Dimensions, 1931), Platonic archetypes (The Place of the Lion, 1931), ghosts, demons, and dopplegangers (Decent into Hell, 1937), he asks "what if" the realities of the spirit broke into the everyday existence. Of course, this points us to the power and the purpose of the Incarnation and the depths of the Holy Trinity. In my opinion, he would be a worthy addition to the saintly smackdown and with flights of imagination, the clash of divine and dark powers, and the power of love would leave all others in the bracket in the dust.

30. Mother Eva Matthews, Founder of the Community of the Transfiguration. She traveled to the Holy land in the late 19th century and was inspired by the women there. She had a diaconal heart and took care of infants in the city of Cincinnati, bringing them to the 'country' for fresh air. The legacy of her community includes ministries in Japan, China, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Lincoln Heights (Cincinnati) and Butler Ohio, in addition to the Mother House in Glendale Ohio.