What's up? On Ascension Day, it's Jesus! And also it's the start of Nominationtide!
For ten full days, the Supreme Executive Committee will be accepting nominations for Lent Madness 2020. The nominating period will remain open through the Day of Pentecost, Sunday, May 31, at which point this brief exercise in Lenten democracy will go up in smoke like the hair of the disciples when the tongues of fire descended upon their heads.
Usually we only allow a week for Nominationtide, but this year we are generously allowing you ten days. We know that conferring on nominations might take longer in a time of social distancing. Please note that the Lent Madness website has been thoroughly disinfected, so there is no risk as you read this post or browse the online Lentorium.* Unfortunately, all Lentorium store locations remained closed at this time.
To insure your successful nomination, please note the Nominationtide Rules & Regulations, which reside in an ancient illuminated manuscript tended to by aged monks who have been set aside by saints and angels for this holy calling.
There is one other way to get your nomination considered. As we have said for years, you can attach your nomination to a $20 bill and mail it to us for immediate and full consideration.** For the first time, we received such a nomination this year. However, we are sorry to say that the nominee has not been deceased long enough to appear on a church calendar yet.
We are huge fans of the amazing Verna Dozier though, and one day, we're sure she will do very well in the bracket. We hope you'll read about her and what she did to claim ministry of the laity and to encourage scripture study. If you want to make a $20 nomination, do check to make sure your nominee is eligible.
As you discern saints to nominate, please keep in mind that a number of saints are ineligible for next year’s “saintly smackdown.” Based on longstanding tradition, this includes the entire field of Lent Madness 2020, those saints who made it to the Round of the Elate Eight in 2019 and 2018, and those from the 2017 Faithful Four.
Needless to say Jesus, Mary, Tim, Scott, past or present Celebrity Bloggers, and previous Golden Halo Winners are also ineligible. Below is a comprehensive list of ineligible saints. Please keep this in mind as you submit your nominations. Do not waste your precious nomination on an ineligible saint!
The Saints of Lent Madness 2020 (ineligible)
Junia
Elizabeth the New Martyr
Florian
Elizabeth Fry
Evelyn Underhill
Romanos the Melodist
Brother Lawrence
Eva Lee Matthews
Julie Billiart
James Solomon Russell
Margaret of Castello
Elizabeth
Harriet Tubman
Bartimaeus
Clare of Assisi
Joanna the Myrrhbearer
Simon Gibbons
James the Less
Hildegard
Thomas More
Gregory Nazianzus
Eustace
Joseph
Herman of Alaska
Elizabeth of Hungary
Isidore of Seville
Joshua
Andrew
Patrick
Margery Kempe
Jude
Hervé
Past Golden Halo Winners (ineligible)
George Herbert, C.S. Lewis, Mary Magdalene, Frances Perkins, Charles Wesley, Francis of Assisi, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Florence Nightingale, Anna Alexander, Martha of Bethany, Harriet Tubman
From 2017 to 2019 (ineligible)
Photini
Ignatius of Loyola
Gobnait
John Chrysostom
William Wilberforce
Zenaida
Pandita Ramabai
Egalantyne Jebb
Martin de Porres
Maria Skobtsova
Phocas the Gardener
Richard Hooker
Peter
Esther
Stephen
Franz Jägerstätter
Amelia Bloomer
As you contemplate your (single!) nomination, why not aid and your reflection and sharpen your focus with a hot mug of
your favorite beverage? The most effective way to do this, of course, is by reverently sipping out of a Lent Madness mug from the Lentorium. We assume you've already ordered your Harriet Tubman 2020 Golden Halo winner mug, but if not, here's the link.
Now put your thinking halo on and get to work. Time is already running out to nominate your favorite (eligible) saint for Lent Madness 2021!
* The website itself is fine, but we can't be responsible for your computer. Clean those keys! Wipe that screen!
** Depending on where your $20 bill is sent, it will be counted as a donation to either St. John the Evangelist Church in Hingham, MA or to Forward Movement in Cincinnati, OH. While the SEC is arguably corrupt, we do not actually want to profit from electioneering or graft!
266 comments on “Happy Nominationtide!”
St Barnabas -- Paul's companion for a while. For me he is the saint of second chances. This is a message we all need from time to time and Barnabas exemplifies the willingness to forgive and reconcile people of different opinions and persuasions.
I would like to nominate St. Teresa of Calcutta whose works speak for themselves and need no introduction but whose interior spiritual life was of a greatly complex and highly misunderstood nature. She was tormented with her own dark night of the soul and yet persisted in deep, profound, and authentic trust in the Lord. She persisted knowing that His love for her and His mission for her were real even if she couldn't feel it.
Dorothy Day for establishing the Catholic Worker Movement and the Dorothy Day houses. The was an activist for the poor.
As an Anglican, it's time to look upon St. George with greater respect. As his feast day normally falls during very late lent or Holy week, he gets pushed around enough already!
God save the Queen.
Fred Rogers - pioneered television to educate children rather than exploit them. He was a positive influence on those around him and all who watched him on television. He gave generously from his own resources.
St William of Perth - My son is named William. There are three saint Williams that I could find. St. William of York was never consecrated. St William of Norwich was murdered as was St. William of Perth. The clincher for me was that St. William of Perth was a sort of wild youth (as was my son) and St. William of Perth was a Scot as was my husband. It is time for a St. William.
Completely outside the box, after reading most of the above posts. Jeanne d'Arc has been a hero of mine since childhood. Young, female, donned armor and led French troops in war against English, put the Dauphin on the throne of France! Burned at the stake...terrible death. Her "voices" (Saints Catherine and I forget who else) instructed her. Not sure why so special to me: perhaps stubborn bravery? Certainly faith in God. I nominate St. Joan "of Arc"
Totally agree on nominating St Roque, our first responder saint! Patron of plague victims, of dogs and knew his way around healing bread.
Fred Rogers (1928-2003) "His work in children's television has been widely lauded, and he received over 40 honorary degrees and several awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002 and a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999. Rogers influenced many writers and producers of children's television shows, and his broadcasts have served as a source of comfort during tragic events, even after his death." (Wikipedia)
St Colomba, to balance St. Cuthbert. From his island monastery he trained and sent out missionaries who converted most of southeastern Scotland. In a turbulent time he seems to have been a steadfast beacon of faith and hope.
He was also revered in his own lifetime by those he lived with- a difficult feat, at best!
I don't envy Tim and Scott the task of deliberating over all these worthy nominations and creating the 2020 bracket.
I wonder if they all go in a hat.....
Mercy sakes! There are some wonderful suggestions; love some of them and wonder about those unknown holy guides. I would like to add to the nominations Frederic Ozanam, founder of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, whose work with and for the poor of society seeks to develop the spirituality of it volunteer members while alleviating the trials of the needy through compassionate aid. “The poor are our teachers.”
I nominate Sophie Scholl. Sophie was a member of the White Rose, a group of German students who resisted Nazism and were martyred.
Telemachus, the monk/martyr who was responsible for ending the gladiatorial games.
Fanny Crosby
Born Frances Jane Crosby
March 24, 1820
Brewster, New York, U.S.
Died February 12, 1915 (aged 94)
Occupation Lyricist, poet, composer
Frances Jane van Alstyne
I nominate Mr. (Fred) Rogers, yes the Mr. Rogers of TV fame. He was a man with a mission to use the television medium to reach children with a tender message about accepting themselves for who they were and to do the same for others.
"It's our insides that make us who we are, that allow us to dream and wonder and feel for others. That's what's essential. That's what will always make the biggest difference in our world".- Fred Rogers
Popular guy, but I don't think Fred qualifies: #2 The nominee must be on the official calendar of saintly commemorations of some church. Please enlighten me, if I am wrong! thanks
Constance and her companions (aka the martyrs of Memphis), those who gave their lives to care for others in the time of Yellow Fever, even though they could have left Memphis for safer places.
Saint Pope John Paul the Second. A scholar and patron of the arts, he started the annual gathering of young people from all over the world to process their faith and to fellowship. He suffered with Parkinson's disease, and his first miracle was a lady cutter from it. The second was a brain anurism. He was a very holy man and very wise. He survived an assassination attempt which he attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Then he forgave his would- be assassin.
Couple of typos. Lady suffering from Parkinson's was curred. Youth profess their faith.
Pauli Murray. She was an attorney whose ideas were behind Brown vs. Board of Education and one of the founders of the National Organization for Women. She was the first African American woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest. She was featured in Preservation magazine this month along with Harriet Tubman and Frances Perkins (two past winners!) in an article by the National Trust for Historic Preservation on preserving their homesites.
I like this one!! I second this nominee! I wish I had known about him sooner.
I met her circa 1984 when she visited my then-parish to speak one evening. An exceedingly down-to-earth & friendly lady!
I nominate St. John XXIII. He convened Vatican II, promoted ecumenism, recognized the importance of the laity, and sought to bring Catholicism into the twentieth century.
Wasn't he in Istanbul during World War II, quietly helping Jewish people who were trying to escape from the Holocaust??
Yes he was. Was a great person, and very humble. I would say that he and Francis are cut from the same cloth.
Nominating St.John the Dwarf, whose gifts were quite large. He lived a life of obedient discipleship. Born in 339 AD. Most likely meets the qualification of length of time in the presence of the angels.
Just want to make sure this is the acceptable nomination form.
Rachel Carson, mother of the environmental movement in the United States, who love of creation was informed by a deep spirituality inherited from her mother, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. While Carson does not yet appear in "Holy Men, Holy Women,", she is particularly revered by Episcopalian environmentalists and scholars. She does also appear in a closely related canon, "The Little Book of Feminist Saints," sold by members of the Episcopal Booksellers Association, alongside this year's Golden Halo winner, Harriet Tubman, as well as Eleanor Roosevelt, living "saints" Dolores Huerta and Malala Yousafzai, and many other women leaders who have help to shape a better world. I pray without ceasing that you accept Rachel Carson in the 2021 bracket. https://episcopalshoppe.com/the-little-book-of-feminist-saints/
i have had such a hard time considering who to nominate - Meister Eckhart or Teillard de Chardin, but have settled on Fred Rogers the master of acceptance and kindness and joy and inclusion for one and all and a champion for children
I nominate Aristedes de Sousa Mendes. He was the Portuguese consul in Vichy France. He saved thousands of Jews by writing visas for them in defiance of his government. He died impoverished and censured by his government. He had 12 children and a lot to lose but he followed his conscience.
*** Jacopone da Todi**** (aka: Crazy Jim)
There are too many reasons why Jac is perfect for Lent Madness (AND the Golden Halo) but just a few:
1) He was a lawyer who gave up the law for Jesus (thank you!!!)
2) He was married to a woman named Vanna (I know, right???)
3) His life of being a "Fool for Christ" has clearly influenced/inspired Lent Madness
4) He once tarred and feathered HIMSELF to go to a wedding
5) He was the first or one of the first to recast gospel stories for the stage
Plus of course he was a man of faith.
WOW- Jacopone in 2021!!!!
(and PS: don't forget to call me to be his Celebrity Blogger! Operators are now standing by!)
I nominate Mary MacKillop is Australia’s first and only saint. Feast Day 8th August
She took the title Mary of the Cross, because she did suffer much in her life.
She was excommunicated by the Bishop of South Australia.
But these are the six qualities that Pope John Paul II highlighted for us at her Beatification Ceremony.
• Genuine openness to others
• Hospitality to strangers
• Generosity to the needy
• Justice to those unfairly treated
• Perseverance in the face of adversity
She was a woman ahead of her times that "never saw an evil without trying how they may remedy it".
Santa Louisa de Marillac - the patron saint of social workers
Polycarp. Disciple of St. John. Martyr....and what a martyr at that! His martyrdom blows me away.
This is not my nomination, but does a dog qualify? St. Guinefort? Just wondering.
First, I second St. Corona, for the reasoning of knocking-out in an early round alone. Next, I nominate St. Giuseppe Moscati, because he's a modern day saint, cannonized in 1987 and for inspiring street performers to use his slogan in their centuries old Neopolitan basket custom revived in the corona-era. For more details (and an audio link) https://www.npr.org/2020/04/07/828021259/in-naples-pandemic-solidarity-baskets-help-feed-the-homeless
I nominate Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys (born in Troyes, France on Good Friday April 17, 1620). In 1640, she had a spiritual experience during a process of Our Lady of the Rosary and joined a group dedicated to teaching poor children. She was asked to serve the needs of children in "New France" and went on to become a co-foundress of Montreal and is Canada's first woman saint (at least as recognized by Roman Catholics); she was canonized Oct 31, 1982. She opened the first school in Montreal, forged relationships with First Nation peoples, and founded the Congregation of Notre Dame in 1676. The sisters of the CND currently serve in the Americas, Japan, France, and Cameroon. They are inspiring in their dedication to those in need and they live by the idea of the "liberating power of education."
I nominate Saint Methodius of Thessaloniki. He and his kid brother Cyril were the Apostles to the Slavs, now commemorated on February 14, formerly the date of some other guy. I nominate Methodius, because his sibling got an alphabet named after himself even though both of them worked on it.