266 comments on “Happy Nominationtide!”

1. St. Catherine of Siena- her Dialogue is a masterwork of Christianity and her teachings showed how to mix the contemplative and active life. Her life was politically engaged and she helped return the Papacy in Rome and secure some measure of peace in Italy by acting as an ambassador to Florence.

2. I would like to nominate John Coleridge Patteson 1827-1871.
   Patteson is recognized in the Australian Prayer Book along with The Saints and Martyrs of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific on the 20th September as well as in the Church of England Calendar of Saints
   Below is a potted biography of Bishop Patterson
   Patteson, John Coleridge (1827–1871)
   by Martha Rutledge
   This article was published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, (MUP), 1974
   John Coleridge Patteson (1827-1871), Anglican bishop, was born on 1 April 1827 in London, elder son of Sir John Patteson, judge, and his second wife Frances Duke, daughter of James Coleridge of Ottery St Mary and niece of the poet. Brought up near his mother's relations, he began his education at Ottery St Mary. 'Coley' went to Eton in 1838-45 and Balliol College, Oxford (B.A., 1848; M.A., 1853; D.D., 1861). He had played cricket for Eton but refused to play for Oxford. After graduation he travelled in Europe and studied German, Hebrew and Arabic. Returning to Oxford, he was a fellow of Merton College in 1852-71. On 25 September 1853 he was made deacon and curate of Alphington, Devon, and on 24 September 1854 was ordained priest at Exeter Cathedral, but agreed to accompany Bishop G. A. Selwyn to New Zealand as a missionary.
   In March 1855 Patteson sailed in the Duke of Portland and arrived at Auckland in July. For five years he sailed in the schooner Southern Cross on annual cruises among the islands and ran the mission's summer school at Kohimarama, Auckland. On 24 February 1861 at Auckland he was consecrated first bishop of Melanesia. A brilliant linguist, he later spoke twenty-three of the many Melanesian languages: finding them in groups, he printed grammars and vocabularies and translated some gospels into the Mota dialect. Each year he spent some months on Mota in the New Hebrides.
   In March 1864 Patteson visited Australia. In Sydney he addressed a large meeting which pledged systematic support of the Melanesian Mission; the Anglican Churches agreed to meet the annual expenses of the Southern Cross. Patteson's gentleness made a deep impression and he became friendly with the families of Sir Alfred Stephen and T. S. Mort. In Brisbane Patteson conferred with Governor Bowen about moving the mission school to Curtis Island. Patteson devoted to the mission his private fortune which included money inherited from his father, and income from his Merton College fellowship. The mission also received support from the Eton Melanesian Society and his cousin Charlotte Yonge donated the proceeds from her novel The Daisy Chain. In 1865 Patteson again visited Sydney and the governor, Sir John Young, offered him a grant on Norfolk Island for his headquarters. Funds were raised by friends of the mission to buy more land. In 1867 the Melanesian Mission moved to Norfolk Island where it was called St Barnabas. In the milder climate the school could not only continue in the winter months but native foods such as yams could be grown. Patteson started bringing girls to the school to provide wives for his scholars. Dynamic and practical, he taught his scholars to speak English, play cricket and tend livestock.
   The visits to the islands were becoming yearly more dangerous. In 1869 he wrote to Lady Stephen: 'the vessels which have been taking away S. Sea islanders for the Fiji & Queensland labour market have in some cases to my knowledge acted in a very sad miserable way. I have a good deal of moral, not perhaps strictly legal, evidence of treachery, violence etc. The effect is … to embitter the islanders against any white man whom they do not as yet know well to be their friend'. Patteson noted the depopulation of many islands and that unscrupulous traders used his name to entice natives aboard their ships. In July 1870 he told Bowen that 'it is the regulation rather than the suppression of the employment of native labourers that I advocate'. In an official memorandum he advocated the licensing of a few ships to transport the islanders; all others were to be treated as pirates and confiscated summarily when caught, and frigates were to cruise constantly among the islands. In January 1871 he made another appeal for imperial legislation on Pacific Island labour.
   In April Patteson sailed to the islands in the Southern Cross. On 20 September he landed alone on Nukapu near Santa Cruz where he was clubbed to death in retribution for a recent outrage by blackbirders. In a canoe his body was taken to the Southern Cross and was buried at sea. Despite the plea of missionaries at Norfolk Island for no retribution Captain Markham of H.M.S. Rosario fired at and killed some natives.
   The Melanesian Mission continued to expand on Patteson's foundations while his life was a lasting inspiration to the Anglican Church in Australasia. Patteson's death led to the imperial Kidnapping Acts of 1872 and 1875 along the lines he had suggested.

   The Legacy of Bishop Patteson is described as below in Wikipedia and is as good a reason as any for Bishop Patteson to be included in the list to be considered for the Golden Halo
   As Bishop Patteson’s death was associated with native resistance to the abuses of the blackbirders, the British government took measures to stamp out the slave trade in its Pacific territories.[8] His death became a cause celebre in England; it increased interest both in missionary work and in improvement of the working conditions of labourers in Melanesia. The Aborigines' Protection Society took up the cause, resulting in a well-orchestrated campaign in the UK Parliament from William McArthur for the annexation of Fiji to abolish slavery. Britain annexed Fiji in 1874.[13]
   Patteson is celebrated in Anglican churches for his saintly life and as a martyr; he is commemorated with a Lesser Festival on 20 September in the calendar of saints (Church of England) and other Anglican churches.[citation needed]
   A bas-relief memorial by Thomas Woolner was installed in the Merton College Chapel. The portrait portrays him surrounded by palm leaves, with an image below of him lying in the canoe, as described above.[14]
   On Norfolk Island in 1882, the church of St Barnabas was erected to Patteson's memory, with windows designed by Edward Burne-Jones and executed by William Morris. In 1920 the Melanesian Mission was relocated from the island to the Solomon Islands to be closer to its target population.
   Port Patteson on Vanua Lava[15] and Bishop Patteson Theological College in the Solomon Islands are both named after him.[16]
   The Martyrs' Pulpit in the nave of Exeter Cathedral was erected in memory of Bishop Patteson who was ordained in the Cathedral. It was designed by George Gilbert Scott in the 1870s.[17]

   A sculptured cenotaph commemorates John Coleridge Patteson, first Bishop of Melanesia who was killed at Santa Cruz Islands in 1871 at Christ Church St. Laurence ,George street, Sydney NSW Australia..

3. Richard Allen - patron saint of total ministry

4. St Lucy, whose feast day brings light into the darkness of winter.

5. St Tabitha,, a married lady woman in Joppa, mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles raised from the dead by St Peter, she was also known as Dorcas, She's a patron saint of women's groups who knit, crochet and sew for those less fortunate. Her saint day is Oct 25th.

6. So many good plague saints. Happy to see some else nominate Saint Roch, that was going to be my first choice. Saint Sebastian is another good plague saint. But I’ve decided to nominate St. Bernadette Soubirous. Simple country “French” girl who experienced Marian apparitions. She died in 1879. People have flocked to the site of her apparitions and the healing waters of Lourdes. We are going to need a lot of healing! And, Vincent Price was in the movie made about her. https://youtu.be/vbeKQJyI5e8. Certainly not a perfect depiction of her, but I’ll watch it every time it’s on and Price’s character’s conversion at the end gets me ever time!

7. St. Nina of Georgia (also known as St. Nino), a third-century Cappadocian woman who traveled alone to Iberia (now part of Georgia) and converted the country to Christianity. The Georgian Orthodox Church venerates her as "Equal to the Apostles." Fun fact: she was allegedly a relative of St. George. I like that she seems like a strong woman of accomplishment, a traveler and preacher. And yes, she is my name saint.

8. I second the prior nominations of SAINT LUCIA; being born to Swedish immigrants, she has always been part of our Christmas celebrations.

9. Saint Seraphim of Sarov was a great ascetic of the Russian Church and wonder worker who is commemorated on January 2nd on the Eastern Orthodox Calendar. He was born on July 19, 1754.
   I am nominating him as he is one of my favorite saints. His icon draws you into him and his life story is fascinating and inspiring.

10. St Dunstan who brought order to Canterbury Cathedral. I doubt any priest has been murdered while celebrating Eucharist since...

    1. Actually Bruce, Oscar Ronero was shot when celebrating communion...I hadn't heard of Dunstan - need to go look him up.

11. I nominate Hannah, the mother of Samuel. Seemingly unable to bear a child, Hanna had to live each day in humiliation because she was seen as out of favor with God. Despite this, Hannah is ever faithful and pours her soul in prayer. She makes a proposal to God, that if she conceives and has a son, she would give him back to God to do God’s work. And that is what happens! She gives birth to Samuel and after a couple of years she brings the child to Eli! And it is from Hannah’s prayer of thanksgiving, that Mary, while visiting Elizabeth, derives her prayer of thanksgiving, what we know as the Magnificat!

12. Saint Bridget of Sweden - Founded a new religious order, which she was not able to fulfill until near the end of her life, receiving papal permission from Pope Urban V for her order of cloistered nuns in 1370. She went to Rome in 1350 and, except for several pilgrimages, remained there for the rest of her life, constantly accompanied by Catherine. She exercised a wide apostolate among rich and poor, sheltering the homeless and sinners, and she worked untiringly for the end of the Avignon papacy and for the pope to return to Rome. She was spurred by a vision to visit the Holy Land in 1372, and she died soon after her return to Rome.

13. I would hope we would have an emphasis on saints to help us cope with corona virus, since it will be far from over in Lent 2021. If we consider mental as well as physical health, I would like to nominate St. Jane Frances de Chantal and her mentor St Francis de Sales, who both are prayed to concerning depression. And also if there are saints for economic downturns and small business owners.

14. St. Catherine of Sweden - She took part in the ecclesiastical controversies of her time, supported Pope Urban VI against the antipope Clement VII, and promoted the canonization of Bridget. She was abbess of Vadstena when she died. She was never formally canonized but is listed in the Roman martyrology.

15. St. Catherine of Sweden - She took part in the ecclesiastical controversies of her time, supported Pope Urban VI against the antipope Clement VII, and promoted the canonization of Bridget. She was abbess of Vadstena when she died. She was never formally canonized but is listed in the Roman martyrology.

16. Unknown - (Thinking outside the box) Author of the classic The Cloud of Unknowing

17. St. Vincent Ferrer, the Saint of my birth-April 5th

18. I would like to nominate Deaconess Susan Trevor Knapp to be included in next year's Lent Madness. She is on the Calendar of Deacon Saints first compiled by the Rev. Ormonde Platter. Here is her entry: November 20
    Susan Trevor Knapp, deaconess and missionary to Japan, died in Los Angeles about 20
    November 1941.
    Susan Trevor Knapp was born in 1862. She graduated from the New York Training School for
    Deaconesses in 1894 and was consecrated deaconess at Grace Church, New York, in 1899 by
    Bishop Henry Potter. In 1903 she was made dean of the school commonly called St. Faith’s. She
    was a leader in both the American and worldwide deaconess movement. Because of a power
    struggle with the board of directors, Knapp was removed as dean in 1916 and offered the
    position of house mother. She declined and spent the next twenty-two years as a missionary in
    Japan, teaching English and Bible studies to Japanese and Korean college students. She returned
    to the United States in 1939 when Japan began to expel foreign missioners. She died in Los
    Angeles about 20 November 1941, shortly before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

19. Pelagius the heretic
    1. Yep, probably dead, around 415ad
    2. Celebrated by many (Northumbria and Novigrad) on August 28 (St Augustine of Hippo day)
    3. Pelagius was deemed a heretic (by Augustine) at the time, yet many of his ideas would be welcome in the modern protestant church: using good deeds to get closer to heaven, teaching women. He wrote a lot, much of which was accepted by the church at the time. Some contemporaries thought his brains were addled by Scottish porridge.

20. I nominate Frederick “Ted” Howden. He survived the Bataan Death March, only to perish in the prison camps because he put others before himself.

21. Paul Jones, Bishop of Utah. Pacifist, etc. Besides he confirmed my father, another heroic priest.

22. Charles Menninger was a faithful Episcopalian who built a healing community with a focus on mental as well as physical health, profoundly changing the practice of medicine and improving the lives of vulnerable, previously warehoused people. He and his son Karl appear on the liturgical calendar on March 6th.

23. St. Thomas Becket is a man full of mystery and a great passion for his work. Beheaded because of a misunderstanding or was it secretly a plot? Anyway, an Archbishop of Canterbury who is remembered, Thomas a Becket will be a great Lent Madness member.

24. Howard Thurman (d 1981) Theologian, educator, Civil Rights activist, advocate for the marginalized

25. 1. Who: Saint Linus "The Martyr", whose official feast day is September 23rd.
    2. When: First Century, A.D.
    3. What: As nominee for 2021 Lent Madness
    4 Where: The Testament and very sketchy family histories
    5 Why:
    a. He's a bible saint: L inus the Martyr, his sister Claudia and her husband Rufus Pudens aided the Apostle Paul in the Christian Church in Rome, as recorded in II Timothy 4:21 and Romans 16:13 (Rufus Pudens and St. Paul are shown to be half-brothers, with the same mother but different fathers. "His mother and mine." She thus appears to have been the mother of an elder son, Paul, by a Hebrew husband, and a younger son, Rufus, by a second marriage with a Roman Christian.) 2 Timothy 4:21 Paul is writing to Linus in Rome. Linus was active as a presbyter in Rome (on Pauls instructions) before Peter arrived at Rome, and was undoubtably one of the Christians in Rome both Peter and Paul desired to see.
    b. He is quite controversal in Christian History circles, was he a pope as R.C.'s profess?
    c. We don't know enough about hims, Wikipedia has issued a call for help:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3APope_Linus. Put the church to work in Lent.
    d. He might indeed be my 52nd Great Uncle (proof lacking) , and by family
    tradition brother to Roman Soldier who was an early and effective evangelist
    in Roman Britain.

26. I nominate St. Gertrude of Nivelles, the patron saint of crazy cat ladies.

27. St. Lucy, because of my name, and also my visual disability due to Marfan syndrome.

28. Dunstan, patron saint of blacksmiths, who famously grabbed the devil's nose with a pair of tongs. This guy is hilarious! And it's it's the third time I have nominated him.

29. In honor of our Corona-driven obsession with bread making, etc: St Honoratus (aka St Honore), patron of bakers.

30. Mary Carson Breckenridge - Following the devastating death of her first husband, a promising young lawyer, and the subsequent loss of her two young children by a second marriage, Breckinridge turned to nursing as an outlet for her grief and committed herself to saving the lives of young mothers and children in the remote mountains of southeastern Kentucky. Volunteered for wartime duty with the American Red Cross, where she was eventually assigned to the American Committee for Devastated France, headed by Anne Morgan . Breckinridge went to work in Vic-Sur-Aisne, caring for the infant victims of war as well as pregnant and nursing women. Through her work in France, and several trips to England, Breckinridge formulated a plan by which nurse-midwives could serve the needs of women and young children in rural America.

    1. A new (combined) church in Detroit is St. Moses the Black! Great suggestion

    2. Mary was also a good Episcopalian and brought a chapel from England to KY. I'm a proud graduate of the nurse-midwifery education program she established.