331 comments on “Nominationtide is upon us!”

1. Jonathan Daniels was a seminarian at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts when he, "he responded to the pleas of Dr. Martin Luther King for clergy to become more actively involved in the Civil Rights movement, and traveled to Alabama to assist with voter registration efforts in the South." He was killed by Deputy Sheriff Tom Coleman's shotgun blast when he interceded and pushed Coleman's target, 16 year old Ruby Sales, out of Range." In 1994 he was added to the "Lesser Feasts and Fasts Calendar of Commemorations." His feast day is August 14. He is among 15 individuals honored in the Chapel of Martyrs at Canterbury Catheral. For me, Daniel's legacy is all the more powerful in our current national climate.

   1. I second the motion, Jennifer! I was just getting ready to submit Jonathan Daniels when I saw your post. He was a "candidate" in the first Lent Madness in which I participated and I was so moved by his actions that I felt he deserved another chance. Thank you for nominating him.

   2. Yes, this courageous young man should be in the Lenten madness challenge. I have had the privilege of meeting and hearing the young woman he saved tell her story of gratitude and dedication to be a servant Christian.

   3. Yes, Jonathan Edwards!

   4. I second this nomination

      1. To be clear, I am seconding Jennifer's nomination of Johnathan Daniels.

   5. A saint for our times.

   6. Seconded!

2. Jonathan Edwards

3. I would like to nominate Dr. Howard Thurman. I don't know if he is on any roster of saints, but he should be. Dr.Thurman was a classmate and colleague of Martin Luther King Sr., and his book, Jesus and the Disinherited was a lifetime inspiration for Dr. King Jr. and the world. Thurman was an early Christian writer on the situation of African American people in the United States and disinherited people everywhere. He was a mystic and a social justice advocate and an extraordinary Christian.

4. I nominate Hugh of Lincoln. He was a great bishop who stood up to Henry II, seeking compensation for tenants displaced from the king’s lands and acting independently of the king’s influence. He was prominent in protecting Jews who were persecuted during Richard I’s reign. He rebuilt Lincoln Cathedral and added to many other church buildings. He seems to have been a great project manager. As a former management analyst I have taken him as a personal patron saint. Speak truth to power and do good. And his symbol is a swan, a beautiful bird with a touchy temper.

5. I nominate the Venerable Mother Henriette Delille
   Born in 1812 in New Orleans, Henriette lived a part of her life as a mistress in a placage, whereby wealthy white men entered relationships with free women of color, circumventing the laws against interracial marriage. Two children were born from this relationship, but after their deaths at a young age, Henriette experienced a conversion and rejected placage altogether. Shortly after her thirtieth birthday, she and two friends formed a religious order for women of color: the Sisters of the Holy Family. Only the second religious community in the United States specifically for women of color, their mission was to care for the poor and elderly and to teach the uneducated of Creole society. Her cause for canonization is currently open. If canonized, she will become the first New Orleanian, and the first United States-born black person, to be recognized as a Saint by the Roman Catholic Church.

6. I would like to nominate St. Jude, Jude Thaddaeus, not only for his role in Crist's ministry, but
   also for his position regarding lost causes.

7. I nominate St Stephen, of the original group of deacons chosen to serve, and first Christian martyr. Also I was born on his feast day so rarely got birthday presents growing up as they were "included" with my Christmas gifts!

8. I nominate the Rev. Seiichi Michael Yasutake, Episcopal priest, prophet, advocate and activist for civil rights, peace, and justice for all, especially Black, Native American, Puerto Rican, Japanese, and other minorities. He advocated on behalf of prisoners of conscience and protesters. To name just one initiative over his long life, he founded the Interfaith Prisoners of Conscience Project and served as executive director until he died in December 2002.

9. I would like to nominate Paul. I KNOW that there are many opinions about him including the attribution to him of the letters of pseudo-Paul. I think he gets a bad rap. In any case he is the best known saint after St.Mary the Virgin and St. Peter, and he is the reason that, like him or not, most of us are Christians.

10. I nominate Julian of Norwich, a holy woman of the Middle Ages who lived set off from her community. She prayed to see and experience Christ's crucifixion as if she were actually there. She wanted her experience of faith to be deep and as close to God's presence as possible. She wrote extensively and her work has survived. There is a great deal of information available on her.

    1. Seconded!

11. Solanus Casey (our boy from Motown), one of sixteen children had a number of rough jobs and was dumped by the mother of the women to whom he proposed marriage. As a result, he was called to the priesthood but his lack of knowledge in German and Latin (academic languages) limited his priestly future and he joined the religious order Order Friars Minor Capuchin. He never made it beyond being the door porter, but his compassion for people, esp. the sick, worked wonders. He is known for his remarkable cures. He was beatified in a service at Ford Field (football) in Detroit. He was especially beloved for his kindness and starting the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in the depression which fed thousands and is still in operation. He loved the violin and played often and sang poorly. He's Detroit's favorite priest.

12. I nominate St. Olaf. It is attributed to him that he brought the Church to the Vikings. He was the last saint recognized by the Roman Catholic Church prior to the Schism. There are many legends surrounding King Olaf II, included in the Icelandic Sagas.

13. I nominate Howard Thurman.
    A well known, respected man, scholar, author (Jesus and the Disinherited) among the many, priest, professor, church founder and admired by Dr. Martin Luther King among many others. A saint to me.
    Google him...you’ll thank me later.

    1. His book Jesus and the Disinherited is one of the texts for "Sacred Ground" and is well worth reading. It is said Martin King carried his book with him.

    2. Yes, I was new to him this year - what a great soul.

14. Thorlak of Iceland. The only Icelandic saint.

15. I would like to nominate King Kamehameha because he did so much with serving the peoples of Hawaii bringing hospitals and all to the islanders.

16. St Michan of Dublin was an ascetic in early Christian Ireland. His church in Dublin now contains the only naturally occurring mummies in the British isles.

17. I nominate Samuel Shoemaker (Jan. 31 on TEC calendar), who provided much of the spiritual underpinning for Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step groups. If that isn't sufficient merit, he also was known for balancing the importance of evangelism with the liturgical traditions of the Episcopal Church (something we Episcopalians still really need to work on--it isn't either/or, folks). And, on a personal note, he was the rector of my father's church when Dad was growing up in NYC in the 1920s/30s, and at age 95, Dad still uses Shoemaker as the benchmark by which all preaching is judged. He was apparently pretty good at it. Thanks for considering!

18. Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz. I nominate her because of her courage in proclaiming truth to those in power at the time as well as her phenomenal persistence in educating her mind and her soul. " I do not study in order to write, nor far less in order to teach (which would be boundless arrogance in me), but simply to see whether by studying I may become less ignorant. This is my answer, and these are my feelings. . . " After being forced to give up her extensive library and her pursuit of learning, she cared for the sick during an epidemic. She eventually succumbed herself to the illness.

19. I nominate Margery Kempe. I imagine she's been in the Lent Madness lie-up before (though not 2018-21), but if so, she's worthy of a return.

20. I nominate Madeleine Sophie Barat. She grew up during the French Revolution, yet was fortunate to receive a fine education. During that tumultuous time in history, she saw the need for providing educational opportunities to the young, advantaged and poor, especially girls, and founded many schools under the auspices of her Society of the Sacred Heart. She is the patron saint of educators, and her feast day is May 29; she died on Ascension Day in 1865.
    We live in tumultuous times today, when the education of all people is of utmost importance everywhere in the world. Madeleine Sophie Barat is an inspiring example of dedication and determination in bringing education to as many youngsters as she could.

    1. Another AASH here, we celebrated her feast day last week. It's actually May 25.
       Happy to see her nomination!!!

    2. Another AASH here, we celebrated her feast day last week. It's actually May 25.
       Happy to see her nomination!!!

21. Dr. José Gregorio Hernández (1864 - 1919) Venezuelan physician. Beatified April 30, 2021. Eminent physician and scientist, he is known as "The Physician of the Poor" as he devoted himself to take care of the sick who couldn't pay for medical treatment, even paying out of jos pocketfor their medication. He died while on one of his missions: was run over by a car on his way to a pharmacy to purchase medication for a destitute patient. After his death, miraculous healings started to happen amongst ill people who visited his tomb. His sanctification process took many years, finally his beatification happened just a month ago from today. Celebration: June 29.
    On a personal note, I played daily masses for 24 years in the church where he was interred while his beatification process was under way (Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria Parish, Caracas, Venezuela)

22. I nominate Harriet Bedell for her life of love and service among native peoples in Oklahoma, Alaska and Florida.

23. I nominate St. Junipero Serra, who headed the Jesuits who founded 13 missions in California in the 18th century. They can be considered the west coast founders of America. Now frequently maligned, he deserves renewed recognition. He and his community "dreamed that the union of American native folkways with the Christian faith would bring into being a more perfect society than any found in Europe at the time. These missionaries offer a vision that could overcome and heal the acrimony and arson, literal and figurative, so rampant today." (James Matthew Wilson in "St. Junipero Serra, Founding Father" in the WSJ 5/13/21)

    1. Friar Junipero Serra is a good choice, but he was not a Jesuit. He was a Franciscan friar, of the Order of St. Francis, the men who founded so many of the California missions that gave their names to cities and counties.

    2. Junipero Serra was no hero to the Native Californians who were brutalized as part of his "missionizing" effort. Here is food for thought:
       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jun%C3%ADpero_Serra#Treatment_of_Native_Californians

       1. Completely agree. He was an abusive slave driver. Why the RC Church canonized him is a mystery to me.

          1. Sadly, the politics of empire are what they are -- both outside and within the Church . . .

       2. I believe also he was a Franciscan?

          1. You are right. All of the California missions were Franciscan. And their work among the Native people was an abomination: "The Franciscans saw nothing wrong with enticing Indians to stay at the Missions, baptizing them in a ceremony many of the Indians probably considered of little personal importance, and then holding them as captive labor for the rest of their lives. From the Spanish point of view, baptized Indians became part of the Christian flock and were thereafter obligated to follow the instructions of their shepherds. Baptized Indians who left without permission were hunted down as “runaways,” and often punished severely on recapture. Punishments like whippings were also handed out for various infractions, or randomly at the whims of bored and resentful soldiers." More info at https://www.kcet.org/shows/tending-the-wild/untold-history-the-survival-of-californias-indians .

    3. Can't agree with this choice. I'm still not sure why he was made a saint!

       1. For generations, we have been expected/required to simply avert our gaze from the historical abuse. So I am glad for this conversation today. The fact that Serra was canonized requires us to recognize and confront the Church's role in the cruelty and suffering that his missionizers imposed upon the People of God in California. I do hope that we do not replicate the sin yet again, by lifting him up in this latest cultural celebration.

24. I nominate St. Fiacre, a good Irishman who ministered in France. He loved nature and honored it. He became the patron saint of gardens. His statue is standing in ours and the plants are loving him. A great symbol of our call the be good stewards of our planet as we work to control climate change.

25. I'd like to see the inclusion of saints from traditions outside the Roman Catholic & Protestant traditions. In past years, we've had some from the Eastern Orthodox Church, but I don't recall any Lent Madness saints from that first century-founded, continuous Armenian Apostolic Church. It would be a joy to meet some of them in Lent Madness.

    We definitely have not had a good representation of saints from the ancient Coptic Church that includes Ethiopia as well as Egypt. This Church was has one of the four Christian quarters in Jerusalem, along with Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, and Roman Catholic. Because it was the popular, active church in Egypt for over a millennium, it would be most interesting to learn of some its saints.

    The Nestorian Church (today sometimes called the Assyrian Church) must have an exciting variety of saints to include, since it once was the vibrant religion of Tibet. For numerous centuries, it was a robust segment of Christianity, with tremendous membership in Persia, Central Asia, India, China, etc. Its history must have produced a strong contingent of saints, but I don't recollect any in Lent Madness.

    The ancient Jacobite Church, now officially known as the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, has never been the home of any saint I can remember in Lent Madness. That extremely ancient Church traditionally included much of Christianity in India. What a treat it would be to begin knowing its saints.

    While the Chaldean Catholic Church, Ukrainian Particular Catholic Church, Maronite Church, & perhaps others are in full Communion with the Roman Catholic Church, it would be splendid to see a representation of some of their saints.

    1. I totally agree! Too many POLITICAL figures are being nominated.

26. I nominate Saint Margaret of Scotland. Aside from being an ancestor of mine, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia: "The chroniclers all agree in depicting Queen Margaret as a strong, pure, noble character, who had very great influence over her husband (King Malcom III), and through him over Scottish history, especially in its ecclesiastical aspects. Her religion, which was genuine and intense, was of the newest Roman style; and to her are attributed a number of reforms by which the Church [in] Scotland was considerably modified from the insular and primitive type which down to her time it had exhibited. Among those expressly mentioned are a change in the manner of observing Lent, which thenceforward began as elsewhere on Ash Wednesday and not as previously on the following Monday..."

    1. Hey, I just nominated her too! Yay St. Margaret!

    2. I agree!

27. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz - anyone who takes upper level Spanish literature classes is going to know who Juana is: a colonial Mexican nun, poet, and general badass protofeminist. She was lost to history before contemporary Mexican poet, Octavio Paz, used his platform to bring attention to her writings and life.

28. I nominate Archbishop Oscar Romero. In his life and his death he modeled Christ's call for justice for all God's children

    1. Yay, I nominated him as well!

29. Florence Li Tim-Oi
    first woman to be ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Communion.
    Remembering all the Asians who were / are saints.

30. Love you guys' "fire and whimstone" posts. I nominate Mr. Rogers, Fred Rogers, Presbyterian minister, who ministered to children via public television, and taught them that their feelings mattered and it was OK to be afraid but still to try.
    Also you already know this but I'll remind you anyway: you will receive many nominations outside this comments thread, and you will receive nominations that have lists of many many names, because . . . people don't read the directions.

    1. Seconding the nomination of Fred Rogers! Thank you for such an "accessible" nominee.

    2. Good one. My daughter called him "Grandpa" when she watched the show. Gentleness, safety, calm: all things children need and Mr. Rogers had in abundance.

    3. Wading in to make sure Fred Rogers isn’t overlooked

    4. I second this nomination

    5. I second this nomination