Lent Madness is back for an another action-packed week and so is the Saintly Sixteen. Today Maria Skobtsova faces Quiteria. Russian nun vs. nonuplet warrior. To get to this round, Maria defeated Thomas à Kempis and Quiteria bested Genesius (remember him?).

If you've forgotten what happened last Friday, which seems hard to imagine since the weekend was one hour shorter than usual, Richard Hooker defeated Margaret of Scotland 64% to 36% to advance to the Elate Eight against the winner of Phocas the Gardener vs. Katharina von Bora.

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Welcome to the Saintly Sixteen! From 32 saints we have narrowed the field to 16. For this round, rather than the basic biographical information we enter the realm of Quirks and Quotes. Our Celebrity Bloggers will provide unusual information or legends surrounding their saints along with quotes either by or about their saints.

Don’t forget, you can always go to the Bracket Tab to easily find previous battles if you need to refresh your basic knowledge on these saints. This is yet another free courtesy extended to you, the Lent Madness Global Public.

In yesterday's Battle of the Bands, Catherine Winkworth made Isaac Watts sing the blues 56% to 44%. She'll go on to face Eglantyne Jebb in the Saintly Sixteen.

But that's all in the past. Today we kick things off with a battle between two Biblical heavyweights, Peter and John the Evangelist. At stake? The Elate Eight.

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We end the First Round with a matchup between two musicians, Isaac Watts and Catherine Winkworth. Naturally, we're calling this the Battle of the Bands. Watts was a prolific Anglican hymn writer whose greatest hits catalogue would be well known to church goers. Winkworth, also a Brit, is credited with bringing the German chorale tradition to the English-speaking world.

Yesterday, Martin de Porres trounced John of Beverley 84% to 16% and will face Dymphna in the next round.

It's hard to believe, but the Saintly Sixteen begins tomorrow! Vote today and stay tuned. Our Lenten journey continues...

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In the penultimate battle of the first round, it's John of Beverley vs. Martin de Porres. The people of Beverley and of Porres have been agitating for this matchup for years -- it's a huge rivalry and hooligans are involved.

Yesterday, Phocas the Gardener maintained his focus in burying Isidore the Farmer 60% to 40%. He'll face Katharina von Bora in the Saintly Sixteen.

If you missed yesterday's episode of the award-winning (in the SEC's own mind) Monday Madness, watch it here. And then, as punishment for missing it, watch it again.

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This week, Tim and Scott preview the upcoming Round of the Saintly Sixteen and answer your viewer mail questions. They also highlight a remarkably prescient Lent Madness participant from the state of Washington. Oh, and they announce plans to continue their boycott of the Oscars award ceremony based on the rejection, again, of Monday Madness in the Academy Awards.

Remember, we encourage you to consider taking a day off -- perhaps several times throughout Lent -- to re-watch the entire catalog of Monday Madness episodes.

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Happy Monday! We're back for another full week of saintly action and we kick things off with with the long-anticipated agricultural anarchy as Isidore the Farmer faces off against Phocas the Gardener. [insert comment about reaping what you sow]

In case you forgot about Friday's matchup, Michael the Archangel defeated Anna the Prophet 53% to 47% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen where he'll face Esther.

Finally, in the shout-out department, we're pleased to share an article titled St. Albans Participates in Lent Madness that appeared in the Eureka-Times Standard. Congrats to the Rev. Nancy Streufert and the folks at St. Alban's Church in Acarta, California! Lent Madness is HUGE in the Redwood forest.

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A day after voting between two saints with elegant names, we're back to more mundane monikers. Anna and Michael. There is nothing mundane about these two contestants, however, as prophet faces archangel in a matchup you will only find here at Lent Madness. Is it fair to put an angel in the bracket against a mere mortal? We're not sure. But as the familiar expression goes, "All's fair in love and Lent Madness."

Speaking of those elegantly named saints, Eglantyne Jebb easily defeated Seraphim of Sarov 73% to 27% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen.

Today is the last battle of a full week of saintly thrills and spills. We'll see everyone bright and early on Monday morning with an exciting agricultural matchup between Isidore the Farmer and Phocus the Gardener. TGIL, everybody! (Thank God It's Lent).

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What's in a name? Eglantyne Jebb and Seraphim of Sarov might just have some theories on this question. The twelfth battle of the first round pits a 20th century English laywoman against an 18th century Russian monk.

In yesterday's action, Dymphna played cat and mouse with Gertrude of Nivelles before prevailing 58% to 42%. She'll face the winner of John of Beverley vs. Martin of Porres in the Saintly Sixteen.

For those of you who filled out brackets in advance, how are you doing? Anyone still have a perfect bracket? Anyone 0 for 11 (which, frankly, would be equally impressive). We know it's about learning rather than winning. But still. We know there are some competitive Christians out there...

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Madness and cats. These are among the factors you will be deciding upon as you cast today's vote between Dymphna, the patron saint of madness, and Gertrude of Nivelles, the patron saint of cats. But of course the lives of saintly souls are more than the various aspects of life we've appended to them over the years. Which is why people read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Lent Madness write-ups before deciding which saint resonates with them on a particular day. That's the joy embedded in the process.

Yesterday, Katharina von Bora defeated Wulfstan 55% to 45% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen. All is not lost for Wulfstan, however. Apparently many Lent Madness voters will be naming their next cats after him.

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