Well, friends, after all the hype and all the anticipation and all the pageantry of the opening ceremonies (oh, did you miss that? Madonna sang "40 Days and 40 Nights"), Lent Madness 2012 is now upon us. Our first match-up is between a learned bishop and a young peasant girl born nearly 150 years apart. Sounding incongruous? Welcome to the beauty, intrigue, and mystery of the Lent Madness bracket.

The fate of these two saints is now in your hands with the winner destined to take on the victor of John Huss vs. Mary Magdalene in the Round of the Saintly Sixteen. But that's getting way ahead of ourselves. Today, your task is to vote wisely and encourage everyone you know to get in the Lent Madness game.

Lancelot Andrewes (1555 - 1626), Bishop of Chichester, Ely, and later Winchester, is perhaps best known as the lead translator of the Old Testament books Genesis through 2Kings in the Authorized Version of the Bible (also known as the King James Bible because it was commissioned by King James I in 1604). An exceptionally learned man who mastered fifteen modern European languages in addition to six ancient ones, Andrewes was also a celebrated preacher who enjoyed the privilege of preaching Christmas (and other) sermons before Queen Elizabeth I and later King James I. At the same time, Andrewes was known to spend several hours a day in prayer. More than twenty years after his death, his private devotions - a collection of Scripture, thoughts and prayers written in Greek and Hebrew - were finally translated and published, and they are still in print.

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By now you have surely discovered the Lent Madness Channel with our weekly webcasts of Monday Madness. Well, friends, there is good news. The book that goes behind the movie is now available. It's only $6.99 for Kindle or Nook (ebook only!). Calendar of Saints: Lent Madness 2012 Edition is the ultimate guidebook for Lent Madness and devotional handbook for the saints of the Episcopal Church.

Back in 1972 (before Holy Women, Holy Men was a glimmer in anyone's eye), Canon David Veal wrote a book for Forward Movement called Saints Galore! It was popular. So popular that it was reprinted and updated a bunch of times, most recently in 2004. Canon Veal write brief devotional essays about each saint in the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church. These essays were intended to convey something of God's grace at work in the saints and to inspire us with the idea that God might work in our lives too.

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At Ash Wednesday liturgies throughout the world, Christians will be invited by their parish clergy into the observance of a holy Lent. Here at Lent Madness we pray that everyone will have their souls enlivened during this transformative season of the Church year. Of course, we believe that your soul will be all the more enlivened by your participation in Lent Madness.

Therefore we have written an invitation to be read at all "Ash Thursday" liturgies to make sure everyone engaging in Lent Madness does so with the appropriate attitude of the heart. Although approval of this invitation by the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music is pending, it has been fully authorized for trial use by the Supreme Executive Committee of Lent Madness (ie. Scott and Tim). Nonetheless, please don't share this with their respective bishops as they will deny any knowledge of said invitation.

Invitation to the Observance of a Holy Lent Madness

Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence, fasting, and Lent Madness. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism and taught to vote for their favorite saints by logging onto www.lentmadness.org. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins in refusing to engage in Lent Madness, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church – but only after proving their worth by purchasing a Lent Madness mug. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith by participating in Lent Madness.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, the Supreme Executive Committee, and our “celebrity bloggers,” to the observance of a holy Lent Madness, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, voting in a timely fashion, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Lent Madness. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord and our computer, only one of which is our maker and redeemer.

As many of you will know, today is Mardi Gras. Or as we Anglicans like to call it, Shrove Tuesday. What some will not know is that the word "shrove" is an old English word that means "bracket." Yes, friends, today is the day you should be finishing up your Lent Madness brackets. Gather some friends and place bets (for charity). Remember there is no charge for voting here on Lent Madness, and that voting starts on Ash Thursday morning, February 23.

To get you in the mood, here is an inspirational video.

Also, check out today's Episcopal News Service story on Lent Madness. Make sure you tell all your friends, and some random strangers, about our Facebook page and video channel.

Have fun eating pancakes today. Then do not have fun getting ashes tomorrow, but do go to church and begin the more important (and less zany) part of Lent. And then you can have a bit of fun again on Thursday when the voting begins!

Another week, another Monday. Tim and Scott explain the workings of Lent Madness. They also cover the growing global phenomenon of Lent Madness Fever.

Monday Madness -- February 20, 2012 from Forward Movement on Vimeo.

Lent Madness kicks off this Thursday with a battle between Joan of Arc and Lancelot Andrewes. This match-up and the rest of the Lent Madness 2012 schedule has just been released. It will all culminate with the championship round on "Spy Wednesday," April 4th, and the awarding of the Golden Halo. Click 2012 Lent Madness Calendar to view a printable calendar.

So, if you're looking to campaign for a particular saintly contender, you'll know exactly when to put on the full court press. Or initiate the smear campaign.

The Rev. Anne Emry, Curate at St. John's in Hingham, MA

With just five days until the start of Lent Madness 2012, it's time to highlight some recent bloggers and parishes who have jumped on the Lent Madness band wagon. We did this a few days ago which you can read here but since this is all snowballing or hitting a crescendo (depending on which analogy you prefer), we thought it was time to acknowledge some others with Lent Madness fever.

This is by no means a complete list. Some of us have day jobs after all. But if you don't see your own group, by all means send me a link at tim@lentmadness.org and I'll see what I can do to place your lamp on the proverbial lampstand. As we move forward, pictures and anecdotes are encouraged. You send 'em, we'll post 'em. Unless we get really busy because, you know, it's Lent.

Here we go:

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No, we haven't added your favorite saint that didn't make it into Lent Madness 2012. But thanks to "celebrity blogger" Adam Thomas we now have a much more attractive printable bracket. The youngest (hippest?) member of the Lent Madness team saw a need (my ugly, plain-looking  bracket) and upped the ante with some color and fancy graphics (you can obviously still print it in black and white).

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This week, Tim and Scott look at the lineup of celebrity bloggers. And more. Much, much more.

Monday Madness -- February 13, 2012 from Forward Movement on Vimeo.

Yes, friends, the Lent Madness Buzz is building all over the world. People everywhere are filling out their brackets and ironing their hair shirts as they breathlessly await the coming of "Ash Thursday" on February 23rd.

Today, we wanted to highlight a few blogs that have posted about Lent Madness. We commend them for their highly poignant commentary and brilliant selection of topic (or, as sometimes happens among bloggers, they couldn't think of anything else to write about). If you know of other blogs that have mentioned Lent Madness, let us know. And if you yourself are a blogger (and like to say really awesome things about Lent Madness) we encourage you to post and let us know about it in order to greatly increase your blog traffic, get picked up by a syndicate, make piles of cash, and retire early.

Here are some sample from the blogosphere:

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