Welcome to the Faithful Four! From an initial field of 32 saints, we are down to a holy four: Zechariah, Elizabeth of Hungary, Sundar Singh, and Nicolaus Zinzendorf.

Today, it's Zechariah vs. Elizabeth. To make it this far, Zechariah defeated Yvette of Huy, Rose of Lima, and Irenaeus. While Elizabeth of Hungary's path went through Felicity, Mechthild of Magdeburg, and Verena of Zurzach. Want to read the write-ups from the previous rounds? Click on the links!

So, what happens in this round? Well, throughout Lent Madness, our saintly heroes have battled via basic bios, quirks and quotes, and even kitsch. In this round, we let our remaining Celebrity Bloggers loose as they answer the question “Why should Saint XX win the Golden Halo?” In other words, they’ve been charged with letting us know why their particular saint is so awesome. We have also invited them to share their two favorite images of their saints.

The Faithful Four continues today and tomorrow and then, on Spy Wednesday, 24 hours of voting begins to determine the winner of the 2025 Golden Halo.

It being Monday, we bring you today's episode of Monday Madness! The last in-season episode of Lent Madness 2025. Fr. Michael and Fr. Christian are back with all the excitement as we enter the final stretch of Lent Madness! In this episode, they get ready for the epic LIVE Golden Halo event this Wednesday, reflect on how the Faithful Four connects to each day of Holy Week, and share heartfelt thanks for being part of this incredible season. We love Lent Madness—and we love all of you!  Don’t miss the celebration this Wednesday as we gather on LIVE on Facebook at 1:00 pm EST. 

Vote now!

Zechariah

Zechariah faithfully served as a priest while Judea was governed by a mercurial and murderous despot, whose interests were in his own power and aggrandizement. Herod the Great used a secret police to monitor community sentiment, violently suppressed dissent, and removed opponents by force. He went so far as to kill his own family members, including his wife, to quell any threats to his power. 

In this context, I wonder what it was like for Zechariah to serve faithfully in the temple, as one “righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.” Zechariah loyally ministered in an institution that implicitly supported Herod, and in a building in which the cruel narcissist had invested significantly for its renovation and expansion. 

On top of this, Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, had to face the real disappointment and social stigma of being childless. According to the Muslim tradition, Zechariah hoped for a child that he could raise and teach faithful submission to God. Getting on in years, childless, in a land desperately in need of God’s redemption, Zechariah continued to live faithfully. 

Perhaps in this way, Zechariah is exactly the kind of saint we need to be reminded of today. And here I would thank the Lent Madness faithful for continuing to vote Zechariah forward and giving us the chance to spend more time with him this Lent. His righteousness in the midst of so much turmoil, his persistence in holy drudgery, and his fidelity as he wrestled with personal disappointment encourage us to keep the faith in our own deeply troubling times. 

But this context is just the beginning of Zechariah’s story. As the Zechariah’s song, the Benedictus, proudly proclaims, God is faithful and remembers the promises made to God’s people. Zechariah had nine long months to reflect what the birth of his son would mean for the world. Israel, desperate for redemption, would finally see God’s salvation. And Zechariah’s son, for whom he had longed, would be the voice to call out in the wilderness and prepare the way of the Lord.  

Zechariah was no stranger to darkness and disappointment. Seeing God’s faithfulness and the new day breaking, he boldly proclaims, “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Regardless of the outcome of this holy, absurd (and wholly absurd) competition, may Zechariah’s witness help us have courage to believe this and act on it in our own time. 

— David Creech

Elizabeth of Hungary

Over our time, I’ve referred to her as everything from the people’s princess of the 13th century to your favorite saint’s favorite saint, but here’s why I really think she should win the Golden Halo: she loved fully, completely, and generously. She modelled how to love generously in a time and place that nigh on demanded her to hoard her wealth or power, the gentry didn’t even want the castle’s bread to be shared with the hungry. It became clear to me early on that the only thing that Elizabeth could possibly do in this world was to love with abandon, and she is the light we need to reflect back out into the world.

When I think about why we have spent time reading about these saints upon whose shoulders we stand, my prayer is that we can let the brittle bits of our hearts that have been hardened by the sins of this world begin to soften. My prayer is that Elizabeth, or any of the other 32 with which you may have connected, can become a companion long after the Golden Halo votes are cast.

Because the awful truth of 2025 is that it is very hard to be a human; there is so much pressure on us, those we love, or on those who are around us. Elizabeth is an example of how to live a life that does not deny the privilege one is born into: she was a queen and lived in the castle with a husband who respected her. But even when circumstances changed, the love she modeled after Christ could not be contained. She loved with abandon: loudly and boldly.

In the course of my first time writing for Lent Madness, I was struck by how much I wanted each of the saints I wrote about to be known by everyone who participated in this fun formation project, shout out to Hugh of Lincoln and his swans. Tomorrow, I’ll write about why Sundar Singh should win the Golden Halo this Lent Madness, but this isn’t in conflict with my support of Elizabeth for the Halo, but perhaps because of it.

Elizabeth loved generously, and as I’ve walked alongside her, I’ve begun to be shaped by her wildly abundant and fearless love as well. Each of the four final saints have things that will enrich our spiritual lives, should we invite them into our lives, Golden Halo or not. For today, though, it’s Elizabeth’s seemingly boundless capacity to follow God’s call, to see the unseen, and to abundantly love those in need, which, of course, is all of us. May we all know and be a force for love like Elizabeth of Hungary.

— Becca Kello