Our Z vs. Z parade continues today as Agatha Lin Zhao faces Lucy Yi Zhenmei in a battle of 19th century saints.
Yesterday in the first iteration of the ZZZZs, Zenaida defeated Katharine Zell 67% to 33% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen against Sundar Singh.
If you missed yesterday's edition of Monday Madness, you can catch all the action here as Christian and Michael look back at the week that was, entertain some conspiracy theories, and generally pump up the penitential jam.
Vote now!
Agatha Lin Zhao
The parents of Agatha Lin Zhao were unafraid to hold their Christian faith with boldness in the early 1800s in the southern province of Guizhou, China. It was no doubt a gift and a curse to their children, who saw a powerful faith that was unyielding in the face of persecution, but it also created a life that was punctuated with an imprisoned father and impoverished mother. Able to read and write at a young age, Agatha was a sponge for all sorts of knowledge but was especially drawn to the Catholic teachings which her parents followed. When Agatha learned of her promised betrothal to a boy from a wealthy family, she begged her family to call it off and she shared that she had made her own private vow of chastity with God. Her parents respected her wishes, even though it cost them financial security, because it allowed their daughter to live out her faith.
Soon, she went away to continue her education but after her father was arrested again for his Christianity, she was forced to return home. After her father’s death, she was able to accept a teaching opportunity that her local priest had secured for her after being impressed with her faith and academic skill. After just one year of teaching, she was promoted to lead the convent in Guiyang. Agatha was arrested in 1857, and though she claimed her school was teaching the girls Chinese culture and how to be good wives, she refused to renounce her Christian faith and was executed in early 1858. She was canonized in 2000 and is remembered on her feast day in our church on February 19.
She is remembered with two other Chinese martyrs from the mid-1800s who refused to renounce their Christian faith: Agnes Tsao Kou Ying and Lucy Yi Zhenmei (whom she competes with today, cruel move, Supreme Executive Committee). All three women were not converts themselves but were raised in the Christian faith and found both their Christian and Chinese identities to be fully at home. All these women, especially Agatha, are examples of the power of women who are not only dedicated and committed to Christ’s work in the world, but also empowered to hold the complexities of their identity while being unwilling to bend their faith, even to the point of death.
Collect for Agatha Lin Zhao
Lord Jesus Christ, who willingly walked the way of the cross: Strengthen your church through the witness of your servants Agnes Tsao Kou Ying, Agatha Lin Zhao, and Lucy Yi Zhenmei to hold fast to the path of discipleship even unto death; for with the Father and Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Lucy Yi Zhenmei
Lucy Yi Zhenmei was born to a Catholic family on December 9, 1815, in China’s Sichuan province. She was the youngest of five children in her family. She was a very pious child and committed herself to a life of chastity at age twelve. She loved studying and reading. At age twenty, while she was pursuing higher education, she became very ill. After she recovered from her illness, she began to take her spiritual life even more seriously and devoted herself to a life of prayer. Her mother taught her the art of spinning yarn, which also became part of Lucy’s daily life. After her father died, Lucy continued to live with her mother and brother.
She knew that she could not leave her family to become a nun because they needed her financial help. When her local parish priest in Minyang noticed Lucy’s devotion to her faith and her extensive knowledge, she was asked to help teach the local children about matters of faith. When Lucy’s brother moved to Chonqing to practice medicine, Lucy and her mother went with him. Again, a local priest asked Lucy to help educate the parish’s women. When Lucy was offered a stipend for her work, she refused to accept it and said she was offering her work to God.
After Lucy’s mother died, Lucy continued her missionary work and went to live with a convent of lay women. When she had some health issues, she returned home but eventually returned to teach once again at the convent.
In 1862, Lucy went with a missionary priest to open a mission in Jiashanlong, but the province administrator began to stir up hatred against Christians. Because of this increasing hatred, four missionaries were imprisoned and sentenced to death. When these missionaries encountered Lucy, she also was jailed, put on trial, and sentenced to death for refusing to renounce her faith. She was beheaded on February 19, 1862, at the age of forty-six, the only woman of this group of martyrs, now known as the Martyrs of Guizhou. All five bodies were taken to the grounds of Liuchonnguan seminary for burial. Pope Pius X proclaimed all five of them “Blessed” on May 2, 1909. Pope John Paul II canonized them on October 1, 2000.
Some have said that Lucy should be the patron saint of schoolteachers, religious educators, or catechists, but nothing official has been determined. She is commemorated on the Episcopal calendar with Agatha Lin Zhao, whom she faces in this first round battle, and Agnes Tsao Kou Ying. They are commemorated on February 19, the date of Lucy’s death, but they share a feast day because they were canonized in the Roman Catholic Church on the same date.
Collect for Lucy Yi Zhenmei
Lord Jesus Christ, who willingly walked the way of the cross: Strengthen your church through the witness of your servants Agnes Tsao Kou Ying, Agatha Lin Zhao, and Lucy Yi Zhenmei to hold fast to the path of discipleship even unto death; for with the Father and Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
59 comments on “Agatha Lin Zhao vs. Lucy Yi Zhenmei”
I had no preference today so I voted for Agatha
since she was behind.
These saints remind me not to take my Christian life for granted. They bucked the system by not marrying and were executed for being Christian. Our freedom is on their shoulders.
I am not a robot, but I do have eye issues and can't always see the pictures when I am asked to identify objects. Please find another way to establish
This is like choosing between twins. Their lives are so similar, it is hard to tell them apart. Basically, I went eeny meeny miny moe and happened to choose Agatha. I am afraid whoever wins won't be advancing any further.
Hello:
I am unable to vote because I have tried clicking "I am Not a Robot." and nothing happens.
Anne H.
Impossible to choose today. Just impossible.
Finally went with Agatha because her courage would have been an example to the others and because of Becca Kello’s write-up, especially her concluding statement: "All these women . . . are examples of the power of women who are not only dedicated and committed to Christ’s work in the world, but also empowered to hold the complexities of their identity while being unwilling to bend their faith, even to the point of death."
Sorry to say this, SEC, because I know you work so hard to give us Lent Madness and I deeply appreciate that, but this matchup is an Epic Fail.
First, why with all the cool saints out there including the many recommended during Nominationtide did you pick two who are so very similar to be in the same year's 32? They're even commemorated on the same day!
Second, why then pit them against each other?
What were you THINKING?!?!
I'm glad to learn their stories. But I'm not voting today. It's pointless.
I really wanted to vote for Agnes in memory of my dear Chinese friend. My mother was her Godmother and I was her daughter’s Godmother.
All of these women’s died because they were Christians. I often wonder would I die for my faith????I find it easy to say, “Yes!”
As I sit in the comfort of my home and without fear….
I chose Agatha as an early reader who thirsted for knowledge and was a teacher.
Cruel match-up, SEC. Both women are shining examples. Finally voted for Lucy because she stayed with her family because they needed her financial support.
A tough and not entirely fair choice to be sure! I chose Lucy Yi Zhenmei since we share a birthday.
“How to be good wives” and “life of chastity”: it bothers me that these themes inhere in women’s experience, even Christian experience, well into what I think should be modernity. And “modernity” is what so much of reactionary forms of “Christianity” detest and deploy doctrine against. Talented, faithful women move the church forward on crumbs. Meanwhile Pete Hegseth, talentless white-man DEI hire with a torso covered with Christian nationalist insignia, and Mike Waltz spill classified information in a careless group chat. I’d add “drunken” for the verisimilitude, but the scene is bad enough. And Hossam Shabbat was just murdered by Israel, because Jesus will come again if enough Palestinian journalists are killed. I don’t know whom to vote for today. But I think, now that we can see the depraved workings of power in this crumbling empire, that the church needs to come to a contemporary understanding of martyrdom. Martyrdom is, oddly enough, or maybe not oddly at all, one of the arenas where women are equal to men. I’d like to see martyrdom disentangled from “chastity.” I would like us to look squarely at martyrdom and find a current vocabulary with which to talk about acts of self-sacrifice as forms of giving and of nurturing beloved community.
These two are twins. I can’t see any difference worth mentioning. But I’m voting for Agatha because everyone else who says they’re just alike seems to choose Lucy.
It’s interesting- at least one person favored Lucy for declining the stipend. I felt like she could have accepted that money to help her family since the whole reason she did not join a convent was to help her family financially. Couldn’t that have been win-win?
I wonder how much hardship her family was experiencing. On the other hand, Lucy must have seen the parish trying to stretch its resources to help the community. Hmmm. It’s tricky. I think it is one thing to commit to one’s own poverty but another to make that decision for one’s family. I am curious how other Lent Madness folks think about this.
Yikes - I’ll certainly remember today’s match-up! Steadfast faith in the face of persecution by both Agatha and Lucy. I voted for Agatha & I’m truly not sure I can intelligently explain why. We’ve had tough choices before, but this one gave me a brain cramp. Thanks all the same
Both are commendable. The main reason I chose Lucy is she also overcame periods of bad health in addition to Chinese persecution and death.
Why is it so hard to vote
.
My best cat ever was named Agatha. So, Agatha it is for me today!
I am not voting today. I find the match-up informative, but unfair in this context.
Extremely difficult choice!
Anyone else using the webpage version of playing against others and astounded how many days behind the completed bracket the standings are?
Impossible choice today, they were far too similar
Why is my vote not registering????
Second day in a row that I cannot vote. All I get is the spinning wheel of death. Haven't been able to vote on my phone, but up until now I could vote on my laptop. Hey SEC and related minions--what gives with all the bad tech issues this year?????
Eeny meeny
I am not voting; as others have said, this matchup is pointless. SEC, you cannot win. Pit a first century saint vs a modern one and we complain they are too dissimilar. Pit two contemporaries, with the same feast day and even the same collect, against eachother and there’s no point choosing.
I'm sitting out the voting today. These two women have so much in common - mentioned countless times in the comments - that I cannot justify a choice. Each is a fine role model for us in our era and global community.
The spinning did it for me
Interesting that yesterday's contest only arrived in my inbox this morning. The system doesn't seem to be working well this year.