266 comments on “Happy Nominationtide!”

1. David. Patron saint of the Welsh and Bishop of Menevia in Wales c. 544.
   An athlete of the spiritual life who pressed himself to the limits of his endurance. But also famous for his compassion and worked many wonders to relieve the poor and the sick. Only Welsh saint ever to be honoured in the calendar if the whole western church. Also my husband’s name!

2. Damien of Molokai - in honor of all those who risk their lives to care for others.

3. Moses the Black turned his back on a life of crime, when he became acquainted with a religious community (as he was trying to rob them). He believed that we shouldn’t be condemning each other, because we all have faults.

4. Isidore the Farmer, patron saint of agriculture. In a time when food supply chains are breaking or broken, I want to honor those people who are working hard to keep us fed, even without our knowledge.

5. Perfect for a time of COVID: Constance and Her Companions: the Martyrs of Memphis, 1878. When yellow fever hit Memphis in 1878, thousands died and thousands fled. A few stayed behind, and their brave deeds cost them their lives. Constance was an Anglican Nun; 5 nuns and an Episcopal priest gave their lives ministering to the people of Memphis, TN

   1. I second that nomination!

   2. I concur!! Thank God for those willing to help others.

6. We need Hermione, Unmercenary Physicians vs. Harold of Gloucester, child martyr

7. Saint David of Wales.

8. I nominate Blessed Father Miguel Agustín Pro, who served as an "underground" priest in Mexico during the religious persecution of the 1920's, when public worship was banned by the government. His final request before his public execution was for permission to pray. He forgave the firing squad, refused a blindfold, faced the firing squad, and stretched out his arms to form a cross. As he was fusilladed, his last words were "¡Viva Cristo Rey!" - long live Christ the King! I am nominating him because, as a modern-day saint, he reminds us just how precious our freedom to practice our faith really is, and how easily it can be taken away.

9. Benjamin Lay, Society of Friends abolitionist. With guerrilla tactics and written works, this vegan little person who wove his own clothes and lived in a cave successfully agitated for Quakers to ban slavery among their members, seeding the core of the Abolitionist movement in his region. Along the way, he accomplished his own ejection from all four meetings to which he belonged - he was restored posthumously to all by 2018. I find no set calendar of saints for the Society of Friends, but for generations after his death, many Quaker families showed reverence for his life by keeping his portrait in their homes. This is a life with something to teach us about extremism that turns out to be prescient. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Lay

10. I nominate William Still, one of the founders of the Underground Railroad. Still not only fascinated the Railroad’s work, he interviewed and documented the accounts of its many “riders” - a tireless effort and
    legacy to its mission. Without his work we might not know Harriet Tubman?

    Still is buried in Glen Mills, PA- one the outskirts of Philly. It is also my husband’s home town. We knew nothing about this saint until I read The Water Dancer, a fictionalized account that includes his efforts.

11. Teresa of Avila
    Her description of mystical prayer is unsurpassef.

12. I nominate Jerome! I am a librarian and he is our patron saint! And he translated the bible into Latin! His edition - the Vulgate - was the dominant one until King James ordered a new one! And pulled a thorn from a lion's paw!

13. Saint Luke

14. Bartolome de las Casas. He fought slavery and the colonial abuse of indigenous peoples. He is thought to be one of the first advocates of human rights.

15. St. Francis Solano (16th century) was a Franciscan friar who practiced strict habits of poverty. After much ministry in Spain, he was sent to South America. The ship carrying him to Peru was wrecked, and the crew and the rest of the passengers abandoned ship. St. Francis, however, stayed to accompany the slaves who were being transported, and they were all ultimately rescued three days later. St. Francis was an effective evangelist among the indigenous peoples, learning many of their languages. He has a wonderful church and monastery dedicated to him in Lima Peru. (He is the patron saint of Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Paraguay.) The monastery has a mural of the Last Supper showing traditional Peruvian food on the table. One tale of St. Francis’ life is that he entered a gathering one Christmas Eve and played his fiddle with such joy that soon everybody there was dancing and celebrating.

    1. I forgot to use my Lent Madness name: Kathy in Nicaragua.

16. Julian of Norwich, for several reasons, not the least of which, she lived in a time of plague and of strife in the Catholic Church, and yet proclaimed that God calls us God's treasure. We need voices like Julian's that tell us that we are endlessly loved by God.

17. I nominate St Arnulf of Metz (580-640 CE). He is the patron saint of beer and served the Episcopal See in Metz. He set an example of virtuous life. His feast day is July 18.

18. St. Brendan the Navigator. We all could use help navigating through life. He was one of the twelve apostles if Ireland. And he has a cool name.

19. If four-legged saints were eligible, I would nominate Balaam' s donkey, who had the good sense to recognize an angel when he saw one.

20. I nominate Dorothy Day

21. St. Lawrence is my nominee. His deep care for the poor and witty comebacks in the face of extreme adversity have always been an inspiration.

22. Rachel, mother of Joseph, who put up with SO MUCH to finally be married to the man who wanted her, had to deal with her older sister as Wife#1 for seven years, then deal with all of HER kids, then the kids of the handmaidens, until she was finally able to conceive Joseph only to have him ridiculed by his older brothers - she was already a saint putting up with all of that craziness! And then losing her life in bringing Benjamin into the world?!?! Tho perhaps that was her gift from God, not seeing her son "killed"/sold into slavery.....

23. Crispus Attucks first American to die in the American Revolution. Was born a slave but managed to escape and was a hero for what he did during the American Revolution.

24. I nominate Sts Quiteria & Catherine of Alexandria, Roch, Raphael, and Expeditus.

25. Fr Damien of Molokai
    compassionate caregiver to those afflicted with leprosy or Hansen’s disease
    I nominate him because he is revered in my home state of Louisiana where the leprosarium at Carville carried on his work for generations.

26. I nominate Marguerite of Navarre, who tried to bridge the gap between early reformers and the Roman Catholic Church.

27. I would like to nominate Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Seminarian and Martyr, 1965, whose feast day is August 14 on our Episcopal calendar. I will never get tired of nominating him, because in our age of continued racism and poverty, we need to remember what Seminarian Daniels was doing when he shielded Ruby Sales from a shotgun blast on that hot August day in Hayneville, Alabama. May his name be blessed forever.

    1. AMEN!

28. Is it too soon to suggest St. Corona? If nothing else, to include her just to knock her out in the first round...

29. Muirgeilt or Liban-- Irelan's Mermaid Saint..." in the legend surrounding the formation of Lough Neagh, was a woman turned mermaid who inhabited the area before the great lake gushed up on dry land. Her family was drowned, but she survived in an underwater chamber in the lake for a year, after which she was transformed into a being who was half-human, half-salmon.Together with her lapdog which assumed the form of an otter, the mermaid was free to roam the seas for 300 years, while maintaining her dwelling under the same Lough.[10][11] During the time of St. Comgall, her angelic singing causes her to be discovered by a passing boat (coracle), and she agreed to come ashore. The mermaid was then baptised Muirgen ("sea-born"), but died immediately and ascended to heaven. She had forfeited another 300 years of longevity for a Christian soul." Feast Day is January 27. I love her because her dog followed her by becoming an otter--how cool is that?! And hardly anyone knows about her!

30. Danny Thomas (d. 1991)--devotee of St. Jude and founder of St. Jude's Hospital, which provides free treatment to children with cancer.