Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. No, Virginia, Santa Claus will not be advancing in Lent Madness 2019. That's because yesterday, in a 
shocking upset that rocked the North Pole, Zenaida defeated Nicholas of Myra 59% to 41% to claim the final spot in the Elate Eight. (Also, Virginia, congratulations on winning yesterday's national championship in that other brackets-based tournament).
We started with 32 saints and 3/4 of them have been cast out, hanging their halos in shame. Okay, that's not how it works - we're pretty sure the saints themselves don't actually care about our little Lenten game of learning. And each and every one of them has already received their own crown of righteousness. Nonetheless, welcome to the Elate Eight.
Who remains? Well, Zenaida joins Martha of Bethany, Photini, Ignatius of Loyola, Gobnait, John Chrysostom, William Wilberforce, and Pandita Ramabai. One of these remaining eight will be awarded the coveted 2019 Golden Halo.
Things kick off with two Biblical heavyweights as Martha of Bethany takes on Photini. To make it to this point, Martha defeated Mary of Bethany and Nicodemus, while Photini took down Ananias and Tabitha. Don’t forget to click the Bracket tab and scroll down to be reminded of what was written about these two in the earlier rounds.
The Elate Eight is also known as the Round of Saintly Kitsch. After basic biographies, quirks and quotes, what else could there be? Now, there are always some folks who take offense to this approach — we call them Kitsch Kranks. Please remember that this round is not meant to belittle or demean our saintly heroes but to have some fun and gaze in wide wonder at the breadth of devotional practice. So kindly relax and enjoy the spirit of the Madness as we push ever onward toward our goal.
For more about all things Lent Madness, tune in to yesterday's edition of Monday Madness, if for some unknown reason you missed it. This week, among other things, Tim and Scott share the First and Great Commandments of Lent Madness.
Martha of Bethany
As an original disciple of Christ living in the first century, we have no idea what St. Martha looked like, nor much of her personality. Yet, people are drawn to her story and long to close the historical divide. Fortunately, there are many varieties of kitsch available to help us connect with her for devotion or emulation, from the orthodox to the syncretic.
On E-bay, you can purchase this multi-saint reliquary for about $1,300 that includes a tiny, holy piece of both Martha and Mary Magdalene, plus five other post-Biblical saints. What a bargain!
In the early days of photography, devotees dreamed up a new way to bring Martha close to us. These included dramatically staged Biblical scenes such as this one, showing the iconic Mary working/Martha listening scene.
And this one, showing the ruins of the house of Martha and Mary in Bethany, c. 1904.
As a novel writer myself, I appreciate the many authors who have chosen Martha as a subject and use their theological imagination to develop her character and explore Biblical themes in depth. I cannot yet personally attest to the theology or quality of writing in these books. However, they certainly have compelling covers that make me want to crack them open and dive in as soon as Martha stops winning in Lent Madness, and I have some time to read recreationally! (Just kidding, vote for Martha!)
And for those in the service industry, for whom Martha is the patron, comes this mini, plastic St. Martha statue, in which Martha holds a ladle and appears before a salver. Surely this devotional item has brought patience and solace to many a waiter while dealing with rude or difficult customers.
This Santa Marta Indio oil is meant for the anointing of the hands when one must overcome 
difficulties, such as a dragon threatening the town where you live. If you find yourself with that or a similar problem, you can order it online, only $2.50 per bottle! Or you can DIY with recipes available on the Internet.
The Indio oil above shows an offshoot of a Martha devotion I did not know about until I became her advocate in Lent Madness this year. She is honored in Voodoo and other syncretic spiritualities that developed among slaves in the Americas and mix Christianity with traditional West African religion. Martha is revered for her dragon slaying and worshipped as the Dominator, a symbol of female power. While the practices associated with this devotion fall outside orthodox Christianity, the symbol itself is potent: Martha, the friend of Christ and servant of all, is the champion of the oppressed and downtrodden.
Photini
Icons in the religious tradition are images of the holy, images filled with symbolism that invite us to venerate the examples of saints in prayer, to be still in the presence of an artistic imagining of a holy moment, and to be drawn closer to God in our prayer with them. The Woman at the Well is one of the most popular icons. The church built in commemoration of her encounter with Christ at the well is filled with artistic icons capturing the holy moment when she and Jesus speak with each other in the Gospel of John. While countless artists have i
magined that moment, the icons of this moment bring a precise, ethereal vision for us to pray with as we, too, encounter Christ.
Icons, however, may not fully capture the dimension of the encounter. For those of you who appreciate sculpture, Timothy B. Schmaltz has created this sculpture, available in a myriad of sizes, from extra-large for those hard to fill secluded spots in the church garden to personal devotional size, perfect for a coffee table.
If a sculpture isn’t quite your style, don’t worry. The well that played such a central role in the encounter between Photini and Jesus was likely simple - made from stone and materials easily available in the community. While large stones may not be readily available in many communities, old tires are in constant supply, so you, too, can repurpose tires in to your very own garden well, in Lent Madness purple, nonetheless!
While you’re contemplating the magnitude of Photini’s encounter with Jesus in your lovely garden complete with
a repurposed tire well, why not sit a while in this moment. But wait, while the ground is nice, having something to sit on would be helpful. And guess what? There’s a round beach towel complete with fringe that will create the perfect place to meditate on Photini and her witness to the Christian faith.
While her name isn’t recorded in the Gospels, after her baptism on Pentecost, the unnamed Samaritan woman in the Gospels is revealed as Photini, meaning, “the enlightened one.” And after a day of sitting on your Photini beach towel by your lovely well in your garden, wouldn’t you love a 
nice refreshing beverage served from your very own enlightened pitcher or lighted water bottles, for those times you’ve invited guests to your garden well?
Suddenly, you realize the day is done. The sun is setting and our eyes behold the vesper light. As we sing our praises to God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we can turn on our Photini nightlight in purple, the official color of Lent Madness.
Of course, Photini’s faith didn’t limit the sharing of the Light of Christ to her homeland. She traveled far and wide in her life to share the teachings of
Jesus, enlightening those whom she encountered with the Good News. Not all of us are called to travel the world to share the Light of Christ, but we all can enlighten our neighborhoods for all to see that we, too, are emulating the Enlightened One.
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130 comments on “Martha of Bethany vs. Photini”
Photini is my choice in this round. Jesus is validating her by breaking through some of the prejudice that people had and still have about the place of women in society. Martha represents what role women are, still in some societies, expected to be. This is one more example of how Jesus crashed through the assumptions people had and often still have about women.
While I have reservations about voting for a dominatrix, I have more about voting for Photini on the basis of unscriptural stories created by the early church. The Gospels don’t tell us a whole lot about who Martha was, but it’s much more than they tell us about the anonymous “woman at the well.” Jesus doesn’t even bother to answer her not unreasonable question, but launches into a discourse that plays on her incomprehension to further John’s purpose of telling us who Jesus is. Even her name, not to mention her subsequent career, is an invention of the early church. I love the stories, but Martha’s powerful presence in the Gospels needs no embroidery.
I want that Martha with the ladle!
I could do without the kitsch, thank you.
Oh no! You’re not being kranky, are you??
What can I say? I have a culinary degree and work in the industry.
Hardest one yet! I so wanted to vote for both, but no can do. I will be happy if one of them wins the Golden Halo, though.
Thank you, Celebrity Blogger, Amber Belldene, for increasing my vocabulary with "syncretic"!
Excellent and inventive assortment of kitsch, Celebrity Blogger, Laurie Brock!
From last Sunday’s gospel: “Martha served.”
Jesus: the one who would be greatest among you must be the servant of all.
I have to vote for Photini because way back in 1973 I wrote about her on my GOEs as a model for a modern day priest. One who meets Jesus, comes to believe in him,tells her friends and neighbors and who is finally told that they no longer believe in him only because of her witness but because of her they have met him themselves.
Sie ist krank mit Kitschkrankheit.
Thank you for expressing my thoughts so nicely.
Let’s see...the woman who missed the point when Jesus was literally in her living room, AND THEN triangulated Jesus instead of just talking to her sister directly, providing a biblical example of unhealthy communication that continues to cripple the church to this day...
vs
The woman who had the longest documented conversation with Jesus of anyone in the gospels, then shared what she had learned with her whole town, caking Jesus the messiah, and bringing them to him to see for themselves—aka, the first preacher to evangelise successfully, and the symbol of how enlightened ones act on the good news (as opposed to those still in darkness like Nicodemus in the previous chapter).
Plus the well and the nightlight!
I can’t believe this isn’t a landslide for #teamPhotini. Too many unappreciated people who missed out on the teaching because they insisted on cleaning up first, methinks. Please, people, don’t vote for the triangulator, but for the one who brings people to Jesus!
This was such a tough choice, but Photini -- speaking back, and then speaking out -- has to be celebrated!
I've chalked up Jesus' rude response to Martha as coming from his fully human side and am lucky I never had to read that aloud, publicly. In spite of everything else credited to Martha, she seems to have kept women in the kitchen for centuries--actually and figuratively--as in not fit for anything in many denominations. In the Episcopal church females could dress the altar and the priest, and work in the kitchen. On the other hand, the woman at the well story, has validated and welcomed all, including all genders, who felt unworthy. I know real, living people for whom the woman at the well story brought them into the fold, just as they were. My vote goes to the woman at the well.
The purple tire well is mighty kitschy, but the $1,300 "reliquary" on ebay takes the kitsch-cake, for me. Martha gets my vote, also because I'd like to know who Jesus thought was going to feed him and those extra 13 guys he brought along to dinner. Imho, he should have had the whole group get up and prepare the meal together, and they could have talked while working!
Absolutely the toughest choice in this year's Madness. I love Martha and her witness and work (also the taming of the dragon is such a great tale). But when I tried a first visit to the Episcopal church next door to my Roman Catholic church, I was invited to a meeting of the Women at the Well, a group of women sharing their journeys and ongoing faith studies. This church has been my faith home for more than 25 years now, and the Women at the Well were largely responsible. Photini for the Golden Halo!
Loved the Kitsch offerings, especially the Martha Dominadora statues (though I had to repress an urge to translate that title as Martha the Dominatrix). With my background in anthropology I have a great regard for syncretic religious traditions, so I’m looking around my house for a place to enshrine a statuette where she’ Be comfortable. However, this Lent I’ve been meditating night and day on Photini without any icon of her in said house, just the words in the Gospel.
I forgot. This has always been my favorite round. Amber Belldene and Laurie Brock it was well worth all your time! I laughed out loud for a long time and that means a lot. Like many others the $1300 ebay thing, plastic Martha, the awful book covers, the purple tire well, the drinks, the night light and the ugly Christmas lit up house had me in tears! Mike did bring some similar items back from Jerusalem that we wrapped up for Christmas gifts and all of us laughed till we cried. Many, many thanks. Well done.
My vote is for Photini. I shall recycle, repurpose, reuse, and re-tire. Then sit by my well, and listen for the voices.
Excellent comments all! Still, in honor of the dedicated "church ladies" who really keep the church running and as a former cocktail waitress/waitress, gotta vote for Martha!
This was a hard choice. I admire Martha as she is everything I'm not (cooking, cleaning, etc.). But I understand the value of water as I work for a water company, so feel a connection to Photini. So she got my vote. Plus I love all her kitsch.
This is my favorite round!
Laurie,
You did a great job on Photini kitsch, as well as, providing me with new appreciation for icons and other items to help us draw our attention and focus on the holy. Thank you.
Tricia