For one full week, the Supreme Executive Committee will be accepting nominations for Lent Madness 2023. The nominating period will remain open through Monday, May 16, at which point this brief exercise in Lenten democracy will cease and the SEC will return to their regularly scheduled benevolently authoritarian ways.
Nominationtide, the most underrated of liturgical seasons, never begins at the same time other than the vague "sometime after Easter Day." This is partly because Tim and Scott have day jobs and partly because "whim" is one of their ecclesiastical charisms. But it's here! And the world rejoices!
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.
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 2022, those saints who made it to the Round of the Elate Eight in 2021 and 2020, and those from the 2019 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!
For the sake of "transparency," the rest of the process unfolds thusly: Tim and Scott will gather for the annual Spring SEC Retreat at a secure, undisclosed location/coffee shop to consider the nominations and create a full, fun, faithful, and balanced bracket of 32 saints. Then all will be revealed on All Brackets' Day, November 3rd. Or at least, "that's the ways we've always done it."
Time to nominate your favorite saint! But first, look over this list.
The Saints of Lent Madness 2022 (ineligible)
Stephen
Wenceslaus
Teresa of Avila
Crispin
Perpetua
Cecelia
Juliana of Liege
Blaise
Juana Inés de la Cruz
Gabriel the Archangel
Origen
Hilda of Whitby
Columbanos
Drogo
Mesrop Mashtots
Madeline Sophie Barat
Melania the Elder
Hilary of Poitiers
Aloysius Gonzaga
Thomas of Villanova
Felix of Burgundy
Oscar of Ansgar
Thomas Aquinas
Jerome
Emma of Hawaii
Hugh of Lincoln
José Gregorio Hernández
Constance of Memphis
James Holly
Lydia
Olaf
Kateri Tekakwitha
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, Absalom Jones, José Hernández
From 2019 to 2021 (ineligible)
Gobnait
Zenaida
Pandita Ramabai
Herman of Alaska
Hildegard of Bingen
Elizabeth Fry
Joseph
Camillus de Lellis
Benedict the Moor
Ives of Kermartin
Albert the Great
Theodore the Empress
Catherine Booth
As you contemplate your (single!) nomination, why not aid 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 José Hernández 2022 Golden Halo winner mug, but if not, here’s the link.
260 comments on “Nominationtide is upon us!”
St Dymphna, patron saint of those suffering from depression, anxiety, sleep & neurological & other mental disorders, and sexual assault/abuse. In the face of abuse and violence, Dymphna remained faithful to her vows. Her shrine in the US is at St Mary's Church in Massillon, Ohio, which was reopened in 2016 after a fire damaged most of the church.
I nominate Venerable Solanus Casey, OFM Cap.
He served as Porter at St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit, MI.
for 20 years. He met thousands of people who in times of trouble and illness sought his prayers and advice. He was beatified on Nov. 18, 2017.
The book "Thank God Ahead Of Time: The Life and Spiritualty of Solanus Casey" by Michael H. Crosby tells you all you need to know about Fr. Solanus.
I nominate Saint Raymond Nonnates, whose claim to current recognition is that he is the patron saint of the order of nuns on the PBS show “ Call the Midwife”. He is the patron saint of childbirth, midwives, children, pregnant women and priests defending the confidentiality of confession. I’m a Congregationalist, so I don’t have a clue how the last thing got on his list. I enjoy Lent Madness because I learn so very much about the Christian world and church history. Thank you for your wonderful senses of humor and your approach to Lent for all of us.
I nominate St.Francis. He gave up everything to help the poor and is a wonderful friend to all animals. I pray to him daily to help all animals
I would like to nominate Edith Stein, also known as St. Teresa Benedicta. One of the six patron saints of Europe, murdered at Auschwitz in 1942. A feminist, a philosopher, a convert to Christianity, a Catholic nun – a brilliant, unique woman who accomplished so much in a short life. She was convinced that she would not escape the Nazi death camps and began to train for the experience by denying herself food and comfort. Her elevation to sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church was controversial: did she die for her Christian faith or her Jewish birth? It has been suggested that she herself saw no conflict between the two
A quote of hers that I love:
"And when night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone, and all the reasons you have to be embarrassed and ashamed: just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God's hands and leave it with Him."
I place in nomination Thurgood Marshall, Public Servant, Supreme Court Justice and Civil Rights Activist. He is listed in "Lesser Feasts and Fasts" of the Episcopal Church and sadly, he is, in fact, dead. In this period of our history when the integrity, wisdom and judgement of members of the US Supreme Court is in serious doubt, he serves as a luminous example of the effect a person of courage and intellect and faith can have in moving a nation toward equal justice.
William of Perth, patron saint of adopted children. He healed a woman with mental illness, after his death, by murder.
St.Jude for he grants the impossible and walked with our Lord. He is the patron saint of desperate and lost causes.
It gladdens my heart to think that my beloved St. Exuperantius might receive some of the recognition due him. He was the servant of Felix and Regula, and showed his loyalty by converting to Christianity along with them. All were beheaded in the 4th century, and are the patron saints of Zurich. While the names of Felix and Regula are relatively well known, Exuperantius is not. I have always felt there were probably class issues in play. At any rate, the three are recognized by the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the
Oriental Orthodox Churches, as well as by Roman Catholics. The Feast Day is September 11th.
I would l like to nominate St Anthony of Padua.
St. Anthony is my Conformation patron saint.
In 2015 my wife and I visited the Cathedral of St Anthony in Padua.
My nomination is Joanna, mentioned several times in St. Luke's Gospel. She was an early follower of Jesus and one of the witnesses to the empty tomb after his resurrection. Her steadfast faith transcended social norms of the day, which would have excluded people of a different culture and gender from such gatherings.
I am nominating St. Brendan of Clonfert, one of the 12 Apostles of Ireland. He is the patron saint of sailors and whales. As the whale population declines daily, we need to be reminded of these amazing creatures and St. Brendan can help do that.
Saint Mother Theodore Guerin was a pioneer in the American wilderness, using her determination to bring her order to the New World and create a legacy that endures to this day.
St. Verbena is my nominee. She is an Egyptian Coptic who taught personal hygiene and herbal medicine to the Gauls and Germanic people. She is considered to be the mother of European nuns. She also brought the Germanic people faith and civilization through love and dedication.
Make that St. Verena! Auto correct- ugh!!!
I nominate Saint Brigid (also spelled Bridget).
She's dead.
She's a recognized Saint, celebrated by both Christians and Pagans.
Why? She is a role model and a bridge across many communities - Christians & Celtic Pagans; straight & queer folks; male-dominated religious leadership & 50% of the population; etc.
“LGBTA+ Christians who choose to pray for the intercession of Saints deserve to have patrons whom they trust understand and support them."
To aid your Celebrity Bloggers...
https://qspirit.net/brigid-darlughdach-saint-soulmate/
St. George because he is recognized by Christian’s and Muslims. He was strong in his belief even amid temptations and torture.
I nominate Ruby Middleton Forsythe. She died in 1992. She provided education to the African American community in the South during the Jim Crow era.
I nominate Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection. His practice of the presence of God is an inspiration, certainly to me and to the man who described it in writing (Lawrence was either illiterate or too busy with his monastic duties as a cook.) We should all pray that our presence may bring the Lord to everyone.
St Ludmila of Bohemia.
I am nominating her because I have just spent 4 days in Prague. She in every church in some represented.
The people young and old come to the shrines.
Ladislaus/Laszlo of Hungary. Pious knight and king. His daughter Proclaimed married Emperor John III Somehow and is generated cad Saint Irene.
I nominate St. Albany. Mostly because in my parish there's a former monk that now has a son named Alban. He wanted his son named after that saint. I've also heard of a St. Alban parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago
I nominate St Adomnan, relative of St Columba, Abbot of Iona, author of the life of Columba, and promulgator of the Law of Adomnan or "Law of Innocents" designed to offer protection to women and children in times of war. His feast day is 23rd September.
I nominate Rutilio Grande, SJ. He was beatified in the Roman Catholic Church January 22, 2022. He was instrumental in empowering the poor and marginalized of el Salvador. He established base ecclesial communities in rural areas, bringing the faith to the marginlized. He was friend to Oscar Romero, and his death helped motivate Romero to speak out for the poor. Grande was martyred for his outspokenness to the wealthy and powerful. The link below has a great comparison of Grande with John the Baptist.
https://www.jesuits.org/stories/the-beatification-of-fr-rutilio-grande-sj-a-prophet-like-john-the-baptist/
I nominate the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, the first African American woman ordained in TEC. I only learned of the extraordinary life of Pauli Murray a year or so ago. As an activist, teacher, writer, poet, lawyer, and priest her influence had a powerful impact on persons such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Pauli also identified as gender non-conforming in her personal writings. Pauli Murray has touched my heart and inspired me. I would like to see her life's work lifted up and recognized in the Church. Thank you for your consideration!
I'd like to nominate Julian of Norwich. Even though no one is sure what her real name was. That's just the name of the church where she lived. And if living in church isn't enough for a golden halo, her assurance that "All shall be well" is always timely. As a young woman, before she moved into St. Julian's Church, she fell seriously ill and received a series of visions. She wrote them up in all their strange and "homely" beauty in both a short and long form, in her "Revelations of Divine Love." And she shared her insights and spiritual advice with seekers such as Margery Kempe. She was the first known woman writer in English. And it was risky back then for a woman to speak up or write about God like that. I've spent more than 20 years reading and rereading her work in my Penguin paperback, which is now falling apart, and I still turn to her for inspiration and consolation.
Levi Coffin, abolitionist, unofficially the "President of the Underground Railroad." Quaker, estimated he helped over 20,000 slaves. I am proud that he is a fellow Hoosier although he died in Ohio. Surely he must be remembered by a Newport, Indiana church annually.
I would like to nominate Thurgood Marshall. Chief Justice Marshall was an influential leader of the civil rights movement whose tremendous legacy lives on in the pursuit of racial justice. The civil rights and social change in America today have come about through his meticulous and persistent litigation efforts.
I nominate Charles Menninger, Karl Menninger, and William Menninger, who appear on March 6th of the Episcopal Church’s Lesser Feasts & Fasts.
They were the founders of the Menninger Clinic and later the Menninger Foundation, initially in Topeka, Kansas, and later in Houston. Their work transformed the understanding of psychiatric illness and its treatment.
Many of the touchstones of their practices are highly relevant today, and so I believe an exploration of their “saintly” calling in Lent Madness 2023 would be valuable, particularly:
• their activism regarding treatment vs. custodial care or jail;
• their work with soldiers at war;
• their later work with veterans, including what we would now call moral injury;
• their revision of classifications of mental disorders;
• their promotion of homeopathic treatment, in particular the use of the hospital environment as an accessory to therapy;
• their advocacy of a collaborative practice (e.g., Mayo);
• their commitment to a multi-modality profession, including treatment and also research, social outreach, and education;
• their crusade on behalf of many social justice issues, long before those issues became prominent (i.e., neglected and abused children, prisoners, Native Americans, and wildlife);
• their dedication to the training of mental health specialists, at one point leading the largest psychiatric training center in the world.
Karl, in particular, incorporated his faith practices (Presbyterianism) into his psychiatric work which was informed, in part, by his theological understandings. He saw no conflict between his professional work and his religious beliefs, and said that clergy and psychiatrists “are both on the same side.” Karl practiced what Reinhold Niebuhr called “vital prophetic Christianity,” and was a preacher of some apparent skill. He believed that prayers are heard by God “because my conception of God is such that everything reaches Him.” He believed in the power of community, including both formal and informal rituals, and the linkages people make toward common purpose, in worship as well as in the therapeutic milieu of the psychiatric hospital. He encouraged his patients and his staff in their own moral understandings of how they behaved toward other human beings. Karl supported a Religion and Psychiatry Department at Menninger; his legacy was felt as the Menninger Foundation continued its annual Psychotherapy and Faith Conference this year, focusing on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Jonathan Daniels is an Episcopal saint and martyr. He was a very young seminarian,and"freedom rider" in Haynesville, Alabama during the civil rights movement of 1965. He saved a young Black teenager whom a deputy sheriff aimed at. Jonathan pushed her out of the way and was killed. The sheriff was later acquitted. Our friend, a former Catholic priest was mortally wounded and left for dead, but eventually recovered. Jonathan's biography is "American Martyr the Jon Daniels Story" by William Schneifer.
I nominate Moses the Black, martyred in 407 AD, venerated in the Eastern Orthodox church and the Anglican Communion.
Moses was by all accounts a bad guy. He was a slave, yet he stole, he beat people up, he even killed a few poor souls. He was so bad that his owner kicked him out. Even though Moses was big and bad, he had good organizational skills and was soon leading a band of bad guys to continue to steal and beat people up.
One day, he was led by the Spirit to a monastery in Scetis in Egypt, where he was converted. He was still big and strong, however, and one day when a group of four robbers crept into the monastery Moses single-handedly beat them up, tied them up, and slung all four of them across his shoulders. He brought them to the monks, saying, "I thought it would not be very Christian of me to kill them. What do you want me to do with them?"