Well, we're not sure how our Canadian friends are doing on this fine mid-March day, but we trust your snow is deep and crisp and even. But enough about the weather. Today in Lent Madness action it's Wenceslaus vs. Francis Xavier.
Yesterday, Verena of Zurzach routed Ursula 81% to 19% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen.
But the hot news on this Thursday is the kick off to the daily SHOWDOWN OF THE DAY videos on Lent Madness TV. Click the link to watch and then subscribe to the YouTube channel, which also houses previous editions of Monday Madness. But the earliest ones were on Vimeo. Check out this classic 2012 edition from Tim and Scott -- this may be first one ever!
Vote now!
Wenceslaus
Good King Wenceslaus, who goes out on the snowy evening of December 26th. Wenceslaus was not a king, nor did he likely venture out on the Feast of Stephen in deep snow. He was, however, a deeply faithful Christian whose life embodied a godly ruler.
Wenceslaus was born in Bohemia in about 907. His grandparents had been converted to Christianity by Cyril and Methodius, and his father continued the family tradition. Many eastern European kingdoms still saw tensions between Christianity and the ancient pagan faiths. Wenceslaus’s mother Drahomira was a staunch devotee of pagan faith.
When Wenceslaus was thirteen, his father died. His Christian grandmother Ludmilla became his regent, but his mother murdered Ludmilla and took control of the government. She instituted harsh penalties against Christians in Bohemia and tried to convert her son to the pagan ways. When Wenceslaus came of age, he banished his mother and took control of the kingdom himself.
Wenceslaus was a devout Christian. He brought in German priests, who established more churches and brought the historically isolated Bohemia into relationship with the wider European world.
One legend holds that as his army faced a challenger, Wenceslaus sent an offer of peace. His opponent viewed the peace offering as a sign of weakness and prepared to attack. Wenceslaus offered to fight his opponent one on one to avoid massive casualties. As the two men walked toward each other, his opponent saw two angels guarding Wenceslaus and wisely chose Wenceslaus’s offer of peace.
Threatened by this ever-increasing modernization and Christianization of Bohemia, Wenceslaus’s brother Boleslav murdered Wenceslaus by running him through with a lance as he entered the church to attend Mass. Almost immediately, Wenceslaus was venerated as a martyr. Reports of miracles occurring at his tomb led Boleslav to relocate his bones to St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.
Wenceslaus was promoted to kingship posthumously by Holy Roman Emperor Otto I. Within decades of his death, hagiographies of Wenceslaus became popular. A famous statue of Wenceslaus on horseback graces Wenceslas Square in Prague. Legend holds that, if the Czech Republic is in danger, the good king’s statue
will come to life, summon the knights sleeping under Mt. Blanik, and save the land.
Collect for Wenceslaus
O God, who taught the Martyr Saint Wenceslaus to place the heavenly Kingdom before an earthly one, grant through his prayers that, denying ourselves, we may hold fast to you with all our heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Francis Xavier
The Presbyterian pastor Frederick Buechner famously said that “the place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Using this metric, it would seem highly unlikely that a man who was prone to profound seasickness and with great difficulty learning foreign languages would be called by God to be one of the most well-traveled and effective missionaries of Christianity, not only in the sixteenth century, but of all time. Perhaps against all odds, Francis Xavier was all of these.
Francis Xavier was born to an aristocratic Spanish-Basque family in Navarre; it was this status that made possible his studies at the Sorbonne. While there, he became a companion of Ignatius of Loyola, and, together with him and five others, in August 1534 made lifelong vows of poverty and service to wherever the Pope should send them—they were the first members of the Society of Jesus. Seven years later—after the Portuguese ambassador to Pope Paul III requested that the Jesuits be sent to evangelize the east—Xavier left Rome with only two days’ notice, went on to Lisbon, and from there left on his thirty-fifth birthday to begin a strenuous thirteen-month journey to Goa in southwest India, arriving in May 1542. Goa would become his base of operation for his later missionary journeys.
In Goa, he undertook a campaign of reform among the Portuguese there, who had become notorious for their cruelty, open concubinage, and neglect of the poor. He lived willingly among the poor, sleeping on the ground and eating mainly rice. His missionary efforts gained great traction among people of low caste, but none at all among the Brahmins holding power and privilege.
Over the course of the next decade, Francis Xavier would journey across South Asia and the Far East, including in India, Sri Lanka, Malacca, the Moluccan Islands, and Japan. In 1549, he landed in Japan, where he studied the Japanese language, learning enough to craft a short statement of Christian belief. By the time his journey in Japan concluded, around two thousand people had become Christian—although the church he helped establish would endure great persecutions years later from the ruling authorities, including the martyrdom of twenty-six Christians in 1597. The vigorous Christian presence in Nagasaki today is
attributable in large part to his efforts. His invariable seasickness notwithstanding, Xavier set out for China and modern-day Guangzhou in 1552; along the way he fell ill and died before his missionary journey could continue.
The conversion of some seven hundred thousand people to Christianity is commonly held to have resulted from ten years of Francis Xavier’s missionary effort. Wherever he undertook his ministry, he left organized Christian communities behind him, many of which survive to this day.
Collect for Frances Xavier
God of all nations; Raise up in this and every land, evangelists and heralds of your kingdom, that like your servant Francis Xavier we may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
72 comments on “Wenceslaus vs. Francis Xavier”
As a Jesuit, St. Francis X.
Scorned a wealthy young noble’s beh.
Though rough seas turned him pale
Half the world he would sail
Bringing thousands the word of the S.
FrancIs' name is spelled FrancEs in two places. Can that be corrected! I liked the info about Wenceslaus. Had to think about the choice to make. Thanks for all those who put this together.
Xavier probably converted more people but my grandmother was from Bohemia. I had to go with Wenceslas.
NO! We do NOT have 5 feet of snow here in Canada right now. We are enjoying a lovely spring. Your comment convinced me to vote for Wenceslaus. Maybe he can help Ukraine.
Once again the vote and results bars are touching and therefore I cannot vote. The screen just jumps to the top again.
I had no problem making my choice today, but was confused about the comment concerning our good neighbors to the north. I am not that far from the Canadian border in VT. It was 72 degrees F here in NW Vermont yesterday. Canada is a diverse and wonderful country. Much more than frozen tundra, please.
Wenceslaus gets my vote - and admiration - for choosing to act on his faith despite his family’s opposition.
No doubt the scarcity of historical facts makes it an uphill battle for the more ancient saints, but I accounted for that as I made my vote...and it was my toughest yet!
This has been my first Lent Madness and it's been a lot of fun. Peace to all!
My granddaughter graduates this year from Saint FX university in Antigonish Nova Scotia so what choice could I make?
Please spell Francis Xavier’s name right. Frances is a woman’s name.
“Good King Wenceslas” was one of my favorite Christmas carols as a child, and I once served as Interim Rector of St Stephen’s Church, Riverside, NJ, so I have to go with the Duke, though Francis Xavier is a very worthy choice too.
I guess not all eyes see missionary work differently these days
Many years ago I read a big book on the life of Francis Xavier that had quite an impact on me. So I had to vote for him, though Wenceslaus is a cool dude
I voted for Wenceslaus this morning, since his work isn’t as well known, outside the Christmas/Epiphany song. I have a soft spot in my heart for Eastern European folks too.
SEC, it’s the first day of Spring!!! Not just mid-March. And it should be Francis, not FRANCES, Xavier.
I wonder if the SEC has gotten sidetracked by the other March Madness, Instagram, or YouTube. Too many irons in the fire?
Usually the very word “missionary” makes me cringe given all we know about religion as a tool of colonial oppression and the whole proclaiming on street corners thing (having been raised evangelical there was a huge emphasis on those kinds of conversion efforts). But David Sibley’s write up about Francis Xavier illustrated a way of evangelizing that speaks differently. Sibley’s life of Francis Xavier, the details he chose, made me think immediately of what the Equal Justice Initiative’s Bryan Stevenson tells us about change-making:
1) Stay proximate to the suffering
2) Challenge and change existing narratives
3) Stay hopeful
4) Be willing to do things that are inconvenient and uncomfortable
I feel grateful to Lent Madness for having started my day with this reminder in the life of this saint.
In the spirit of pedantry, I will point out that Francis Xavier went to the College Ste. Barbe, a different constituent part of the University of Paris. The University of Paris only became synonymous with the Sorbonne in the 19th century.
If Wenceslas wasn't a king, why did he need a regent? "Tis a puzzlement! Hwever, on to the task athand. While I love his carol, I see no reason why Wenceslas should get the Gold Halo. While he supported the development of the church in Bohemia, so did many other leaders and rulers of other countries, domains, at that juncture in history. legends about angels and miracles are just that, legends. When we get to St. Francis Xavier, we have a man who suffered great personal discomfort carrying out God's will. The fact that he didn't flinch from the task even sea voyages were torture for him, and that he had great difficulty learning other languages (which must have made it difficult for him to carry out God's will) makes Francis a much more worthy candidate.
I apologize for mistakes in my previous post. It's very early in the morning, I have arthritis in my fingers and there's five feet of snow outside (just kidding!) I'm in Canada, and Spring is just around the corner. We have very little snow left and we won't be getting any more severe snowfalls now because the Canada geese are flying home and they wouldn't do that if there was a blizzard in the offing.
I am happy to have voted but please, enough with the stereotypical comments already. Thoughtlessly hurtful little jabs that we Canadians have had enough of thank you very much. Glorious spring weather and a profusion of crocuses and tree buds swelling. Resurrection indeed!
It’s tough being a snowflake up here in Canada at the moment. There are no tariffs on snow in place just yet, so it arrives free of charge when blown in from USA. Do you in USA have to pay for snow blown in from Canada?
However keeping the snow is the challenge. The temperatures yesterday reached 20 degC above melting point.
We bike-toured Czech Republic a few years ago, learned and experienced a lot about Wenceslaus and his impact.
He gets my vote today.
Francis Xavier suffered more for the faith, but I can more closely relate to Wenceslaus who worked within the system.
Actually, I am related to the treacherous Boleslav, who like a "freedom fighter" tried to keep Bohemia free from the Holy Roman Empire by violent means.
I am weary of blithe statements such as "all we know about religion as a tool of colonial oppression," as one person commented today, thereby assuming that missionaries are by definition bad. My husband and I spent six years in the mission field in Nigeria and in Nepal. The vast majority of missionaries are there at considerable self sacrifice, not to force conversions but to serve the poor. In most places, they must have expertise in the field of education, medicine, or rural development to obtain a visa. In Nepal in the early 1980's, I was impressed by the work of American Jesuits who devoted their entire adult lives to serving the poor. Nepal was closed to outsiders for mamy years, until the government invited Jesuits to come in to establish schools and two Protestant couples to bring in modern medicine and build hospitals. Dr.Carl Friedricks and his wife Betty established a hospital in Tansen; Dr. Bethel Fleming and her husband established one in Kathmandu. Colonial oppression is a complicated issue. I voted for Francis Xavier.
Wenceslaus had me with meeting his enemy to battle in private. Being surrounded by Angels and making peace sounds like the solution I wish for this crazy world.
May we all remember we are surrounded by Angels!
all you Canadians who were 'offended' by the comment of snow, lighten up! It was meant as a light-hearted joke.
Another opportunity to give a 1/2 vote to both saints for their marvelous work.
Having to choose ... : Wenceslaus. Closer to home.
No doubt that Francis Xavier had tremendous influence and surely will take the voting today. But my Grandma was Bohemian and the writeup on Wencelaus has made me wish I had one of her Bohemian kolaches to go with my morning coffee.
New England and Canada are beautiful places, New England a group of states in the U.S. and Canada a sovereign nation, and so they should remain. God bless both. I voted for Wenceslaus, king or not, because he appears to have been a wise as well as a faithful Christian ruler. Also, I love the Christmas carol, especially when a choir sings it as a cantata.
Nevertheless, all honor to St. Francis Xavier, who worked long, hard, and faithfully. May light perpetual shine upon both saints today and always.
if ever there was a time for more leaders like Wenceslas it is the times we are in today.
To not vote Wenceslaus is tragedy!
Why not our own Bohemian Rhapsody?!
Xavier gets rice while Wency gets Stephen,
and snow crisp and even sounds nice!
(With respect to John Cabot from a snowy Vail
Valley in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains!)
Good King Wenceslaus
“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet”. While said by Buechner & not Xavier, I’m afraid this swayed my vote for Francis.
Happy Spring & Happy Lent to all from this Canadian living in New Jersey.