Congratulations! You’ve officially made it through the first matchup of Lent Madness 2022. And, like a slow rolling Lenten train, the battles just keep on coming. Today it’s Olaf vs. Kateri Tekakwitha as we pit an 11th century Norwegian king against a 17th century Native American saint. It’s called Lent “Madness” for a reason, after all.
In yesterday’s Opening Day matchup, amid heavy voter turnout, Stephen outlasted Wenceslaus 54% to 46% to become the first saint to make it to the Saintly 16. When last seen, Wenceslaus was overheard demanding someone, “Bring me flesh and bring me wine.” We wish him well.
The first day of Lent Madness 2022 also found the Supreme Executive Committee having to deal with some voter fraud (seriously). At 10:30 pm we removed approximately 600 votes from Wenceslaus, all from a single address. This wasn't enough to tip the scales, but is a good reminder to vote once or face being banned to the outer Lent Madness darkness where there is weeping, gnashing of teeth, and no brackets. Be passionate, vote once, don't be a jerk.
Note that tomorrow is the ONLY weekend battle of Lent Madness 2022 as Mesrop Mashtots takes on Madeline Barat. From then on, Lent Madness will only take place on the weekdays of Lent. Now go vote!
Olaf
Olaf II Haraldssön, also known as Olaf the Stout, was born in 995 of royal lineage. In his short 35 years of life, he was able to unite Norway and help spread Christianity across the land. Olaf’s early years were spent leading small bands of raiders in various conflicts against Danes. In one of the conflicts, he and his men are said to have brought down the London Bridge (thus inspiring the children’s song we all know and love). In 1013, Olaf was staying with Richard II of Normandy and was converted to Christianity. He was baptized by Richard’s brother, the Archbishop of Normandy, Robert the Dane. Shortly thereafter he experienced a call to return to Norway to unite it under Christianity.
He returned to Norway and brought nobles together under his leadership and became king of Norway in 1015, a position he held until 1028. He then proceeded to establish Christianity among the people using missionaries from England. His methods of conversion led to unrest in his subjects that would ultimately lead to his loss of power. Prior to losing his throne, he did manage to establish his Religious Code in 1024 and insisted that all laws be Christian laws. The brute enforcement of these laws, however, further weakened his power. In 1028, he was forced to abdicate the throne, and he fled to Russia.
The following year, he felt the call to reclaim his position and built an army to take back the throne. He was killed in 1030 in an ensuing battle. Tales of miracles abound about Olaf in that final battle and in the area around his burial place. These led to the exhumation of his body. When his grave was opened about a year later, it is said that the body smelled sweet, and his hair and nails had grown longer. He was quickly remembered as a saint and was one of the last saints to be canonized by both the Eastern and Western Church prior to the Great Schism.
His canonization inspired many of the Norse to convert to Christianity. To this day, he is a symbol of Norwegian independence and pride. After Mary, he is the most commonly depicted saint in medieval Norwegian art. His feast day is celebrated on July 29.
Collect for Olaf
Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses: Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servant Olaf, may persevere in running the race that is set before us, until at last we may with him attain to your eternal joy; through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Kateri Tekakwitha
“The narratives surrounding Saint Kateri are fascinating and, at times, contradictory,” writes Yakama scholar Michelle M. Jacob of Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. That might be an understatement.
Kateri Tekakwitha’s story is best known from the narratives of two Jesuit priests who knew her, Pierre Cholenec and Claude Chauchetiere. According to the priests, Tekakwitha was born around 1656 to a Mohawk father and Algonquin mother in what is now Auriesville, New York. Four years later, she was orphaned by the smallpox epidemic.
Tekakwitha survived the disease, but it left her face disfigured and her eyes sensitive to light. She hid her face and shielded her eyes by veiling her head with a blanket. She was baptized when she was about 19 years old after Jesuit priests came to her village.
At her baptism, she took the name Catherine—or its Mohawk approximation, Kateri—from Saint Catherine of Siena. In the priests’ telling, her community didn’t take kindly to Kateri Tekakwitha’s newfound faith, and she soon left for a Jesuit mission south of Montreal called Kahnawake. At the mission, Kateri Tekakwitha famously asked the question, “Who will teach me what is most agreeable to God so that I may do it?” She also engaged in severe and disturbing penances, which likely accelerated her death at age 24 in 1680.
Native Christians have, in recent years, offered varying stories about Kateri. Mohawk historian and author Darren Bonaparte points out that the priests ignored that Kateri Tekakwitha was “a part of her culture, and a valued one at that.” She has the distinction of being the first weaver of wampum belts mentioned by name in recorded history. Jacob, the Yakama scholar, explores ways Native Christians continue to claim and be inspired by Kateri Tekakwitha.
For many, the saint “transforms Catholicism and provides Indigenous peoples and their allies with meaningful ways to center Indigenous culture within their spiritual practice”—a form of decolonization.
Kateri Tekakwitha was canonized in 2012. She is considered patron saint of the environment and of people in exile, and her feast day is celebrated on July 14.
Collect for Kateri Tekakwitha
Almighty and everliving God, who opened the heart of Kateri Tekakwitha to receive the Good News of Jesus Christ and to devote her life to your service: Grant us the same zeal of devotion to persevere in faith through the trials and tribulations of our lives, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
198 comments on “Olaf vs. Kateri Tekakwitha”
I am abstaining today, for reasons that others have eloquently expressed.
Also, I liked the previous website's way of displaying the comments in one continuous stream much better. It's annoying to have to go through "newer comments" and "older comments" to see everything.
Agree. I really enjoy the comments.
I agree wholeheartedly regarding the comments! I'm trying to adjust, but I found the old way of displaying the comments to be much easier to deal with.
Due to the skimpy, and sketchy information about these two little known saints I decided I needed to do a little more research before I could vote. Saint Kateri was beatified in 1980 and not canonized until 2012. It appears to have happened only after the atrocities of the Roman Catholic Church/Jesuits upon indigenous peoples was really brought out in the open. So I went with Saint Olaf who lived in a very violent time and area, and yet was recognized as saintly at the time and canonized prior to the schism of the orthodox church.
Please I beg you. I have Olaf in the finals. I can’t deal with this loss.
Today I voted not for Olaf. I cannot vote for war to enforce Christian
Laws. My heart aches for Kateri, and wish I had more info on her. Also, I do not care for this new for at. It may be easier to manage, but feels very remote and soul-less.
Thank you for voting for Kateri! I'm hopeful I'll get to share more information about her in the next round.
Me, too! Vey interesting!
Would like to vote for Olaf today in memory of Rose, Betty White’s character, but the women gets my votes first. I got the smallpox vaccine, but not the scar, which lead to another & another vaccination, it’s barely visible now.
I can't vote today as neither meets my criteria of being a saint.
This seemed a very odd choice. Surely there could have been better options.
Thanks.
I agree with you. Not much information here or elsewhere that I feel qualifies either as a saint. I did vote though. I voted for Olaf b/c he lived longer and there were miracles detected around his death.
If patron saint of the environment and of people in exile weren’t enough to have me voting for Kateri Tekakwitha; I went to a summer camp named after her!
As a Saint Olaf College alum, I was "compelled" to vote for Olaf. It is not my roll to judge the past, just to learn from it and try to do better. Fram Fram
In today's world, the Patron Saint of people in exile.
So Olaf missed the point a bit I'd say with how he worked out his (zealous and sincere?) desire to see Christianity spread and national law reflect (what he understood of) Christianity... but I am impressed that despite that he is still revered by and inspires many Norse Christians and is still a (positive) symbol in Norway. Also caught that little note of how his baptism was performed by a Dane which speaks so much beautiful grace to me...
Still, I went with Kateri as I'd anticipated via bracket guessing. Aside from having a weird thing about the name "Katie" (and particularly different variations of it), something in the sparse words of her bio really connected with me on a personality level. Like a sense we have some similarities there and that had me view the account slightly different than it seems many are...
I found it hard to vote for either. Olaf was a tyrant whose "conversions" consisted of a choice between grisly death or baptism. Kateri was more victim than martyr. European colonists came to this continent, killed millions by wantonly spreading their filthy diseases, then forcibly converted the starving remnants of the native peoples. I voted for Kateri because we need to be reminded what our ancestors did to the native peoples of this land.
I was undecided until I read that Kateri is the patron saint of the exiled. With so many fleeing Ukraine, they are in great need of a patron saint. This is not the time to vote for a warrior. I went with Kateri.
Someone commented on neither meeting her definition of a saint. I agree that both disturbed me, until I thought about what it means to be bound to our own time and place and its norms. I think the "flawed saint" is the best definition of a saint. None of us is perfect, not even the most blessed saints we can think of. Even Mary had her doubts and all Christians are forgiven sinners who continue to sin and continue to be forgiven. We have no idea how we will be viewed 200 or 500 or 1000 years from now, what horrors future generations will perceive that to us are simply "normal life."
Well said, and good thoughts to ponder.
Like others I voted for Kateri because she choose her path rather than forced it on others. Additionally as I have recently read two books pertaining to American Indigenous history, both highly recommended, I feel a commitment to hold up this Native American Saint. The books, for anyone interested are: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann AND Braiding Sweetgrass:Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Both are excellent.
Agree with the book recommendations! Excellent. Another good book: Masters of Empire: Great Lakes Indians and the Making of America, by Michael A. McDonnell
No matter how many times you sprinkle or dunk a Viking, he's still a Viking. St. Olaf isn't a particularly compelling figure in his quest for power and thirst for battle. Kateri Tekakwitha, also the product of a society that often resorted to war, sought God's will.
I voted for Kateri Tekakwitha because she was the first North American Indigenous person to be canonized, she is the patron saint of the environment - which needs all the help and prayer it can get! - and because the Anglican Church of Canada, of which I am a member, is on the path of reconciliation with our Indigenous brothers and sisters. I'd also like to correct Marian the Lutheran - gently and with love - by reminding her that in the Mohawk culture, women had a great deal higher standing than horses. Indeed,in the 17th century Mohawk women had a great deal more respect than their European counterparts!
Nicely articulated, thanks, and applies to me, hence my vote today. I'm also moved to support Kateri as patron saint of people in exile, particularly with regard to Ukrainians fleeing their invaded country.
Why is it that we have failed saints from former years in the brackets again? Are there not enough saints? Puzzles me. In MarchMadness we may see the same teams but Good Lord surely we have enough inspiring saintly and human lives from which to choose. Sorry but I just have to say it.
Good question, however one of the themes we've seen running through Lent Madness for years has been that saints, like everyone else, deserve second chances. I find it fascinating that several of the saints knocked out in early rounds in previous years have come back to win the Golden Halo in a different Lent: Absalom Jones, Harriet Tubman, Florence Nightingale. And I am glad that we have a mixture of some who we've seen before and some who are new to the competition. I'm sure the SEC has a few they'd like to present again. (David Oakerhater and Emma of Hawaii, your years may yet come.)
Both of these bios were pretty scant, so i went to Wikipedia to dig deepr. First of all, Tekakwitha means she who bumps into things. I believe I have found a new patron saint for my own klutziness. There doesn't appear to be a forced conversion as so many people are suggesting. The French Jesuits didn't create missions with an invading army on the eastern seaboard like the Spanish Franciscans did on the western. But reading more of Kateri's story, she reminded me of some of my favorite holy and pious medieval saints avoiding marriage. In many ways she reminded me of Clare, including the self mortification. Thank you to whomever nominated her. Kateri's faith is an inspiration.
I believe Brother Lawrence was the saint who broke things.
The good Lutheran in me tells me to vote for Olaf. However, like my vote yesterday, the state of current events compels me to vote for the patron saint of the environment and exiles.
My daughter is a 1998 alumna of St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. Is there any question for whom I am voting? 🙂
As a Norwegian-American, it is easy for me to vote for Olaf. Oluff was my grandfather's name. Historically Olaf did rule by the sword.
But even in death he brought the people to Christ.
Like others, I did not see enough saintliness in either Olaf or Kateri to sway me, even after reading a bit more about Kateri. But in these times of so many immigrants, asylum-seekers and exiles, fearful and languishing in camps, detention centers, and bus and train stations in border regions all over, I cast my vote for the patron saint of exiles.
Not so sure about the patron saint of the environment thing, which seems to me to be a rather hackneyed Hollywood- and Disney-esque gesture toward indigenous peoples.
Olaf shall not melt this spring. Vote for my creation.
Patron saint of the environment and people in exile did it for me. And Olaf seemed to be rather cruel in his methods.
Olaf seems too violent for me. Forced conversions are never a good idea. It seems he made more true converts after his death.
I don’t see any discussion of Kateri’s disabilities. Apart from her presence in her own community, she displayed considerable courage. I am not a fan of rigorous
ascetic practices, but I am inspired by the devotion of indigenous peoples to her memory. I also think the patron saint of the environment and exiles (refugees) is especially worth a vote in these troubled days.
I have been an admirer of Kateri for many years and am voting for her. I am sure that the fact I am a Carleton alum ( the other college in Northfield has nothing to do with my vote. 😉
I believe is in error to hold historical people to contemporary standards. As both stories demonstrate, life on planet earth has always been dangerous as well as evolutionary. I celebrate all who did what they could in their time to bring us closer to a more humane humanity.
I voted for Kateri Tekakwitha because of her environmental values and beliefs; her connection to nature which is one of my passion and her activism for people in exile.
I did not Olaf II Haraldssön, also known as Olaf the Stout because of his brutality as he attempted to bring Christianity and enforcing laws.
I voted for Kateri - we have a school named for her. Although I still struggle to pronounce it - lol
Not wanting to endorse Olaf's methods of spreading the Good News, I voted for Kateri. I don't endorse her extreme penitential practices either, but, as an earlier commenter (who had succeeded in overcoming a compulsion to self cut, she may have been driven to these practices by trauma and hurt. I have been rather amazed by the large number of people who sniff that neither candidate meets their criteria for sainthood. And I thought I was such a judgmental old curmudgeon! I do have one curmudgeonly comment: I hate the new format. It may look trendy, but I think the old one was far better.
I agree, I liked the old format better. But then, I also still have paper notebooks with ink in them. Just my vote.
touche