Welcome to the final matchup of the Saintly Sixteen, as Clare of Assisi takes on Henry Whipple. With seven tickets punched for the Elate Eight, Clare and Henry are competing for the last available spot.
On Friday, Julian of Norwich trounced Zita 82% to 18%. She'll face Joseph of Arimathea in the next round.
Vote now!
Clare of Assisi
Let's look at letters Clare wrote to Agnes of Prague, a princess who dedicated her life to God. Agnes built a hospital and friary for Franciscans, from whom she learned about Clare and the Poor Clares. Clare and Agnes exchanged letters for nineteen years, and we have four letters from Clare to Agnes. The letters sought to encourage Agnes in her life of faith and grow in familiarity from the first letter to the fourth.
In the first letter to Agnes, Clare writes:
"As I hear of the fame of your holy conduct and irreproachable life, which is known not only to me but to the entire world as well, I greatly rejoice and exult in the Lord (Hab 3:18)."
Shoutout to the embedded scripture quotes! Clare continues:
"O God-centered poverty, whom the Lord Jesus Christ who ruled and now rules heaven and earth, who spoke and things were made, condescended to embrace before all else!"
In her second letter, Clare continues to encourage Agnes with a scripture-laden passage, followed by this vision:
"What you hold, may you always hold.
What you do, may you always do and never abandon.
But with swift pace, light step,
and unswerving feet,
so that even your steps stir up no dust,
go forward securely, joyfully and swiftly,
on the path of prudent happiness,
believing nothing,
agreeing with nothing
which would dissuade you from this resolution
or which would place a stumbling block for you on the way,
so that you may offer your vows to the Most High
in the pursuit of that perfection
to which the Spirit of the Lord has called you."
In letter three, Clare offers this famous vision:
"Place your mind before the mirror of eternity!
Place your soul in the brilliance of glory!
Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance!
And transform your whole being
into the image of the Godhead itself through contemplation!
So that you too may feel what His friends feel
as they taste the hidden sweetness
which God Himself has reserved
from the beginning
for those who love Him."
By the fourth letter, Clare and Agnes know each other well. Clare writes:
"What more can I say? Let the tongue of the flesh be silent when I seek to express my love for you; and let the tongue of the Spirit speak, because the love that I have for you, O blessed daughter, can never be fully expressed by the tongue of the flesh, and even what I have written is an inadequate expression."
Read all four letters for a clinic on deftly quoting multiple scriptures in one sentence and an example of mutual support and friendship as followers of Jesus.
— Miriam McKenney
Henry Whipple
Henry Benjamin Whipple was the first Bishop of the Diocese of Minnesota. His foremost legacy is his advocacy for the indigenous people of Minnesota against severe pressure inside and outside of the church to remain silent.
His writings reveal a mixed legacy. He shows love and recognition for the people he serves as worthy of respect, dignity, and honor; yet he writes as a white man and Bishop in the 19th century who was convinced that western culture was the vanguard of human progress. As such, he embodies well what Martin Luther meant when he said that the Christian is “simultaneously justified and sinner.”
Whipple writes scathingly comparing Americans to the wicked King Ahab in the face of Manifest Destiny: “Nations, like individuals, reap exactly what they sow; they who sow robbery reap robbery. The seed-sowing of iniquity replies in a harvest of blood... The inexorable has no tears or pity at the cries of anguish of the doomed race. Ahab never speaks kindly of Naboth, whom he has robbed of his vineyard. It soothes conscience to cast mud on the character of the one whom we have wronged.”
Such convictions put Whipple at odds with some of his fellow bishops. He recalls in his memoirs that “I went to the General Convention sick at heart… I drew up [a letter to the President of the United States] and showed it to one of the bishops, who after reading it said, ‘I hope that you will not bring politics into the House.’ [Another bishop,] observing my distress, asked me the cause, and I answered: ‘My diocese is desolated by Indian war; eight hundred of our people are dead, and I have just come from a hospital of wounded and dying. I asked one of my brothers to sign this paper and he responds by calling it politics.’” Yet his advocacy continued. He recounts in his memoirs that he was often asked “Bishop, don’t you know that everybody is against you?” only to give one reply: “Yes, but God is on my side, and that makes a majority.”
In 1889, Whipple gave a sermon at the beginning of another General Convention. Towards the conclusion of his sermon, he says: “You may tell me of difficulties and dangers. We have only one answer. Sin, sorrow, and death are not the inventions of a Christian priest. ‘There is only one Name under heaven whereby any man can be saved.’ We have nothing to do with results. It is ours to work and pray, and pray, and work, and die. So falls the seed into the earth, and so God gives the harvest… The only failure is the failure to do God's work.”
— David Sibley
59 comments on “Clare of Assisi vs. Henry Whipple”
What a tough choice! I voted for Henry Whipple, and I hope he goes all the way to The Golden Halo!
Henry Whipple had me at "Yes, but God is on my side, and that makes a majority.” I think of Antigone's choosing the authority of the gods over that of the king and of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s choosing God over law in "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."
Tough choice. However, since Clare is my middle name, I had to go with her. It was good to know more about Henry Whipple, though.
I serve the Dakotah people. I give thanks everyday for the courage, tenacity & compassion for Bp Whipple. May he receive the Golden Halo!
I'm not surprised to see these two competing neck and neck. Thank you, bloggers. Really enjoyed the write ups today.
I have given a gift of stock that originated with my grandparents to the Pawnee Nation. Pawnee Country where my family flourished. How can I not vote for Henry who also saw duty to the original inhabitants of his parish.
I surprised myself for voting for Henry Whipple, whose words have so much resonance today. If bishops were more willing to engage with the political, the world might be in a better place today.
I have many Dakota cousins and all are Episcopalians. How could I not for Bishop Whipple?
I fear that the quiet cloistered life of Clare is something too foreign to our Modern life for us to appreciate. Clare had a massive impact on the Spiritual lives of women. Please remember this.
Today’s choice is difficult. Clare and Henry provide a perfect prescription for what is needed today as we strive to follow Jesus: contemplation and action. I voted for Clare who writes of contemplation, the basis of our convictions and service..
"Sin, sorrow, and death are not the inventions of a Christian priest." Taking a stance against evil and death was both risky and courageous in Bp. Whipple's day, and as much needed this year as in years past.
It's a tough matchup. Clare is well-known and famous. Henry Whipple, not so much. However, his efforts on behalf of the native people were herculean. My vote for Bishop Henry.
Cyprian of carnage should have won
I'm pretty sure carnage has the upper hand most days.
I came thinking I'd vote for Clare, but voted for Henry. A reminder to the church to stand against injustice even when the people the injustice is perpetrated against don't seem to be like us.
I voted for Henry Whipple,he cared for the Native American.
It was a hard choice on who to vote for,but Henry Whipple got my vote.
Wow! Tough one!
I am in western South Dakota, the traditional land of the Oceti Sakowin. Bishop Whipple brings Lent Madness close to home where we still are working to combat racism. May I have his courage in speaking up.
Whipple really speaks to me in these days when we have to advocate for the poor and marginalized, even if it makes us unpopular.
At first I thought that I would vote for Clare. Indeed she is saintly in her letters. Certainly she is following the vows of DOK which are pray, serve, and evangelize.
And then no I read about Henry Whipple. I went to college with a George Whipple. Henry and George have much in common. The clincher for me is the last sentence in the last paragraph.
In 1889, Whipple gave a sermon at the beginning of another General Convention. Towards the conclusion of his sermon, he says: “You may tell me of difficulties and dangers. We have only one answer. Sin, sorrow, and death are not the inventions of a Christian priest. ‘There is only one Name under heaven whereby any man can be saved.’ We have nothing to do with results. It is ours to work and pray, and pray, and work, and die. So falls the seed into the earth, and so God gives the harvest… The only failure is the failure to do God's work.”
I truly shouldn’t be surprised that every Lent Madness day surprises me:) Came into Monday leaning towards a Clare vote. Coming from a country which for decades was in denial of the Residential School System brutalising First Nation children, I stand behind Henry Whipple today.
This weekend I went to see the movie Cabrini (about Saint Francesca Cabrini/Frances Xavier Cabrini and her work with immigrants in NYC and then around the world). Excellent film! Check it out:
https://www.angel.com/movies/cabrini
I will be nominating her for next year's Lent Madness . . .
Does anyone know if she has appeared in any previous contests??
Having served at a parish dedicated to Francis where Clare was also honored, I was sure I would vote for her. But Whipple's advocacy for Native Americans has won me over.
Always tough to choose between the contemplative saints and those who advocate for social justice. But in this time of reckoning with the many injustices that were done to indigenous Americans, my vote goes to Whipple.
And the injustices are still being done.
What the heck is going on with the voting system ? Again I am not able to vote and this is very frustrating . Please fix the problem .
This was a tough one for me, both celebrity bloggers did a great job! At least as of now, my vote is not advancing!
I voted for Henry, but I feel he will lose to Clare.My guess- the race will come down to Julian, Conaire or Albert.
Doesn't matter. Julian is going to win this year.
"God is on my side, and that makes a majority." Score, Bishop Whipple! My Swedish fore-parents settled in Minnesota. I wonder what their attitude was toward the Indians. I suspect they simply tried to remain ignorant as none of their concern. I cannot help but notice that any effort to call attention to the plight of the dispossessed and despised is always met with the charge of "politics." If care for those crushed by cannons and Apache missiles is "politics," then Jesus' message, and the kingdom of God itself, are utterly political. There is nothing more political than to deny the political when one is operating on behalf of wealth and empire. We are required by our faith to open our eyes. May all Episcopal bishops, and "ordinary saints like me," live according to the model of Bishops Henry Whipple and Paul Jones.
"Apache" missiles. And Blackhawk helicopters and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The nerve of the US armed forces appropriating terminology conveying strength and invincibility from the tribes that they themselves crushed.
Much worse than naming baseball teams and high school athletics after Native tribes and terms.
My Swedish foreuncles in Minnesota hid their little sister in a haystack to hide her from the Indians. I don't know what the brothers did then - I doubt that they would fight; the family was and still is militantly pacifist. I met her as a child when she was 103 years old. She remembered hearing of Lincoln's assassination.
What an amazing story! Thank you for sharing.
Henry Whipple's words, witness, and actions wowed me today:
“Nations, like individuals, reap exactly what they sow; they who sow robbery reap robbery. The seed-sowing of iniquity replies in a harvest of blood... The inexorable has no tears or pity at the cries of anguish of the doomed race. Ahab never speaks kindly of Naboth, whom he has robbed of his vineyard. It soothes conscience to cast mud on the character of the one whom we have wronged.”
Prophetic truth which spoke to me just as clearly of the heartbreaking harvest of blood in present-day Gaza as of 19th century Minnesota. We are all called to live out our discipleship and witness in the incarnate world; our wounded, weary, divided world. If that's political, oh well. So be it.
Henry Whipple's steadfast witness evokes the true fast to which God calls us in Isaiah 58:
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Whipple. Whipple good!
We are Devo-ted!
I see what you did there
I often drop out at this stage; the whole elimination game with its one winner and everybody else a "loser" is so totally against the basic principles of the Gospel's central message of the diversity of gifts and no keeping score and the gracious table with plenty of room for all.
I know, it's just a GAME. But it starts to get to me.
I'm sorry you see the people who don't win as losing. Perhaps it would help to think of each one as coming in second. But I agree: competition can seem just wrong sometimes.
I like to think of it as introducing us to some lesser known figures in the history of Christianity, along with telling us more about people we know a little about. How many of us knew the name of Rafqa of Lebanon before the nominations came out last November? And while we probably remember that Joseph of Arimathea is mentioned in the Gospels as having asked Pilate for Christ's body and put Christ in his own tomb, we might not recall Nicodemus's part in the story.
I like to think of it as a light-hearted approach to some very deep thinking and sharing. It's just silly to compare saints and vote; and it's even sillier to put them into the same brackets as we do basketball. But that silliness held in tension by the seriousness of what we're really contemplating helps me find a sort of quiet place to reflect. And I love the tension between the silliness and light-heartedness of the whole frame and the depth of so many of the comments and discussions and the lives we contemplate. I also truly love the kitsch round. Francis of Assisi spoke of himself sometimes as a fool for God (in some of the earliest Latin biographies "“ioculatores Domini”), so there's something about the game that keeps us open hearted while also soul searching.
This year, I've often not read the writeups in time to vote, but I still enjoy reading about the saints and reading the comments. I also look forward to the Kitsch Round every year. Maybe you could give up voting but still read along? You don't really even need to look at who won if you don't want to.
Each day it is harder and harder to vote. These are all truly saints.