Are you new to Lent Madness this year? If so, we welcome you with arms open wide in sackcloth and ashes. We're delighted you're along for the ride, hope you learn a lot about some pretty amazing folks, and have some fun along the way.

A couple of points to remember. First, Lent Madness is purely optional. If you disagree with the results or loathe the entire concept of saintly competition, do yourself a favor and find another Lenten devotion. We particularly like the daily videos by the monks at the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, created for Lent 2014 called Love Life. There are many ways to mark this holy season that don't involve Lent Madness. In other words, if you don't bring a sense of humor to your faith life, this little online devotion may not be for you.

Second, you'll quickly notice something amazing taking place on your computer screen before your very eyes. Lent Madness transforms itself into a true community of faith during Lent. We don't always agree and everyone comes to Lent Madness from different places theologically, liturgically, and geographically. We see this diversity as a great gift to be celebrated. How does this community form? Through the comment section of each battle, on Facebook, and on Twitter. People share how a particular saint has touched them or what they've learned or why they're voting for a particular saint. We're always amazed at how gracious people are in their comments -- this is very unusual for an online community of course. We insist that people follow the norms of civilized online behavior. We have the power to block those who engage in hurtful behavior, and we're not afraid to use it!

Please vote only once. If there are multiple voters in your household you may use other devices to vote more than once. That's fine. But we have had voter fraud issues in the past and we've dealt with them swiftly and fairly. Yes, Big Brother is watching. Play fair!

To make sure you never miss a vote, go to the home page and enter your e-mail address where it says "subscribe" (top right under the countdown clock). The daily match-up will magically appear in your inbox at about 8:00 am Eastern time on the weekdays of Lent. Once the match-up starts, you'll have about 24 hours to vote.

We hereby dub you a Lent Madness Evangelist! We need your help in spreading the Lent Madness love and drawing more people into learning about the saints. Talk about it around the water cooler, send people links, chat it up on social media.

Last year the mysterious Maple Anglican created a Lent Madness 101 how-to-vote video. If you have any questions at all on how this works, this brief video should clear things up

Welcome to Lent Madness! Thanks for being along for the ride.

For the third year in a row, we are taking Lent Madness to the streets. These days, you simply can't expect everyone to come to Lent Madness, so it's important to bring Lent Madness to the people. Coming inside and asking for a bracket can be intimidating to many people, so we like to go to train stations and street corners with the Good News of Lent Madness.

Pictured at right (Lent Madness Press Bureau file photo) is a bracket distribution taking place at a train station on...wait for it...the purple line. Proving that Lent Madness is ecumenical, this grateful commuter is a Methodist. "It was @#$!@# cold outside waiting for the train, and then when I got my bracket, I was strangely warmed -- by my rage at being forced to choose between John Wesley or Charles Wesley in the first round."

Offering a bracket to a grateful passer-by

Another bracket recipient said, "As a cradle Episcopalian, I thought this whole Lent Madness thing was garbage until I noticed Julia Chester Emery on there. The founder of the UTO? Now I am a fan." The contest is not without controversy. A passer-by saw the bracket and exclaimed, "Haven't the people of Egypt been through enough? How dare you put Mary of Egypt against Antony of Egpyt!"

The experience was clearly powerful. "I didn't think the SEC really cared," said one man, "but then when I saw that Lent Madness was coming into the streets, I knew there was more to them than shallow personalities and grandiose egos. Perhaps not much more, but at least something."

NOTE: The SEC is having a bit of fun with the Ashes to Go media sensation. We’re not mocking it, but rather riding the coattails of this internet meme. One member of the SEC has gone on record in support of Ashes to Go. So there. Of course another is on record as being a bit skeptical. So there.

Well, friends, it's almost here. Less than three days until Ash Thursday, the formal kickoff off Lent Madness 2014. This week, Tim and Scott talk about how you can get instant gratification by buying the Saintly Scorecard for your Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook, or Apple iThing. (Visit the Lentorium for more indispensable items for your Lenten journey.) Scott and Tim also give you instructions on how to take Lent Madness to the streets with Brackets to Go. Last, but not least, they tell you the precise moment that this year's competition begins, including a sneak preview of an addition to this year's opening day ceremonies.

If you enjoyed this -- and who wouldn't -- you'll want to watch the Archbishops' latest update from Quinquagesima Sunday.

Make sure you encourage everyone you know to like Lent Madness on Facebook or follow Lent Madness on Twitter. Getting through Lent without that would be Lent without the Madness, like Ash Wednesday without ashes or Palm Sunday without palms. Inconceivable, yes? So evangelize for Lent Madness!

Following an exciting Celebrity Blogger Week (okay, we use the word "week" loosely -- it was 10 days), today is SEC Day. Think Presidents Day but without the car sales. As everyone knows the self-appointed (anointed?) Supreme Executive Committee of Lent Madness comprises Scott Gunn and Tim Schenck.

What exactly are the SEC's responsibilities? In addition to drinking herculean amounts of coffee throughout Lent (oh, who are we kidding? -- we do that all year), we oversee every detail to insure Lent Madness doesn't go off the rails and plunge into the Lenten wilderness. In addition to our Emmy Award-worthy-if-not-winning Monday Madness videos this includes the recruitment and cajoling of Celebrity Bloggers (the backbone of the whole operation); using a ouija board to determine which saints will be included in the bracket; moderating lots of comments; zapping any evidence of voter fraud; autographing copies of the Saintly Scorecard; managing the social media presence; hawking mugs and brackets; and generally living a Supreme lifestyle.

It's a lot of work but it's all for the love of God and the Lent Madness faithful. For two priests who both consider the other one his archnemesis (think Spy vs. Spy), it only works because they give up their rivalry for forty days and forty nights. Easter season is another matter entirely.

So who exactly are Tim and Scott? Thanks for asking and enjoy their bios.

The Rev. Tim Schenck

The Rev. Tim Schenck is rector of the Episcopal Parish of St. John the Evangelist in Hingham, Massachusetts, on the South Shore of Boston. He is the author of What Size Are God’s Shoes: Kids, Chaos, and the Spiritual Life (Morehouse 2008) and Dog in the Manger: Finding God in Christmas Chaos (Forward Movement 2013). Tim writes a monthly syndicated column for Gatehouse Media titled “In Good Faith.” When he’s not tending to his parish, drinking coffee, or blogging at Clergy Family Confidential, he’s likely hanging out with his family that includes his wife Bryna, two sons Benedict (14) and Zachary (13), his dog Delilah, and a ferret named Mimi. Friend him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @FatherTim.

The Rev. Scott Gunn

The Rev. Scott Gunn is an Episcopal priest and self-confessed technophile. He serves as the Executive Director of Forward Movement in Cincinnati, OH, whose historic mission is “to reinvigorate the life of the church.” Scott also serves in the inner sanctum of churchgeekery as a Deputy to General Convention, which will raise or lower his “street cred” depending on your perspective. Though Scott is happily married and the proud owner a dog named George (named after the first winner of the Golden Halo), he will never, ever have ferrets at home. His blog is Seven whole days, where you’ll read church rants and raves, thoughts about technology, and random musings. You can find him on Facebook,Twitter, flickr, or LinkedIn. His dog George is on Twitter at @GeorgeTDog.

We hope you enjoy Lent Madness 2014, learn a lot about some amazing people, and grow closer to Jesus. And if you don't? Scott and Tim each blame the other one.

Unrelated, but important note: make sure you watch the Quinquagesima video update from Archbishops Thomas Cranmer and John Chrysostom. With lens flare!

Congratulations! After today you have officially survived Celebrity Blogger Week. See? That wasn't so hard. But first, our last but not least (or last shall be first depending on your perspective) CB. Read on.

New to the world of Celebrity Bloggerdom, Robert Hendrickson promises to bring us to the mountaintop this Lent. Well, that's not as impressive as it sounds since he lives in Denver but we like the metaphor and we're sticking with it. With a dog named Becket and a cat named Cuthbert, is it any surprise Robert was tapped as a Celebrity Blogger for Lent Madness 2014?

The Rev. Robert Hendrickson

Robert Hendrickson was born into this world by a battalion of angels. This cosmic entry into the mortal coil has ingrained in him an interest in the supernatural and the fantastical. He will not readily admit to going to the occasional Renaissance Faire nor will he admit that he has been known to play the occasional video game (Skyrim being among his oft-denied favourites). Like any serious Anglican, he reads Tolkein, Lewis, and Arthurian legends and knows them like a badger knows snakehide. Robert is the Sub-Dean of Saint John’s Cathedral in Denver. He attended General Theological Seminary, was ordained to the priesthood in 2011, and served as a curate at Christ Church, New Haven where he started the Saint Hilda’s House young adult intentional community. He has also worked with the Ecumenical Office of the Episcopal Church, co-founded the Society of Catholic Priests of the Episcopal Church, and recently completed a book on young adult ministry titled Yearning: Authentic Transformation, Young Adults, and the Church. He is married to Dr. Karrie Cummings Hendrickson and who are the proud companions of Becket (a dolorous basset hound), Penelope (a fearless dachshund), Cuthbert (a once indomitable raccoon fighting cat), and Marshmallow (a rotund cat prone to wild fits of napping).

How has Lent Madness transformed your life?
Lent Madness had given me both clarity of purpose and of skin. It has done remarkable things for my overall demeanor and disposition. Whereas before, I had been a bit of a curmudgeon, I have now become something really more of a crank. This is thanks to the adulation and adoration that has come from the ranks upon ranks of fervent Lent Madness fans. This transformation is one that has given me a renewed commitment to a life of kindly dissolution in which I can write and contemplate the saintly virtues.

Robert with Becket atop Mount Evans.

Obviously being a Celebrity Blogger is your greatest lifetime achievement. What perks have you enjoyed as a result of your status?
The chief perk of my newfound status has been the countless bouquets of flowers and edible arrangements that have arrived from delirious fans of Nicholas Ridley.

What do you hope the Lent Madness public will learn from the lives of the saints?
I hope that the Lent Madness readers will see the complexity of each of the lives of the saints. There is little in our own day that they did not face. Each was viewed with an amount of skepticism and even derision in their day and rarely does one become a saint without traveling a path that differs from the wider culture and even Church. We are each, in the lives of the saints, being given models for challenging ourselves to an ever more faithful journey with Christ as his story becomes ours and others see in us a glimpse of the divine image.

Someday, when you become the answer on Jeopardy, what will the question be?
"Who was martyred with a crossbow bolt while celebrating High Mass on Corpus Christi?"

All Lent Madness fans should be grateful for one of the true unsung heroes of Lent Madness, Bracket Czar Adam Thomas. Adam created the now iconic fancy bracket we use for our little saintly competition. A former Celebrity Blogger, Adam now enjoys a title that clearly impressed the search committee at St. Mark's Church in Mystic, Connecticut, where he now serves as rector.

Adam Thomas, Lent Madness Bracket Czar, was a 2012 Celebrity Blogger (most closely identified with upstart Philander Chase) who has morphed into our keeper of the bracket. This Lent is his first as rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Mystic, Connecticut. Adam is the author of Digital Disciple: Real Christianity in the Virtual World (Abingdon 2011), which you should read since you are using the Internet right now and you are more than likely a Christian. His first novel Letters from Ruby, which is about an Episcopal priest (imagine that!) arrived in August 2013. Adam lives in Groton, Connecticut with his wife Leah, who is wonderful and lovely and every other good adjective you might think of. Check out his website WheretheWind.com, for six years of content. You can fan Adam on Facebook or follow him on Twitter@RevAdamThomas.

How has Lent Madness transformed your life?
Somehow Tim and Scott got me to convince myself it was a good idea to get up early every morning during Lent to make new graphics. Very Tom Sawyer of them. And all they had to do was throw me a nice title like Bracket Czar.

Obviously being a Celebrity Blogger is your greatest lifetime achievement. What perks have you enjoyed as a result of your status?
As the Bracket Czar I get all the fame of the Celebrity Bloggers without having to do research. I'll call that a win.

What do you hope the Lent Madness public will learn from the lives of the saints?

When it comes to brackets, Adam is as efficient as a droid.

In all seriousness, I hope that Lent Madness instills in people a sense of hope that their lives can be reflections of God's love and glory as the lives of the saints are. I guarantee you that the people we write about this Lent didn't consider themselves saintly during their own lifetimes. They just were. They resonated with the movement of God in this world and their lives demonstrated the powerful results of such resonance. And so can ours.

Someday, when you become the answer on Jeopardy, what will the question be?
Pretty sure you guys wrote this question backwards: if Alex Trebec desires the contestants to say "Who is Adam Thomas?" then the words that will appear on the question board will say, "He singlehandedly upped the production values of the Lent Madness bracket; I mean, seriously, look at the 2010 one."

[Editor's note. It's true. The 2010 Bracket created by Tim was perhaps utilitarian but no work of art.]

Entering her second year as a Celebrity Blogger, Laurie Brock is also the owner of Nina, the Official Horse of Lent Madness. Of course everybody in Kentucky owns a horse so we realize this is only a big deal to those outside the Bluegrass State. When she's not riding, writing, snarking up the joint on Twitter, tending to her congregation, following Alabama football, drinking bourbon, or walking her puppy Evie, we really have no idea what Laurie does all day.

Oh, she also has the distinction of teaching Tim how to ride a horse when he was in Kentucky to lead Clergy Conference for the Diocese of Lexington last year. He was not a natural.

The Rev. Laurie Brock

Laurie Brock is a returning Celebrity Blogger because she loves getting free coffee mugs. Clergy never have enough coffee mugs or crosses. She serves as the rector of St. Michael the Archangel Episcopal Church in Lexington, Kentucky. She blogs at Dirty Sexy Ministry and is the co-author of Where God Hides Holiness: Thoughts on Grief, Joy and the Search for Fabulous Heels (Church Publishing). She is also the creative force behind Fifty Days of Fabulous from Forward Movement. She frequently shares her quirky, snarky views on faith, Alabama football, and popular culture on Twitter at @drtysxyministry, but don’t follow unless you can laugh at yourself and your religion. Otherwise, you’ll just be offended. When she’s not doing priest things, she is riding her horse Nina and trying to avoid another spot on the Celebrity Blogger injured reserved list like last year.

How has Lent Madness transformed your life?

Well, I now have something to do during Lent other than repent. And I know way more about Hilda of Whitby and the other saints I've celebrity blogged for than I learned, even for seminary exams. Being a Celebrity Blogger engages one in the lives of the saints (not to mention a competitive Lenten discipline) beyond just a set of dry facts to the humorous, spiritual, tragic, and even oddly insane lives they lived. Plus Nina the Official Lent Madness Horse enjoys wearing her purple sheet (a sheet is the horse version of a light coat). And I can't go to any Church event without being mobbed by people wanting autographs. Well, maybe not so much that last sentence.

Obviously being a Celebrity Blogger is your greatest lifetime achievement. What perks have you enjoyed as a result of your status?
This year, Thomas Merton is one of my saints (vote THOMAS!), so I trekked to Gethsemani, the monastery where he lived and wrote not too far from where I live in Kentucky. I met one of the monks who knew Brother Louis (as Thomas was known to his fellow monks) who told me personal stories of their time together and quoted poetry about God as we sat in the garden where Thomas himself sat and prayed decades before. It was a lovely moment realizing I would have never had this ethereal opportunity without the generosity of the SEC, Scott and Tim, and without my ability to snark in 140 characters or less on Twitter (which is how I'm still convinced I got the call to the major leagues of Church blogging).

What do you hope the Lent Madness public will learn from the lives of the saints?

Laurie with Nina, the Official Horse of Lent Madness

I was intrigued with the small scandal that erupted over Frances Perkins winning last year's Golden Halo. I had some people argue, "She's not really a saint." Well, no, her hair and fingernails didn't continue to grow after her death, and as far as we know, she didn't put a pickled barrel full of children back together after a mean shopkeeper had enough of their shenanigans and dismembered them (why no one tells that story from the life of St. Nicholas is beyond me). Do these qualities make a saint? Or is a saint someone who heroically lived his/her faith in a daring and courageous way? Frances is a wonderful example of using her faith to guide her decisions and influence others to help the least of these in this country at a time when women's leadership was considered suspect and rarely given heed. That seems heroic to me...I mean, imagine if we all lived our love for God and neighbor the way Frances did.

That, quite honestly, is part of being a saint. Fantastic stories of ancient saints are part of the hagiography of a saint, but saints, as the hymn says, are here and now. So I hope that Lent Madness is a way for people to feel their pre-concived ideas of who a saint is gently (and sometimes irreverently) expanded as they come to know saints past and present in a very real way.

Someday, when you become the answer on Jeopardy, what will the question be?
"Who is the first Episcopal priest to host Saturday Night Live?"

Ever since 2011, the first year we invited four Celebrity Bloggers to participate in the Faithful Four (because Tim was exhausted from writing all the bios himself), Penny Nash has been part of the Lent Madness team. In other words, this will be the fourth straight Lent that she's offered us a Penny for her thoughts. Which is a ridiculous statement but we figured we'd leave all the tri-cornered Colonial Williamsburg references to Penny herself. Read on.

Penny Nash, one of the four original Celebrity Bloggers, is still somewhat amazed that she is the associate rector at Bruton Parish Episcopal Church in downtown Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. When people ask her what women priests wore in the Colonial Era, her response is, “Pants.” She is a contributor to a lectionary series of sermons and reflections by a group called Homelists for the Homeless. The first two volumes, Hungry, and You Fed Me/Year C and Naked, and You Clothed Me/Year A are out and will be followed by the third volume (for Year B) in the fall of 2014; Letters to Me: Conversations with a Younger Self, a collection of essays for young adults; as well as to two Forward Movement “Day by Day” books. Known in the social media world as Penelopepiscopal, Penny posts prayers or reflections, accompanied by her own photography daily at her blog One Cannot Have Too Large a Party. Friend her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter@penelopepiscopl.

How has Lent Madness transformed your life?
Lent Madness has given me the strength to get up and do what needs to be done -- no, wait, that was Powdermilk Buiscuits. Plus, anybody who has ever been around me for five minutes knows I’m not shy. No, Lent Madness has transformed me into a fierce and focused competitor who spends hours watching the voting while composing snappy zingers to send to…wait, that’s probably not something to be proud of. OK, I give up. Perhaps people could make suggestions in the comments about how Lent Madness has transformed my life (in a good way, please).

Obviously being a Celebrity Blogger is your greatest lifetime achievement. What perks have you enjoyed as a result of your status?

Besides receiving free mugs and brackets, people recognize me everywhere I go, and almost always in a good way, except for…well, never mind about that. It happened just once. Right. OK, for instance, last year on Ash Wednesday as I was preparing for our “Ashes on the Go” distribution, a visitor from Alaska (!) came to the altar rail and said, “Hi! I’ve never received ashes from a Real Celebrity Blogger before!” That was pretty big. But the best perk was when another visitor (we have a lot of those here in Colonial Williamsburg) came out of the church one Sunday morning and introduced herself to me as a member of the parish where Lent Madness super fans Hope and Skye are also members. So, being a Celebrity Blogger brings me into the circles of other famous and cool people.

What do you hope the Lent Madness public will learn from the lives of the saints?

One of the great things about saints, and particularly about this year’s crop of saints in Lent Madness 2014, is that they are both normal people and also extraordinary people. I hope that each member of the Lent Madness public will find a saint or two who inspire them to do something extraordinary themselves for the love of God and in the name of Jesus Christ.

Someday, when you become the answer on Jeopardy, what will the question be?

"Who discovered a magical recipe for fudge brownies that helps people lose weight by eating two of them every day?"

Everyone needs a Brooklyn hipster in his or her life. We're not entirely sure former chemists qualify as hipsters but David Sibley is most definitely living in Brooklyn amongst the artisinal-everything loving hipsters. Sure, he's actually from South Carolina but what's a little geographical fudgery among friends? This is David's second year as our youngest Celebrity Blogger but, since he's in parish ministry, he's aging rapidly.

The Rev. David Sibley

David Sibley, while living in Brooklyn, does not craft artisanal cheeses. Instead, he serves as Priest-in-Charge of Saint John’s Church, Fort Hamilton, where six of the saints featured in this year’s bracket stare back at him every time he celebrates the Eucharist. Raised right in the middle of South Carolina, David studied and did research as a chemist before being whisked away to seminary in New York City. When he’s not in church, David enjoys travel, hiking and camping, all things food and music related, and praying for the yearly resurrection of the Chicago Cubs’ World Series hopes. When the ideas are forthcoming, he’s been known to blog at Feeding on Manna, and holds forth much more often with his partners in crime on Twitter at @davidsibley.

How has Lent Madness transformed your life?
Well, let’s just say that when you’re searching for Saintly Kitsch on Etsy and eBay during the Elate Eight, you see things, man. I just can’t unsee some of the terrible, terrible, kitsch that I’ve seen. There is nothing – nothing – that someone out there has not thought worthy of bedazzling.

For me, perhaps the most rewarding and transformative aspect of Lent Madness has been to hear the stories people share in comments and on social media about how the various saints have had an impact on their lives of prayer and discipleship. People come to regard the saints as their friends in faith, and as companions along a journey. So Lent Madness has become a regular part of Lent for me, and one that I look forward to each year, because it means not only learning some new things, but also, hearing how other people’s lives have been transformed by walking with the saints.

Obviously being a Celebrity Blogger is your greatest lifetime achievement. What perks have you enjoyed as a result of your status?
This one time, Tim handed me a free cup of coffee. It was a touching moment that I’ll cherish forever. Actually the biggest perk of being a Celebrity Blogger has been that I’ve been able to meet and converse with a whole bunch of really cool people over on social media, and made a few really good friends through the process.

What do you hope the Lent Madness public will learn from the lives of the saints?
I would hope people will learn see that when people follow after Jesus, God inspires ordinary people to lead lives of extraordinary faithfulness and boundless courage. My preaching professor in seminary often pointed to a saying attributed to Martin Luther, “God rides the lame horse; God carves the rotten wood.” For me, that’s true when I look at the lives of the saints: for as often as a saint wanted to quit, or failed in a venture, or was on the edge of burnout – God would transform brokenness and failure into something bigger and grander than they could have ever imagined. The lives of the saints are so often images of magnificent transformation in the service of Jesus Christ – and the saints inspire me to want to be transformed, too.

To paraphrase the old Tommy Lasorda Slim-Fast Commercials: If they can do it, I can do it, too!

Someday, when you become the answer on Jeopardy, what will the question be?
Now hold on a second: shouldn’t this go the other way? I thought the answer is a question on Jeopardy, and the question is the answer. I’m very confused as to what is actually being asked here, so I’m going to present the episode as I picture it playing out:

Contestant: “I’ll take Being Pedantic on Profiles for $500, Alex”
Alex Trebek: “During Lent Madness Celebrity Blogger Week 2014, he started arguing with a very easy profile question because he didn’t have an insightful way to write about his deep love of the Chicago Cubs and South Carolina Gamecocks, his tendency to binge television series on Netflix, or the fact that he spends way too much time on Twitter.”
Contestant: “Who is David Sibley?”
Alex Trebek: “Correct.”

That question, neeedless to say, should not be a Daily Double.

In the latest action-packed episode of Monday Madness, Tim and Scott talk about everything from Celebrity Blogger "Week" to Presbyterians. Make sure you have a widget on your website, and you too could get a shoutout by the Supreme Executive Committee. When you finish watching this video, make sure you watch Maple Anglican's excellent Sexagesima video and then visit the Lentorium.

Last, but not least, there's only nine days left until Ash Thursday, so the clock is ticking on Lent Madness evangelism. This is the day to go door-to-door in your neighborhood to share the joy of the Saintly Smackdown.