And...we're back for the first full week of saintly action as Gregory the Great squares off against Hugh of Lincoln!
In the only Saturday matchup of the season, Elizabeth of Hungary snatched a spot in the Saintly Sixteen by soundly defeating Felicity 70% to 30%.
Stay tuned later today as Tim and Scott share some Breaking News on a fun-filled, informative, and never-a-dull-moment edition of Monday Madness.
Vote now!
Welcome to the ONE AND ONLY Saturday matchup of Lent Madness 2025! Today in a battle between two popular saints with fascinating backstories, it's Elizabeth of Hungary vs. Felicity.
Yesterday, Emily Cooper trounced Dunstan 82% to 18% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen.
We'll see you at church for the First Sunday in Lent (Great Litany, anyone?) and then see you back here first thing Monday morning for the first full week of saintly action as Gregory the Great takes on Hugh of Lincoln.
Vote now!
On this second day of Lent Madness 2025, we continue our alphabetical journey through the bracket as Emily Cooper faces off against Dunstan. 19th century American deaconess vs. 10th century English bishop. In other words, the kind of wacky matchup you will only find right here at Lent Madness.
Yesterday, Athanasius of Alexandria deterred Richard Meux Benson 61% to 39% to become the first saint to advance to the Saintly Sixteen. Yes, there were a few Opening Day glitches, but in the end, everyone's votes got counted -- despite the occasional error message. Thanks for your forbearance as we continue to address issues as they arise.
We're excited to offer another fun and helpful resource created by Lent Madness super fan Lindsey Hardegree. Click here to download a free template to help you track your saintly predictions, keep notes on saints that particularly inspire you, and keep a personal record Lent Madness history. Thanks, Lindsey!
And don't forget that tomorrow is the ONLY Saturday matchup of the season as Elizabeth of Hungary takes on Felicity. After this matchup, all voting will take place exclusively on the weekdays of Lent (it's a math thing, you wouldn't understand).
Time to vote!
We're back! Welcome to the opening matchup of Lent Madness 2025 or, if you speak Latin in the home, Lent Madness XVI. This year we're going A to Z with our saints, and we kick things off with Athanasius of Alexandria vs. Richard Meux Benson (that's the A vs. B, for the alphabetically challenged). Of course, these two saints are much than their letter lineage. But that's what our amazing Celebrity Bloggers are here for -- to bring to life the varied aspects of our saintly lineup over the coming weeks.
If you’re a veteran of the Saintly Smackdown, we’re delighted you’re back for another year of saintly thrills and spills. If you’re joining us for the first time, we’re especially glad you’re along for this wild penitential ride. If you’re curious about what this is all about, or you've been coerced into participating by a friend, spouse, or member of the clergy, check out the About Lent Madness tab on the website. We assure you this is not fake news about a fake online Lenten devotion. Lent Madness is a real thing!
To experience the fullness of the Lent Madness experience, the Supreme Executive Committee (the somewhat benevolent dictatorship that runs this whole enterprise) encourages you to do several things. First, "like" Lent Madness on Facebook. Second, subscribe to the Lent Madness e-mails so you never miss a vote — you’ll get each matchup hand-delivered to your inbox on the weekdays of Lent. You can do this by going to the home page of our website and entering your e-mail address (near the top right). Third, you can support the ministry of Lent Madness by heading over to the Lentorium and purchasing Lent Madness swag, thereby impressing everyone in your virtual pew.
But mostly, we encourage you to read about the 32 saints participating in this year’s edition of Lent Madness, faithfully cast your (single!) vote on the weekdays of Lent, and add your comments to the great cloud of participating witnesses that gathers as the online Lent Madness community each year. If you’re wondering when your favorite saint will be competing – in order to rally your friends and neighbors (creative campaigning is encouraged, voter fraud is not) – you can check out the 2025 Matchup Calendar.
To aid in your enjoyment of Lent Madness this year, check out two excellent resources created by fans. Fr. David Simmons has once again created printable stickers for use on your giant bracket posters. You can print these stickers on standard Avery labels. Download for free here and here. And as the Supreme Executive Committee highlighted in this week's Monday Madness, you can also use these fantastic Lent Madness trading cards created by Allison Bird Treacy.
Now, go cast your VERY FIRST VOTE of Lent Madness 2025!
Today we begin our forty-day journey to Easter. The Lenten season invites us to rend our hearts, to take an unflinching look at the ways in which we have fallen short of our calling as followers of Jesus Christ. Difficult? Certainly. Necessary? Absolutely. Joyful? Yes, eventually.
As our Book of Common Prayer reminds us, during Lent we "prepare with joy for the Paschal feast." How can this be? It is always joyful when someone finds Jesus or returns to him. And returning to Jesus is something we all need to do again and again.
The world can look hopeless. Chaos and violence fill the news. Greed and fear seem endemic. It appears that evil has won the day. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ offers a hope-filled truth.
In the suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, we see the deep reality of the world. Death, evil, and sin do not, in fact, define us. Instead, our world is defined by grace, mercy, and hope. The resurrection of Jesus shows us that God's love is stronger than the worst the world can muster: stronger than the mightiest empire, able to defeat even death.
Yes, it's time for another action-packed, fun-filled episode of Monday Madness. This one, according to Scott, is lemon scented! Tim and Scott bring you a preview of the opening contests of Lent Madness 2025. Figuring out which saint is up against which saint is as easy as ABC this year. No, seriously.
If you want maximum bracketology, you can read the Saintly Scorecard on your Kindle. Our printed scorecards sold out this year! Of course, you don't NEED to buy anything. You can tune in each voting day of Lent to read the bios right here. And if you want help remembering to do that, just sign up for Lent Madness emails by typing your address into the box on the home page of this website.
Want another fun way to study the saints? Check out these FREE Lent Madness trading cards, created by Allison Bird Treacy. Print your own cards for home, church, or your workplace. We love it when fans are inspired to join in the holy fun of the Saintly Smackdown!
And don't forget, it all kicks off on Ash Thursday, March 6. Happy (almost) Lent!
It's time for not just another episode of Monday Madness, but the season premiere. Tim and Scott are back with an action-packed, fun-filled episode. In this installment, they explain how the lineup of saints in Lent Madness 2025 is unprecedented in the history of Lent Madness. Tune in to find out how this year's line-up is unique.
Today, as the Supreme Executive Committee reminds us, is also the last day to order your Lent Madness merch for (almost) guaranteed delivered by this Sunday, the Sunday before Lent! You can order your Saintly Scorecard as single copies for just $5, or you can buy ten for the bargain price of only $20. By the way, this year's scorecards will be worth a fortune someday. The printed matchup calendar is wrong, so you'll want to download and print the correct one. But enjoy the error-laden scorecard. Like a mis-struck penny, they'll be worth a fortune someday.
While you're browsing in the Lentorium, pick up your giant bracket posters, which sell for the ridiculously low price of $15. And the ridiculousness is compounded if you buy 5 or more, dropping the price to a steal at $10 each!
Lent Madness Quality Control Team: We are aware of the Match-up Calendar mishap in the printed Saintly Scorecard (found on the inside back cover). The line-ups are correct on the Bracket, in both the Scorecard and on the Poster. It's only the Calendar that has the wrong saint match-ups.
Our team has created a corrected PDF now available for download and at-home printing.
The Supreme Executive Committee issued the follow statement after learning of the debacle:
"Like a mis-struck penny, this Saintly Scorecard is now a collectible. That's the positive spin. And we're all about spin. They are highly valuable now, and will be cherished for generations. Buying 10 more would be the prudent thing to do."
Get your Lent Madness materials soon! First Round voting begins March 6 (aka Ash Thursday)!
If you’ve already ordered your Saintly Scorecard and Bracket Posters, our Lentorium team is currently shipping order! Look out for your shipment in the coming days!
If you haven’t ordered yet, there is still time to get the Saintly Scorecard, either as a single copy or in packs of 10 copies for churches and groups. The giant Bracket Poster is the best way to keep track of the competition; perfect for your parish hall, narthex, or living room. Of course, you can also download and print your own at home.
Order by Monday, February 24 to have your materials to hand out the Sunday before Ash Wednesday.
We look forward to all the fun and shenanigans this Lent!
Following the heady days of Nominationtide, and the submission of hundreds and hundreds of saintly nominations, the Supreme Executive Committee is pleased to release the highly anticipated 2025 Lent Madness bracket. Following their Spring Retreat, held in a secure, undisclosed coffee shop where vast amounts of single-origin black coffee fueled their discernment, the SEC whittled down the field to 32 saints who will compete for the coveted Golden Halo.
This year, All Brackets' Day happens to fall, appropriately enough, on All Saints' Sunday. Which means that people everywhere will have something to talk about at coffee hour, besides critiquing the preacher's sermon and complaining about the quality of the coffee. Let the bracketological conversations, feuds, and smack-talk ensue!
All Brackets' Day completes the Autumn Triduum (which will surely appear in subsequent Prayer Book revisions) consisting of All Saints' Day (November 1), All Souls' Day (November 2), and All Brackets' Day (November 3). By longstanding tradition, it also marks the day that people leave comments complaining that it's "way too early to think about Lent because it's not even Advent yet!"
But enough of this preamble. Let's get to the 2025 bracket!
This year’s saints include a mix of heavyweights and lesser-known saints, all of whom followed Jesus faithfully in their own day and in their own way. Closer examination of the bracket, will quickly reveal an...alphabetical theme. Needless to say, we love all the saints, from A to Z.
As a reminder, or if your new to this online devotion, here’s how Lent Madness works: on the weekdays of Lent, information is posted at www.lentmadness.org about two different saints. Each pairing remains open for 24 hours as participants read about and then vote to determine which saint moves on to the next round. Sixteen saints make it to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen; eight advance to the Round of the Elate Eight; four make it to the Faithful Four; two to the Championship; and the winner is awarded the Golden Halo.
The first round consists of basic biographical information about each of the 32 saints. Things get a bit more interesting in the subsequent rounds as we offer quotes and quirks, explore legends, and even move into the area of saintly kitsch.
Unlike professional and collegiate sporting events, there is no admission cost for Lent Madness, but souvenirs and study aids are available in the Lentorium. After last year's exclusively online version of The Saintly Scorecard, the printed version is back! You can place your order for The Saintly Scorecard: The Official Guide to Lent Madness 2025 as single copies or in budget-busting bulk 10-packs.
Giant Bracket Posters are also available for your parish hall, narthex, living room, or to use as wrapping paper for all your Lent gifts. Although Lent Madness doesn't officially kick off until Ash Thursday, March 6, you're encouraged to order your Lent Madness materials now while supplies last (seriously, we tend to run out of these things in the run-up to Lent). Plus they make AMAZING stocking stuffers. Definitely superior to lumps of coal.
We look forward to engaging in saintly shenanigans with you all in the days to come. Don't forget, Lent is right around the corner!
