Today in Lent Madness action, it's Hiram Kano vs. Lucy of Syracuse. Japanese priest who ministered in the midwest and was incarcerated during World War II vs. an early Christian martyr beloved by Scandinavians.
Yesterday, Iraneaus of Lyon edged James the Just 53% to 47% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen, where he'll face Athanasius of Alexandria.
Remember that everyone gets ONE VOTE. Don't risk being cast into the outer darkness of Lent Madness! It is most unpleasant.
Vote now!
Hiram Kano
Hisanori Kano was born on January 30, 1889, in Koishikawa, Japan, near Tokyo. He had two older brothers—including one who died as a child—an older sister, and four younger sisters. Because his father was of noble status, a daimyo (feudal lord), and the governor of the Kagoshima region, he had greater access to educational opportunities than others at the time.
Kano learned English and Christianity from Dr. and Mrs. Harman and Vesta Peeke beginning when he was in the third grade. When he was in high school, he encountered classmates who were Christian. At that point Kano didn’t identify as Christian but he “approved” of Christianity, and he started praying morning and evening prayer with these classmates. During a hospitalization with appendicitis when he was in high school, he had an experience where he saw God. It was that experience which led him to commit his life to God. Dr. Peeke baptized Kano at the Japanese Christian Church in 1909 after his hospitalization.
Kano entered the agricultural college at the University of Tokyo in 1913. A classmate noticed that he spent a lot of time talking about theology and God. In his second year of college, he said that he heard a voice telling him to go overseas. Kano arrived in the United States on October 25, 1916, sponsored by William Jennings Bryan, who had met the Kano family on a previous trip to Japan. He got his master’s degree in agriculture from the University of Nebraska in 1919. He married Aiko (Ivy) in 1919, and bought a 300-acre farm. They had two children, Cyrus and Adeline.
Kano became a lay missionary for the Episcopal Church in 1925. When describing Nebraska, he said, “the whole state is my mission field.” He was ordained a deacon in 1928 and a priest in 1936. By spring 1934, he had baptized two hundred and fifty people and confirmed fifty.
He was arrested on December 7, 1941, along with Mike Masaoka, a key figure with the Japanese American Citizens League. While he was jailed, Kano’s bishop, George Beecher, came to visit. Bishop Beecher stayed in touch with him throughout the war years. Kano was the only Japanese person from Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming who was jailed. He was rated as “Class A,” which meant he was potentially dangerous. From the jail, he was sent to the incarceration camp at Fort McCoy in 1942.
Kano was released from the incarceration camps in 1944. He earned a master’s degree in divinity from Nashotah House in 1946. Kano spent his ministry with the Japanese population in Nebraska until he retired in 1957. He completed a memoir, Nikkei Farmer on the Nebraska Plains, in 1974.
Kano died on October 24, 1988, in Colorado.
Collect for Hiram Kano
Almighty God, who has reconciled the world to yourself through Christ: Entrust to your Church the ministry of reconciliation, as you did to your servant Hiram Hisanori Kano, and raise up ambassadors for Christ to proclaim your love and peace wherever conflict and hatred divide; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Lucy of Syracuse
Lucy of Syracuse is one of the fourth-century martyrs who was killed under the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. But, before that, she was born to a rich family in Syracuse, Sicily, in 284 CE, and betrothed to a wealthy young man of a neighboring family when she was a child. Her father died when she was five, and her mother, Eutychia, was also ill and felt this was the only way to provide security and safety for her daughter.
Lucy, however, had other plans. Feeling a kinship with the local saint, Agatha, who had been martyred at Syracuse some fifty years before, young Lucy was inspired to give the money her mother had saved for her dowry to the town’s impoverished citizens. This decision was not received particularly well by her fiancé. When he arrived to marry Lucy, now twenty-one, and discovered that his expected fortune was gone, he angrily went to the Roman governor and denounced her as a Christian. Lucy cheerfully trotted off to trial before the governor, Paschasius, and informed him that God had assured her that his days, and the days of the emperor, were numbered, and that the church would survive despite their persecutions. This announcement also was received poorly by her audience; Paschasius ordered her to be abused in a brothel. However, when the guards tried to transport her there, they found her too heavy to move. (This is the point in which later traditions say that the governor ordered her eyes gouged out, making her the patron saint of the blind and those with eye ailments.) The soldiers then tried to burn her on a pyre, but the fire wouldn’t light. Finally, a soldier stabbed her in the neck, and thus was she martyred.
Her story spread rapidly, and by the sixth century, she is mentioned by name in the Sacramentary of Pope Gregory I and in the ancient Roman martyrology. By the seventh century, Bede tells us that her story was being celebrated in England by Christians there. It is now recognized on December 13, and these days is particularly tied to the Scandanavian countries as St. Lucia’s Day.
Collect for Lucy of Syracuse
O God, for the salvation of all you gave Jesus Christ as light to a world in darkness: Illumine us, as you did your daughter Lucy, with the light of Christ, that by the merits of his passion, we may be led to eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
88 comments on “Hiram Kano vs. Lucy of Syracuse”
Who was Vesta Peeke? What a wonderful name!
Lucy is a martyr so she believed in God till death.
I am not receiving emails about the daily contests until days after that contest is over. Can you fix this, please.
I agree with steve. Lucy is amazing and was a martyr. She believed in God until death.
we are Steve
Lucy deserves to be voted for, she was a martyr and she has been celebrated for years. She was a cheerful person and was not afraid to show her love to God. I think she should be voted for, for all of the things she has done. Also,Lucy is my name, my mothers name, and my grandmother's name. Therefore I am Lucy the III. This represents how important Lucy of Syracuse is in my family.
I was impressed that Hiram chose Christianity while in a predominantly non-Christian community. Seeing God and following him are impressive because the teen years have so much peer pressure. He didn't let it deter him. Then he traveled overseas to serve God. In a time when he was ostracized and held captive, he used it as an opportunity to spread the gospel and convert Japaneses internees to Christianity. Indirectly, he saved many lives on earth and in the afterlife. Wow!
I AM HAVING TROUBLE VOTING -I HAD TO TRY TWICE YESTERDAY AND TODAY AND STILL MY VOTR DID NOT GO THRU.
More about Fr. Kano’s ministry in this article.
Here's a great article from when Father Kano was included in the Church's calendar of saints: https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2015/07/02/a-sainted-life-hiram-hisanori-kano-turned-internment-camp-into-mission-field/
Love St. Lucy. Our parish celebrates her feast day with a candle-crowned lass in her last year at our parish school, however. . .Hiram Kano seems for me, in this particular time, to embody the spirit of those who are disenfranchised yet faithful.
PS Sr. Mary Winifred. . .are not deacons to baptize as well as preach? In the Catholic church they do!
Voting is still a problem.
I voted FOR Hiram Kano, because he was a great guy, went to Seminary at the GORGEOUS Nashotah House in my home state of Wisconsin, and died in my current state of Colorado. He did all kinds of positives, lead by example & was a farmer--as were my people. Plus, if I have a choice, I'm not voting for a martyr.
Because he was Japanese and Japan had just bombed Hawaii. The Japanese were sent to camps because the powers that be thought they might be siding with Japan and be a threat to the US
My favorite story about Father Kano is when he was offered reparations after the war he refused them, saying “I don’t want the money. God sent me where I was needed “
I needed more information about Hiram Kano
So when did the Lent Madness rules change to allow nominations for candidates who have been deceased for less than fifty years? This was a major issue previously. I recall one woman repeatedly nominating a candidate and her being told that he was absolutely not dead long enough to be considered.
So pleased to discover Hiram Kano and his story of faith. It is in many ways a very ordinary story, God at work in the lives of faithful Christians whose example leads others to faith. To find yourself under suspicion in your adopted country, incarcerated, and to continue in faithful loving service is a salutary lesson for our times. Delighted to vote for Hiram Kano.
Knowing Lucy's dramatic story, I thought "the eyes" would have it. But after reading about Hiram who suffered in a time and place close to me, I'm glad his sainthood is "Kano-nical" and he got my vote.
I love Lucy! I have a lovely figure of her from Stockholm. In college, my sorority sponsored an exchange student from Iceland and she surprised with the traditional St. Lucia crown of lights and sweet rolls. It’s a lovely memory. I’m not too thrilled about the eye gouging.
Both Lucy and Hiram suffered the effects of extreme stigma, social marginalization, and institutionalized punishment. The 3rd century social injustice that led to Lucy's death is historical "water over the dam", so to speak. (Despite what inspiration early Christian martyrdom may provide some faithful, today.) Hiram's suffering was at the hands of Americans, still quite alive in the minds of living family members like Hiram's as well as descendents of lawmakers to put internment into law (if not actual 1942 lawmakers who may be living today.) The pain associated with Hiram's experience, and 120 thousand others, can still be felt. I feel it too. I vote for Hiram.
Other commenters reminding me that Fr Kano’s experience is so relevant to what is going on today in the US, sways my vote. When will they ever learn?
For those lamenting that they wish a particular pair of saints were not pitted against each other: if two people keep winning, eventually they will be in a face-off. That's the way of all Madness tournaments.
And remember that many saints get another chance a few years down the road. And sometimes they win!
I had to vote for St. Lucy because my family is of Swedish origin and St. Lucia’s Day is kind of a big deal for us. It looks like she’s not going to win though, too bad.
Either a great choice. Was tempted to vote for Kano as his story resonates as a cautionary tale for today's political climate. But had to go with St Lucy who I prayed to for my son and I for cataract surgery. She and modern medicine came thru!
Gotta vote for St Lucy as we celebrate St Lucia Day every year as part of our Scandinavian tradition. Perhaps if she wins this match, we can be delighted by some of the other aspects of her life and ministry.
It would be fun if we could read all the saintly sixteen, elate eight, and final four pieces for those who don’t advance. I imagine they have already been prepared. ( after the Golden Halo has adorned this year’s Supreme Saint, of course)
I voted for Kano, but admire Lucy for her speaking truth to power. I agree with St. Celia in blessing Kano for his faith and devotion in spite of the racism he faced. (sorry that I cannot reply directly to St. Celia)
I am also pleased that we have 2 poets in Lent Madness this year. Many thanks to John Cabot and Catherine Craker for their poetic contributions!
Thrilled to see Fr. Kano on the lent madness roster. He is the reason that I’m an Episcopalian. There was a large settlement of Japanese that worked on the Union Pacific railroad construction. Their work was completed in the North Platte area so many settled there. Fr. Kano knocked on my grandparents’ door and converted them to the Episcopal religion. For several years Fr. Kano (or another priest) did a service in Japanese. Consequently, many of the Japanese families in western Nebraska remained Episcopalians.People in Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming were not incarcerated because Fr. Kano said that he would go to prison for all of the Japanese people in the area.