260 comments on “Happy Nominationtide!”

1. Was there a problem with my nomination of St. Ambrose of Milan? My post disappeared. Thanks.

2. I nominate Blessed Carlo Acutis for Lent Madness 2024! Blessed Carlo Acutis as a very young person was devoted to the Eucharist and to Our Lady. Carlo called praying the Rosary the "shortest ladder to heaven" and the Eucharist as the "highway to heaven". He began a webpage as part of his vocation and recorded all of the Eucharist miracles. He used this as his way to spread the Gospel and encourage devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Carlo was diagnosed with Leukemia and died at the age of just fifteen years old. His feast day is on October 12th. Carlo is an inspiration to me as a modern Blessed at such a young age, he had such a strong and unwavering devotion to our Lord in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and to our Blessed Mother. Carlo is often thought to be a modern patron for the internet because of his use of the internet to promote the devotion to the Eucharist. Blessed Carlo Acutis pray for us!!

3. I nominate St. John Chrysostom for his over 700 sermons but highly regarded for his Paschal homily which ends “Let no one fear death, for the death of the Saviour hath set us free. He hath quench by it, He hath led hades captive, He Who descended into hades. He embittered it, when it tasted of His flesh. And foretelling this, Isaiah cried: "Hades," he saith, "was embittered when it encountered Thee below." It was embittered, for it was abolished. It was embittered, for it was mocked. It was embittered, for it was slain. It was embittered, for it was overthrown. It was embittered, for it was fettered. It received a body and encountered God. It received earth, and met heaven. It received that which it saw, and fell to what it did not see. O death, where is thy sting? O hades, where is thy victory?

   Christ is risen, and thou art cast down.

   Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen.

   Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice.

   Christ is risen, and life flourisheth.

   Christ is risen, and there is none dead in the tombs.

   For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of them that have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen.”

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4. I would like to nominate St. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter and the first to say, "We've found the messiah." He seems to be good at discernment at any rate!
   Besides, the church I serve is called St. Andrew's, so that's a good reason, right?

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5. I nominate Bishop Barbara Harris, the first woman elected bishop in the Anglican Communion. She was active in the civil rights movement and came late to the priesthood. Bishop Harris was a groundbreaker in many ways.

6. I nominate St. Canaire (also apparently known as St. Conaire and St. Cannera of Inis Cathaig). As to her eligibility, she is very, very dead (around 530 AD), and based on the lists you provided, it doesn't appear she has been nominated in the recent past. Why. St. Canaire? Because she was a feminist when it was far from fashionable or even acceptable to be that. While in prayer, she had a vision that her resurrection was to occur on an island called Inis Cathaig. After travelling there by walking on water (which is kind of badass all by itself), she was greeted by Senan, who told her that women could neither live on nor visit the island. She replied, "Christ came to redeem women no less than to redeem men. No less did he suffer for the sake of women than for the sake of men. No less than men, women enter into the heavenly kingdom. Why, then, should you not allow women to live on this place?" Faced with this unassailable argument, Senan gave her communion and a place to rest. Her resurrection is said to have occurred promptly upon receiving communion. She is a fabulous example of a woman who knew her own mind, knew and trusted in her God, and had the courage to speak her truth. (The part about walking on water is pretty cool, too.)

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7. St. Theresa of the Child Jesus aka St. Theresa of Lisieux. She was a favorite of my late mother's and my mom always felt she was favorable to cats like St Gertrude. I believe she's also known as the Little Flower.

8. I nominate Saint Winifred of Holywell. Partly because I just named my new daughter Winifred (Winnie), but mostly because she is an awesome Welsh saint who survived being beheaded! Her uncle (also a saint) put it back on for her.

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9. I nominate Saint Genevieve, patron saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions (feast day January 3). I recently learned about her on a trip to Paris where I saw her reliquary at St. Etienne du Mont and many depictions of her in other churches. She is credited with saving Paris from the Huns through a prayer marathon and with bringing grain to the city during Childeric's siege during the 5th century CE.

10. I nominate Dorothy Day, a great humanitarian of the 20th century who dedicated her life to helping others. I assume she is a saint but, if not, she should be!

11. I nominate Dorthy Day because she worked diligently with the poor and those rejected by society. She eventually started the “Catholic Worker Community” which services the poor all over the USA

12. If Desmond Tutu isn’t on a calendar of commemorative dates of some church, surely he will be, and he does have a commemorative calendar in his honour… perhaps on the basis of this heartfelt arguing and technical hair splitting, the Supreme Executive Committee would consider, in their renowned grace and mercy, to be forerunners ahead of the curve, demonstrating what ought to be… and would be willing to put his life and work before the masses for consideration? I mean, there are others as worthy, but who has risked more for faith and justice?

13. I nominate Robert Bellarmine. Why? He is my Patron Saint!

14. I nominate St. Stephen of Perm (d. 1300s) who worked diligently as a translator and missionary to bring the Gospel to eastern Slavic peoples. I think it is our calling to translate/make available the gospel in a way our peers and contemporaries can access it. St. Stephen is a guide and example for us today.

    See more here
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_of_Perm

15. I would like to nominate Henri Nouwen. He was a very honest Dutch Theologian and writer whose writings and life have touched me in many different ways because his life took so many different directions and he wrote from those. But what I love most about him is that he found his deepest understandings about God's love through becoming a member of L'Arche Daybreak in Toronto and living life with a community of people with disabilities. He is a saint of L'Arche and of people who struggle with our neuroses even if he hasn't been canonized.

16. I nominate St. Gertrude of Nivelles, patron saint of cats, gardeners and persons with mental illnesses.

    The effect of the past 3 years has affected many persons, leading to anxiety and depression. Many people have turned to their cats and their gardens to help them cope. For these reasons, St. Gertrude of Nivelles is the perfect saint for our times.

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17. I nominate Corrie ten Boom for Lent Madness for 2024.

    She hid and helped Jews during WWII. Her hiding place was betrayed and she was arrested and sent to a concentration camp. After the war she wrote about her experience, THE HIDING PLACE, and was a Christian speaker about forgiveness.

18. I would like to nominate St. Dymphna Novena, A highly respected St. of both the Catholic church, and Eastern Orthodox traditions.
    She was afflicted with several different mental problems, and was able to make a difference in our world, even without the knowledge & medications we have today.
    I want to nominate her for a bracket, to remind us all that we can't rightfully think "ill" of the mentally ill because they sometimes act irrationally, or seem stupid. Everybody deserves respect, and an ear to speak their troubles too.
    That even goes for Tim & Scott

19. I nominate Peter Claver (1580-1654). He was a priest who devoted his life to helping the African slaves who poured into South and Central America in the 1600s. For decades, Peter Claver would meet slave ships as they came into the harbor carrying people who had survived a horrible crossing, chained to the floor, weak, starving, and disease ridden. He provided food, medicine, and assurance that they were the children of God. He also preached his message of tolerance and love to sailors, traders, and plantation owners, always staying in slave quarters when he traveled rather than in plantation owners' homes. He faced great opposition for his views. When he became sick himself near the end of his life, he was almost completely neglected and died after four years of illness. Peter Claver called himself "the slave of the slaves forever."

20. I am nominating St. Mark the Evangelist, presumed writer of the Gospel of Mark, founder of the church of Alexandria, and martyr. Without his words, works, and travels, the early church would not have grown so quickly.

21. I highly recommend Susanna Wesley (1669-1742), "Mother of Methodism" and the brothers Charles and John and 17 other children. She was one of 25 children of Anglican priest Dr. Samuel Annesley and Mary White and the wife of Anglican priest Samuel Wesley. Susanna was an equal spiritually and intellectually to her husband and at times was responsible for keeping his parish going when he served time in debtors prison. Susanna had a profound impact on all her children, 10 of whom lived to adulthood, but none more than on two of her youngest: John and Charles, co-founders of with others of the Methodist movement. Without Susanna, it is not too much to say, there very likely would be no Methodist churches in their various forms.

22. I nominate St. Raphael the Archangel. He is the patron saint of happy romantic meetings. While those searching for love often pray, "Dear St. Anne, send me a man," quality is much more important than quantity. The biblical story associated with his patronage is in the Book of Tobit, where Raphael protected the engagement of Tobias and Sarah by fending off demons. I always sent up a prayer to Raphael before going on dates - there is a special place in my heart for Raphael!

23. I would like to nominate Matt Talbot, the patron saint of alcoholics, because my partner has been sober for over 40 years and still attends AA regularly with the intention of inspiring others that it's possible to lead a sober and productive life. I thank God for him and his sobriety, and for people like Matt Talbot.
    Thanks

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24. DUNSTAN, Archbishop of Canterbury, 988
    His feast day was May 19th.
    In the write up on him, he was described as “contemplative in action”—bringing the fruits of monastic prayer life to the immediate concerns of church and state. As a follower for Richard Rohr's Center for Action and Contemplation, what we need more of is contemplation and from that take action.

25. I would like to nominate Hugh of Lincoln, d.1200. He was monastic who--reluctantly--was appointed bishop of Lincoln by King Henry II in 1186. He was a gifted pastor and champion of the poor and also much sought-after confessor.

26. I want to recommend Madeline L'Engles

27. I nominate Thurgood Marshall. He was an honorable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court standing up to racism and supporting our Constitution. Current Supreme Court Justices should follow his example.

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28. I second the nomination for Rachel Carson. I've been reading her trilogy on the sea lately and they are a celebration of God's good works and a sad description of man's caretaking abilities.

29. I nominate Thurgood Marshall. To my mind, he was one of the greatest US public servants of the 20th century, both as a trailblazing lawyer and as a Supreme Court justice. And right about now, it seems like we could all do with some renewed faith in public service.

30. A note about how, not who: At first glance, it seems that women and minority men frequently win when paired with white men. To level the playing field, might you consider pairing two women, two white men, two minority men, two Americans, two ancient saints, two modern saints, two saints from abroad, two Biblical saints, and two of every other similar category you can think of? The saints thank you for considering this idea!