266 comments on “Happy Nominationtide!”

1. Abraham. The father of us all.

   1. also patron saint of prolicide? just checking

   2. St. James (the Greater): first Apostle to be martyred, patron of the great Camino de Santiago. Great kitsch -- lots of St. James images as a pilgrim or on a horse with a sword (Matamoros).

   3. I nominate Mother Antonia---A full description can be seen in this link........Here is there last paragraph: Mother Antonia reminded me that ultimately ministry is not a position. It is a posture. She transformed La Mesa Prison with no title, no office with the church, and no institutional credentials. It was her presence among prisoners and guards that mattered, not any position she could have held over them. Mother Antonia, like every true shepherd of God, ministered from a posture of love not fear, and cared more about service than her own significance.

      Here is the link to the full description
      ...https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#trash/FMfcgxwHNWFxrlVSjfZhlfNmxCtnlbjt

2. Saint Lucy Patron Saint of Blindness and might or might not have plucked out her eyes to avoid marrying the dude.

   1. WOW! You just beat me to it. I nominated Lucy as well!

3. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955). Priest, scientist, visionary, one of the most influential Christian thinkers of the second half of the 20th century.

   1. And a paleoanthropologist, who happened to be at a dig on a certain Sussex down about 110 years ago!

4. Saintly Nominee(s)--counts as a Holy Group? The Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne
   --or--Marie de l'Incarnation--all met their fate at the guillotine during the French Revolution.

5. Paul the Apostle a.k.a. Saul of Tarsus.

   My namesake, Claire of Assisi is not available this time so I choose my hubby's namesake.

6. St. Lucy. My mom, Rev. Melanie Barbarito, told me about Lucy long ago and she's always been stuck in my head. It's the plate with her eyes, people! Anyway, she also wanted to distribute her wealth to the poor, which endears her to me. "...whatever you give away at death for the Lord's sake you give because you cannot take it with you. Give now to the true Savior, while you are healthy, whatever you intended to give away at your death." Lastly, my husband is missing an eye, so St. Lucia is his patron Saint! Thanks!

7. The Fourteen Holy Helpers ( because... Coronavirus...):
   "In the past, during dire times of plague and persecution, our Christian forbearers sought advocates and intercessors when they felt powerless in the face of pestilence, natural disaster, or disease. The “Fourteen Holy Helpers” tradition arose as one such cloud of witnesses to whom people turned for aid and solace in their moments of fear and desperation.

   In Bavaria, they were referred to as the Vierzehnheiligen and the local population dedicated a basilica named for these 14 Helpers near Bamberg. The group included Saints Agathius, Barbara, Blaise, Catherine of Alexandria, Christophorus, Cyriacus, Denis, Elmo, Eustace, George, Giles, Margaret of Antioch, Pantaleon and Vitus. They were venerated together, especially when the Black Death ravaged Europe, killing between a third and a half of the population. Thankfully, the mortality rate of the current pandemic — while serious and frightening in its own right — appears to be roughly 50 times less than the Yersinia Pestis that killed millions." (from https://catholicstarherald.org/the-saints-people-prayed-to-during-the-black-death/)

   1. Way to go Willie! Sounds like an amazing group - ready to share the halo!!!

8. Guinefort - because how could you not want to learn about a saint who saved a baby from a snake, healed sick kids, and - oh yeah - lost his sainthood because he was a dog?

9. Abba Moses the Ethiopian,a powerful story of transformation and redemption from the 4th century deserts of Egypt/

10. From Wiki: Camillus de Lellis, M.I., (25 May 1550 – 14 July 1614) was a Roman Catholic priest from Italy who founded the Camillians, a religious order dedicated to the care of the sick. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XIV in the year 1742, and canonized by him four years later in 1746. De Lellis is the patron saint of the sick, hospitals, nurses and physicians. His assistance is also invoked against gambling.
    I nominate Camillus because in this time of COVID, I need to pay more attention to those who are on the job every day risking their lives. I think the Red Cross is also important, to know where it came from.

    1. Lou you beat me to it! I would just add that there is an order of Camillians today in South India who were the first to take care of AIDS patients in that region. They now have an orphanage of Aids children who they are raising.

       1. Wonderful! Thanks for letting me know!

11. St. Pantelemon the Unmercenary Physician in honor of all those who have selflessly and valiantly fought this virus.

    1. Second! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pantaleon He is also one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, as mentioned above.

12. St. Roche 1295-1327 Montpelier France.
    Born with a red cross on his chest, St. Roche is the Patron Saint of DOGS, INVALIDS, THE SICK , FALSELY ACCUSED PEOPLE AND BACHELORS. A powerful patron saint against PLAGUES,
    PESTILENCE AND KNEE PROBLEMS. His Feast Day is Aug. 16.

    Legend says he devoted himself to caring for victims of the plague i Italy and performed many healing
    miracles. When he became a victim himself, he retreated to a forest where his weeping wounds from the
    plague were licked by a DOG who also brought him bread and he was healed. He died in prison being accused of being a spy. This was a mistake and upon his death, his uncle who had imprisoned him
    recognized him as his nephew. To assure people he had survived the plague, he would show the
    plague scars on his thigh. He is often portrayed in paintings showing his leg scar with a dog at his side.

13. I don't have anyone to nominate, but I do have a request. When forming the brackets, can we not put pairs (like the Wesley brothers, the Bethany sisters, and there were more) against each other in the first round brackets. Can they at least get a chance to compete with each other later in the brackets? And yes I realize that Charles and Martha are ineligible, but perhaps if they had been up against their sibling for the Golden Halo things might be different. Or at least more decided. Thank you for your consideration.

    1. St. Benedict, the patron saint of kidneys, as I am awaiting a kidney transplant.

14. HADEWIJCH OF BRABANT. Commemoration day April 22.
    I would like to always see one female mystic represent. She's also a bit gender bending as she writes about God's love in both the femine and masculine.

    1. What fun it is just trying to pronounce her name!

15. St Christopher- patron of travelers!

16. I would like to nominate St. Jerome, a real character (what else could you be with a name like Hieronymus?) who lived large, repented, dedicated his life to Christ, translated the Scripture to the Latin Vulgate, and was a passionate scholar and lover of words and books. And snarky to boot, which I very much appreciate. My husband is currently reproducing Caravaggio's painting of Jerome writing, as a practice painting, so Jerome's image, complete with skull, is fresh in my mind.

17. I'm very fond of Moses the Black. He was a thief and a murderer, and once took shelter with some monks in the desert in Egypt. He was so taken by their peace and contentment that he renounced his life of crime, and joined the religious community.
    He is considered a Desert Father, one of an early group of Christian hermits and monks who lived mainly in the Egyptian desert in around the Third Century AD.

    1. that makes two of us! 🙂 I was concerned tho,when I saw that he was in (2) previous year's brackets/

18. St. Kateri Tekakwitha, who became the first Native American saint recognized by the Roman Catholic Church in — wait for it — 2012. She's patron saint of the environment, and her story has been reclaimed by many Native Christians as a means of decolonization, centering Indigenous culture and the role of Native women within spiritual practice.

    1. Yes, I second the motion!

19. Saint Hilda of Whitby, born into a royal family but was humble and became a nun

20. I nominate St. Ita (Ite or Ida) of Killeedy, foster mother of St. Brendan the Navigator.

21. St. Cuthbert

    Cuthbert loved animals even more than Frank and Tony. We named one of our cats Cuthbert.

    1. I second Cuthbert! My grandcat is also a Cuthbert (and hangs out with his dogbrother, Oswald - much as St Cuthbert and St Oswald do in death).

22. Eric Yaun

23. I nominate St. Sebastian. He is the patron saint of athletes, including basketball players, so his inclusion would pay homage to March Madness. Also he is the patron saint of plague victims, and hopefully COVID-19 will be gone by next year, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

    1. St. Barbara, because of my nephew who is in the artillery and one who is a tank commander. And in honor of my favorite fire marshal, JB. St. Barbara is on the Eastern Orthodox calendar. She is buried in the Ukraine, from where my ancestors came.

24. St. Raphael the Archangel.
    He is not dead, but does it matter in this case, as Archangels seemingly are inmortal? I chose him because he is one of my two Patron Saints.

25. To commemorate his canonization, St. John Henry Newman. Plus, with three different feast days, he deserves extra credit!

26. St. Sebastian because his blessings are asked to drive away plagues and pestilence. We need that now.

27. Florence Li Tim-Oi, the first woman to be ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican communion. She was ordained in 1944 during the occupation of Hong Kong when priests could not get to Japan.

    1. I second this nomination!

    2. She was in a very recent Lent Madness, just a couple of years ago.

    3. Yes, indeed! She visited our church in the 80s, a tiny woman of great spirit!

    4. Yes, I nominated her previously... still waiting for her to make the bracket.

    5. Florence Li-Tim Oi was nominated in 2013. Great write-up about her then! Great candidate

    6. I also nominate Florence Li-Tim Oi. As the son of a woman ordained into the priesthood of the Anglican Church of Canada I do this in honor of my mother who cannot be nominated because she is very much alive. I also nominate Florence to honor my many female friends who are priests and deacons in the Episcopal Church

28. The Dorchester Chaplains: Lieutenant George Fox, Lieutenant Alexander D. Goode, Lieutenant Clark V. Poling, and Lieutenant John P. Washington, 1943
    When the Dorchester was torpedoed by the Germans, they gave helped crew members into the lifeboats, gave up their life jackets to others and went down with the ship. Congress created a special medal in their honor.

    1. I should mention that Poling Chapel at Marble Collegiate Church is named after his father, Daniel.

29. St. Catherine of Sienna. She was a peacemaker, and a doctor of the Church. We need to see her, as an example, especially at a time when we could use more peacemakers in the world.

30. St. Isadora the Simple. Feast day May 1st. Rather than be adored as a saint by the sisters in her convent, who had previously reviled her, Isadora left and became a hermitess.