Welcome to the first and only Saturday matchup of Lent Madness 2022. Today Mesrop Mashtots faces off against Madeleine Sophie Barat. And, yes, that's Barat not Borat -- that's something else entirely. Haven't heard of these two saints? Meeting some new spiritual companions is, of course, one of the joys of Lent Madness.
Yesterday Kateri Tekakwitha trounced Olaf 72% to 28% to advance to the next round.
We're testing out a new even-more-secure voting system today, so casting your vote will look sightly different. But fear not! We still support universal (one vote) suffrage.
Enjoy the First Sunday in Lent tomorrow (make sure to talk about Lent Madness with all your friends at coffee hour) and we'll look forward to seeing everyone back here first thing Monday morning as Hilary of Poitiers faces Melania the Elder. Now go exercise your God-given right to vote (once) in Lent Madness!
Mesrop Mashtots
If you like words, reading, and sharing good news, you will love Mesrop Mashtots. In 405 CE, he invented the Armenian alphabet and translated the Bible into Armenian, bringing the Word of God to the people of Armenia.
After serving in the military and the Armenian royal court, Mashtots joined the Christian church and worked as a missionary in southern Armenia. As a student of Greek, he could read the Bible but realized that most people could not. He believed that the ability to read the Bible would be an excellent tool for encouraging people to join the church. But Mashtots couldn’t make this happen alone. Where could he find help?
Fortunately, Vrampshapuh, the ruler of the Armenian dynasty, was Christian. He sponsored the project along with the head bishop of the Armenian church, Sahak the Great. Beyond enlightening their people about God’s story, they had goals of securing Christianity as the main religion in Armenia, and they wanted to build national community and unity. With this backing, Mashtots got to work.
As he spent time traveling and researching different languages to adapt to the new alphabet, Mashtots realized he’d have to start from scratch. Mashtots worked with Rufinus, a Greek calligrapher, to create an alphabet with 36 symbols to cover all the sounds in the Armenian language.
He and Bishop Sahak translated the Bible, obtaining an official copy from Constantinople and checking it against other versions to create their Armenian version. Mashtots put together a team of linguists to translate canons of the church councils, liturgies, and other important texts. The alphabet, with the addition of two letters, is still used today.
Armenians responded enthusiastically to the ability to read in their own language. Mashtots continued to translate and write Armenian hymns and other works until he died in 440. He chose this verse from Proverbs 1:2 for his first sentence of translation: For learning about wisdom and instruction.
Collect for Mesrop Mashtots
O God, by your Holy Spirit you give to some the word of wisdom, to others the word of knowledge, and to others the word of faith: We praise your Name for the gifts of grace manifested in your servant Mesrop Mashtots, and we pray that your Church may never be destitute of such gifts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Madeleine Sophie Barat
You could say Madeleine Sophie Barat was baptized by fire. On the night of December 12, 1779, a house fire raged next door to the Barat family home in Joigny, France. Terrified and exhausted, Madeleine Fouffé Barat went into premature labor; the fragile baby Sophie was baptized at her local church early the next morning, with her 10-year-old brother, Louis, by the font.
That her brother was her spiritual guardian from the first was fitting: Louis felt a strong call to the priesthood from an early age. As he studied, Louis shared all that he was learning with his little sister. It was an education that a young woman would otherwise never receive, and it stoked both Sophie’s passion for learning and her deepening faith. A seminarian at the start of the French Revolution, Louis took the dangerous stance of opposing the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and was eventually arrested and jailed for two years. After his release, Sophie boldly followed him to Paris, where they lived in a safe house so they could continue to practice their faith. Unable to explore a religious vocation for herself due to the abolition of most religious communities in France, Sophie secretly taught catechism to local children and tried to keep busy with prayer, study, and helping her family in their vineyard.
In the early 1800s, Sophie could no longer wait. Inspired by local Jesuits’ desire to organize more religious education for women, Sophie and three other women in her safe house consecrated themselves to God on the evening of November 21, 1800, pledging their lives to “make known the revelation of God’s love.” While devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus remained illegal in France, the Society of the Sacred Heart was born. Madeleine Sophie Barat was only twenty years old.
Sophie and her sisters in Christ established schools across France focused on the education of girls and young women, offering academic rigor regardless of a family’s ability to pay. Barat’s faith was a coherent philosophy of education: children needed guidance to grow, and education is meant to “reveal the heart of Christ.” Mother Barat served as superior of the Society of the Sacred Heart for 65 years and was beloved for her strong life of prayer, her mentorship of others, and her collaborative leadership style.
Collect for Madeleine Sophie Barat
O God, by whose grace your servant Madeleine Sophie Barat, kindled with the flame of your love, became a burning and a shining light in your Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
235 comments on “Mesrop Mashtots v. Madeleine Sophie Barat”
I have a sister named Madeline, so it really wasn't much of a choice ,(even though it's spelled differentl.
I tried to vote for Mesrop Mashtots and the site crashed/circling dots forever!
"Mother Barat ...was beloved for her strong life of prayer, her mentorship of others, and her collaborative leadership style."
She got my vote. I'm thinking a lot these days about mentorship, and collaboration shows humility.
I also love Mesrop Mashtots' name, and his bio, so it was a hard choice!
We are unable to make a selection. The Vote button works, but we cannot make our choice active.
I grew up only a block from Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois, but I had no idea who it was named for. Thanks to Lent Madness I've been able to plug that hole in my knowledge. Nevertheless, my vote went to Mesrop Mashtots for making it possible for a whole people to become literate.
I TRIED TO VOTE FOR MASHOTS BUT THE RESPONSE I GET IS THAT I HAVEN'T VOTED. SO I THEN PUSHED THE BUTTONS AGAIN TO VOTE FOR EITHER ONE BUT GOT NO RESPONSE. BELOW THE TWO NAMES I GOT A RED BOX. I THEN CLOSED THE APP AND RETURNED TO THE ORIGINAL LINK BUT STILL GOT THE SAME RESPONSE. I AN AN ADVOCATE FOR THE TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE INTO ALL LANGUAGES. THAT WAS WHY THE GUTTENBURG PRESS AND THE PRINTING OF THE BIBLE WAS SUCH AN IMPORTANT STEP IN THE REFORMATION AND THE WORLDWIDE ADVANCEMENT FOR CHRISTIANITY. IT IS NOW SUCH A GREAT TOOL TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL TO THE VARIOUS PEOPLE IN AFRICA.
Just voted on my laptop with no problems - either something got fixed, or I've got a magic computer! One more for Mesrop (who's trailing, I'm sorry to see).
I voted for Mesrops Mashtots first because I love the name. I'm working on a version of a traditional Armenian dish featuring lamb and potatoes, replacing the potatoes with tots, which I will then mash to create Mesrops' Mashed Tots.
I also am drawn to his creating a Bible that all his people can read. I had no troubles voting, by the way.
LOL, I am making Shepherds Pie while reading and voting.
Please share the recipe.
Please post the recipe!
This is based on traditional Armenian Gomgush: Combine 1 bunch basil, one bunch cilantro, one bunch parsley and 1 sprig thyme in a bowl. Place 1/2 in bottom of large soup bowl. Layer 2 1/2 chopped tomatoes, 1 1/2 green bell peppers chopped. Top with 3 pounds cubed lamb chops. Add two eggplants and 3 carrots, both chopped.Add another layer of tomatoes and green peppers. Add two cups beer and cook over medium heat one hour. Add 4 chopped onions and 7 minced garlic cloves. Cook for 2 hours more. Cook large bag of tater tots per directions and mash. Serve dish in bowls, spread mashed tots on each serving with a sprinkle of leftover herbs.
A really tough and wonderful choice. I loved learning about Madeleine Sophie Barat and wanted to vote for her, but my admiration for translators of the Bible won out and I have added Mesrop Mashtots to my heroes along with Martin Luther and George Lamsa.
I tried about five or six times to vote my selection and it was not accepted. No point in continuing if I can’t vote.
WOW That was a tough one! By the current vote, it seems I am not alone.
It's so hard. Neither of yesterday's saints inspired me and both of today's saints do. How are we expected to pick between someone who invented an alphabet and translated the Bible into the local language and someone who defied the law and the custom of the day and opened schools all over the country especially to educate women and to spread the Good News. AAUUGH! I finally just closed my eyes and picked one. So it was Madeleine Sophie Barat for me today but Mesrop Mashtots is also very inspiring.
I’m unable to vote. It won’t allow me to make a selection.
I do wish the comments were not in reverse order. I love the limericks and those tend to be put in early and scrolling through all the comments (and having to keep clicking "older comments") to get to them is painful. I'm not having trouble voting on my computer (Windows 10) but I have found that I have to get to the write ups and such through the link in the daily email. When I go straight to http://www.lentmadness.org sometimes I just get the banner and a blank purple screen.
There may be a problem with your notes on Sophie Barat in the reference to "local Jesuits." The Jesuits were suppressed between 17773 and 1815. Does the reference mean priests who had been Jesuits?
They still considered themselves Jesuits, even if the government didn’t recognize the order.
The Madames of the Sacred Heart ran the grace school I went to. Saint Sophie Barat was highly venerated, as well the Blessed Philippine Duchene (missionary to the USA and since sainted). Gotta say the nuns were very intent about Christian (nay, Catholic) devotional practices. But they were highly educated women, and even though we had four kids in the family, and my dad was paid a welder's salary, the nuns made accommodations for us. Note: we never called them "sisters". We called them "Mother," followed by their actual last names.
Madeleine Sophie Barat... an inspiration for these troubled times.
This was a hard choice! But as a translator and book-lover, I had to give Mashtot my vote.
The circle of death has spun over the VOTE button since early this morning. I have been unable to vote all day. Please send some instructions as to what we need to do to vote. I have never cheated and voted more than once on anything, including Lent Madness. But my Madness is very mad at the moment. Please help me. My vote would be for Mashtots. Maybe that's why is it not going through.
PLEASE UPDATE BRACKET 2022!
As I’m mother to a Madeleine, and a teacher myself, the choice was clear.
Of course I had to vote for Mesrop Mashtots. My friends Bob & Joyce have given their lives to bible translation. They are definitely my heros.
I don’t like how the comments are listed. Can you go back to the way it has been where all the comments are in one long line?
Sacré Cœur!!
I like Madeleine Sophie Barat because she built schools, and she had a big brother just like me! I love my big brother.
Unable to read this one until later in the day, so voting cast. Disheartened to see tally, nun teachers are frankly not unique in any time frame, however formulating an alphabet and making the Bible accessible to the citizenry at large was 'miraculous.' Should then have been Mashstots!! (From a Lutheran, need I say more??)
Such a difficult choice between 2 individuals I'd never heard of until today.
Madeleine's contribution to the education of young women, particularly in the face of opposition, is compelling. And I've always loved the name Madeleine, first because of the charming children's book series about the little French girl, and later because Madeleine L'Engle's writings have had such a profound impact on me and my faith development.
The work of a translator, particularly when it's necessary to create a written language in order to make the Word of God accessible to others, is a high calling. I have great admiration for the work of Wycliffe Bible Translators, which is committed to translating Scripture into the languages of all people groups in the world. It is a challenge that requires the work of many dedicated people over time. The gift of written language opens the door not just to Scripture, but to more education and communication. And that is what finally tipped my vote to Mesrop.
Madeleine Sophie Barat & Mesrop Mashtots were great Saints; I could vote for both of them but I voted Madeleine Sophie Barat because of her devotion to sharing the Love of God and the education of women.
Anything with tots in the name I have to vote for because Idaho...
Idaho could splice salmon and potatoes together and become famous for toteye. Redd potatoes would be the best.
This was a close one, but I voted for Mesrop Mashtots.