Accepting Nominations!

nominations-openNominations for next year’s field of 32 saints are now being accepted by the Supreme Executive Committee. Yes, for the next week we invite you to revel in the joyful, anticipatory Season of Nominationtide.

But before we get to the main attraction, we encourage you to visit the Lentorium. You can prove your love for Lent Madness by loading up on Lent Madness merchandise, including the ubiquitous Lent Madness mug featuring 2015 Golden Halo winner Francis of Assisi, the novel pint glass featuring Silver Halo winner Brigid of Kildare, or the de rigeur purple Lent Madness t-shirt.

And now, on to the main event: the call for nominations for Lent Madness 2016!

As always, we seek to put together a balanced bracket of saints ancient and modern, Biblical and ecclesiastical representing the breadth and diversity of Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

Inevitably, some will disagree with certain match-ups or be disappointed that their favorite saint didn’t end up in the official bracket. If you find yourself muttering invective against the SEC, we implore you to take a deep cleansing breath. Remember, there’s always Lent Madness 2034.

While the SEC remains responsible for the formation of the final bracket, we encourage your participation in the nominating process. As in past years, we might even listen to some of your suggestions.

As you discern saints to nominate, please keep in mind that a number of saints are ineligible for next year’s “saintly smack down.” This includes previous Golden Halo winners, the entire field of Lent Madness 2015, those saints who made it to the Round of the Elate Eight in 2014 and 2013, and those from the 2012 Faithful Four. Here is a comprehensive list of ineligible saints. Please keep this in mind as you submit your nominations — which you can do ONLY by leaving a comment on this post. Did we mention that the only way to make a nomination for Lent Madness 2016 is to leave a comment on this post?

Also, please note that the saints you nominate should be in the sanctoral calendar of one or more churches. We’re open minded. To a point.

Remember that when it comes to saints in Lent Madness, many are called yet few are chosen (by the SEC). So leave a comment below with your (eligible) nomination!

Past Golden Halo Winners (ineligible)
George Herbert, C.S. Lewis, Mary Magdalene, Frances Perkins, Charles Wesley, Francis of Assisi

The Field from 2015 (all ineligible)
Gregory the Illuminator 
Brendan the Navigator
John Keble
Thecla
Francis of Assisi
John Wycliffe
Balthazar
Cecilia
Bernard Mizecki
Margaret of Antioch
Margery Kempe
Jackson Kemper
Bede
Cuthbert
Molly Brant
Swithun
Hadewijch
Juan Diego
Dorcas
Frederick Douglass
Egeria
Hildegard
Barbara
Thomas Ken
Dionysius the Great
Irene the Great
Brigid of Kildare
Elizabeth
William Laud
Kamehameha
Teresa of Avila
David Oakerhater

From 2012 — 2014 (ineligible)
Basil the Great
Lydia
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Bedell
Anna Cooper
Phillips Brooks
Julia Chester Emery
Jonathan Daniels
Hilda of Whitby
Luke
Dorothy Day
Li-Tim Oi
Oscar Romero
Emma of Hawaii
Margaret of Scotland
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

After a mysterious process of bracket discernment at the upcoming SEC Retreat, the 2016 Bracket will be released on All Brackets Day, November 3, 2015. You have until Ascension Thursday, May 14, to make your nomination. In other words, your time is up when Jesus goes up.

For now, we wish you a joyous Nominationtide.

 

Update:
Thanks for your nominations! Nominations for Lent Madness 2016 are now closed. But stay tuned - All Brackets Day, and the grand unveiling of next year's bracket -  is November 3.

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443 comments on “Accepting Nominations!”

    1. I nominate Sir Wilfred Grenfell, whose work in Newfoundland and Labrador sprang directly from his faith.

  1. I nominate the animal-loving-and-protecting St Melangell of Wales! Imagining her courage, compassion, and the prospect of plushy bunnies for purchase at the Lentorium!

    1. It would be good to have some Welsh saints. St Melangell is lovely but I nominate St Dwynwen, the Welsh patron saint of lovers.

  2. In the belief that all faithful people ate saints whether or not they appear on any church's official list - I nominate Verna Dozier.

  3. Gilbert of Sempringham is my nomination for Lent Madness. 1083-1189 (Can this be? He lived more than 100 years?) He founded monasteries in England which at the time of his death house 1500 women and 700 men. These were dissolved in 1583.

  4. I nominate Martin Luther King, Jr. He bravely accomplished much for civil rights despite all the naysayers. He died in the effort, which continues today.

  5. I nominate the following:

    1. Mary Magdalene
    2. The Very Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
    3. The Rt. Rev. Rowan Williams
    4. George Herbert
    5. Martin Luther King Jr.

    1. It's The Most Rev. Katharine etc.

      I would support that nomination if it is allowed to have a living saint!

  6. Saint Nicholas! Who else? Actually he is one of the best known, perhaps, of saints, but also, perhaps, the least understood. So, give people an opportunity to learn that poor old Santa Claus is actually a champion of all the poor, vulnerable, and downtrodden. This could change Christmas forever! Onward for not-s0-jolly St. Nicholas!

    1. '+1 for Saint Julian of Norwich. A real woman mystic who didn't jump into pools of fire filled with baby seals or any other nonsense.

  7. How about the North Carolina saints approved at the last ECUSA General Convention: Pauli Murray, Manteo & Virginia Dare. Since Bishop Curry is a nominee for Presiding Bishop, it might be the perfect way to curry favor! Although I'm sure legend and kitsch abound for the latter, I think Pauli Murray is a better candidate for making it out of the first round.
    http://www.dionc.org/dfc/newsdetail_2/3154341

    1. I also submit Evelyn Underhill and Emily Morgan for your consideration.

      1. For old school I'll nominate Perpetua or Clement of Rome. However, I have a great fondness for St. Andrew, guiding his passionate brother Peter to meet Jesus.

  8. Bertha of Canterbury , married to Ethelbert, she prayed daily for the conversion of the English before Augustiane came

  9. Well, my nomination from last year, St. Brigid, did pretty well, so this year I nominate St. Jerome, the patron saint of libraries and librarians.

  10. Henri jm Nouwen - may not yet be in the "official sanctoral calendar of one or more churches" but should be - and, more than likely, WILL be.

  11. I nominate Samuel Johnson, first resident rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Stratford, CT, the oldest Episcopal (not Anglican) parish in the oldest diocese in the U.S. He is known as the Father of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, founding 25 churches in the colony. His philosophical writings were published by his friend, Benjamin Franklin, and he also worked to open an Anglican college in New York, serving as the first president of Kings College, later Columbia University. His son William Samuel Johnson did not go into the ministry, but served as a senator from Connecticut in the second Continental Congress. William Samuel also was a president of Columbia College, as it was called after the Revolution. There is more information about Samuel Johnson on WikiPedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnson_%28American_educator%29

  12. I nominate Alice Seeley Harris and Eric Liddell.

    (We ARE allowed to nominate more than one, yes?)

  13. I nominate Sam Shoemaker. He's one of the reasons I'm proud to be Episcopalian.

    1. I think that's a fine idea, except that I'm powerless of Lentmadness, and my saints have become unmanageable.

  14. I nominate Mother Theodore Guerin. I wrote her entry for the SCLM for consideration for Holy Women, Holy Men at GC2015. She was the foundress of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana. She was brought to the U.S. from France in 1840 to further education of girls and women and the reach out to the folks in Southern Indiana. She spoke out against on human trafficking and racism that she observed - even using the word trafficking in 1843. I have all of her materials and photo approved by the Sisters of Providence.

    1. And, although she is not (yet) recognized in the TEC calendar, she is revered in numerous faith communities in the US and around the world.