In the final battle of the First Round, Paul takes on Theodore in the epic Battle of Tarsus (you get extra Lent Madness points if you can find Tarsus on a map). The winner will do battle with Brigid of Kildare in the subsequent round.

Yesterday, in a hotly contested scrum between Margaret of Scotland and William Temple, Margaret ultimately emerged victorious 52% to 48% in heavy voting and commenting (119). Overall, it was a full day of Lent Madness news as the Supreme Executive Committee announced that they are threatening a lawsuit against some basketball tournament that uses "Madness" in the name. This led to an ensuing "controversy" over which virgin the state of Virginia was named after. Fortunately, this was all put into perspective on our Facebook fan page once a picture was posted of our two favorite voters, eight-year-0ld twins Hope and Skye of Burke, Virginia. Yes, that Virginia.

The Round of the Saintly Sixteen kicks off tomorrow with a fascinating match-up between two powerful and popular women, Joan of Arc and Mary Magdalene. Tickets are currently being scalped at astronomical prices.

Paul of Tarsus (5-67), the most influential Christian convert of the Early Church, is best known for his zeal in spreading Christianity and for writing more New Testament books than anyone else. His conversion story, from persecutor to disciple, involves an appearance of Christ so real that Paul insisted on calling himself an Apostle even though he had never met Jesus during Christ’s lifetime.

Paul was raised a pious Jew. His zeal for the Jewish faith is detailed in the Book of Acts where Paul condoned the stoning of Stephen, Christianity’s first martyr. Paul was then famously converted on the road to Damascus when he was blinded, knocked off his horse, and addressed by the voice of Christ. Following this conversion his name was changed from Saul to Paul. He then set out on full-time missionary activities, helping spread the Gospel to early Christian communities throughout the Mediterranean.

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A misinformed angry mob tried to confront the Supreme Executive Committee

Erroneous Lent Madness Readers Corrected

March 13, 2012

In our recent post on Lent Madness, the Supreme Executive Committee asserted that Virginia is named for the Virgin Mary. Some people claimed that this is false, and that Virginia is allegedly named for Elizabeth I of England, the "Virgin Queen." The SEC knows that, in fact, the Commonwealth of Virginia was named by recusants and that, ipso facto, the referent is to none other than the Ever-blessed Virgin Mary.

Remember, if you disagree with us, you are also disagreeing with the Our Lord's Mother, who is still mighty and important, even though she didn't make this year's bracket.

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Evidently there's a college basketball tournament starting this week with the word "Madness" in the title. Who knew? Please don't worry, though. The Lent Madness Legal Team will be filing a copyright infringement lawsuit against the NCAA right after we finish copyrighting the term "Lent" and patenting the color purple.

Just out of curiosity, we examined the newly-released March Madness bracket. If imitation is the highest form of flattery, we were pleased to see that some saints have infiltrated the bracket. Seriously. So who knows? They may even have to change the pedestrian-sounding "National Championship" to the Golden Halo?

Here's what we discovered in our detailed analysis of the bracket.

Schools named for the Virgin Mary:

St. Mary's - 7 seed

Virginia - 10 seed

West Virginia - 10 seed

Notre Dame - 7 seed

Schools named for various saints:

San Diego State - 6 seed

Saint Louis - 9 seed

St. Bonaventure - 14 seed

Loyola - 15 seed

Davidson - 13 seed

Xavier - 10 seed

Schools named for religious institutions or communities:

Temple - 5 seed

Iona - 14 seed

Granted most of these saintly-named or themed teams don't have a prayer. But here's hoping a saint wins this other tournament taking place this month. Perhaps it will even spring-board the winner into next year's real tournament: Lent Madness.

Today we stick with the British Isles for a battle between Scotland and England in the form of Margaret of Scotland vs. William Temple. So it's a pious woman of the 11th century (who didn't become a nun!) squaring off against an early 20th century theologian and Archbishop of Canterbury (who didn't become a nun, either!).

It's been said that "every rose has its thorn." In yesterday's Lent Madness action we learned that Rose of Lima's thorn is Brigid of Kildare who defeated her in the most lopsided battle to date, 82% to 18%. Ouch.

After today’s match-up, we only have one more battle left before the start of the Round of the Saintly Sixteen. Check out the updated bracket and the calendar of upcoming battles and then vote!

Margaret of Scotland (1045-1093) was born Margaret Atheling in Hungary and ended up in England with her family as part of a succession plan devised by King Edward. During the tumult following his death, Margaret and her family fled England and landed in Scotland where they found shelter in the court of King Malcolm.

Eventually Margaret set aside her plans to become a nun and married Malcolm. She had eight children and her descendants ruled Scotland for 200 years. During her reign, Scotland  became a center of Christian culture.

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This week Tim and Scott review the worldwide media frenzy surrounding Lent Madness and they preview the first battles of the Round of the Saintly 16. To deal with LMW, you are urged to drink coffee from a Lent Madness mug or to read the Calendar of Saints: Lent Madness 2012 Edition on your Kindle or Nook. Oh, and there's a cameo appearance this week.

Enjoy more videos on the Lent Madness video channel.

Congratulations on surviving another weekend without Lent Madness! If it's easier to make it through these dark days, just think of it as a Lenten devotion within a Lenten devotion. At least this past weekend you were able to get your Lent Madness fix by reading about it in the Washington Post, Toledo Blade, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. And if you're among the large contingent of those who prefer to read about Lent Madness in Portuguese, it was featured in Gospel Prime (we think they said flattering things but we really have no idea).

The Supreme Executive Committee of Lent Madness also replied to a letter from a young girl who couldn't believe that St. Nicholas lost to Evelyn Underhill last week. Read the letter and response in "Yes, Virginia, there is a St. Nicholas."

After today's match-up featuring two female monastics, we only have two more battles left before the start of the Round of the Saintly Sixteen. Check out the updated bracket and the calendar of upcoming battles and then go vote!

Rosa de Lima (1586 – 1617) was born in Lima, Peru, the daughter of Gaspar Flores, of Puerto Rico, and Maria de Oliva, of Lima. Her Christian name was Isabel (Elizabeth) and she took her nickname "Rose" at the time of her confirmation.

As a young girl she copied Catherine of Siena in fasting and penances (though unlike Catherine, she didn't lose to Emma of Hawaii in Lent Madness last week). As she aged and some in her family's social circle started to comment on her growing beauty, Rose cut off her hair to the great consternation of her father. While her family did not approve of her strong devotion and determination not to marry, her father eventually gave her a room to herself in the family home.

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Here at Lent Madness, we take seriously our commitment to answer the bags and bags of viewer mail that we receive each day. Following St. Nicholas’ defeat at the hands of Evelyn Underhill on Friday, one letter in particular caught our eye and we thought we’d share it with you.

Dear Lent Madness Supreme Executive Committee,

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Saint Nicholas. Papa says, “If you see it on www.lentmadness.org, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Saint Nicholas?

Virginia O’Sanctity

Well, we couldn't leave precious Virginia wondering about the existence of Saint Nicholas so we sent her this letter in reply:

Dear Virginia,

Your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a pre-Lent Madness age. Like a saint named Thomas who once doubted Jesus’ resurrection (and then lost to Enmegahbowh), they do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be a great intellectual’s like St. Jerome (who was responsible for translating Scripture into Latin in the edition known as the Vulgate and will soon be facing off against Philander Chase in the Round of the Saintly Sixteen) or a child’s, are little.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Saint Nicholas. Even though he somehow lost to Evelyn Underhill in the first round of Lent Madness, he exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Saint Nicholas! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias or Lent Madness.

Not believe in Saint Nicholas! You might as well not believe in Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Thomas Cranmer or the Supreme Executive Committee of Lent Madness. Nobody sees Saint Nicholas, but that is no sign that there is no Saint Nicholas. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor adults can see. Did you ever see Scott and Tim filming “Monday Madness?” Of course not, but that’s no proof that they only exist inside your computer.

No Saint Nicholas! Thank God he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of children who participate in Lent Madness. Even if he likely would have lost to St. Margaret of Scotland in the next round.

Sincerely yours,

The Supreme Executive Committee

PS. Good luck with your weekend case of LMW (Lent Madness Withdrawal) and know that voting resumes tomorrow at 8:00 am with Rose of Lima battling Brigid of Kildare.

This is a special edition of Monday Madness, recorded on a Friday at the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes conference in Charlotte, NC. Tim and Scott discuss breaking news and the future of Lent Madness as it develops into a new institution.

Enjoy more videos on the Lent Madness video channel.

The Supreme Executive Committee of Lent Madness has sometimes been accused of over-hyping things. Clearly these are baseless charges. The Supreme Executive Committee is composed of simple, humble priests trying to form disciples through a saintly smackdown with a global viewing public. But that said, for those who doubt the significance of Lent Madness, the Washington Post (yes, the actual Washington Post) has posted an article about Lent Madness on their website.

As college basketball fans prepare for March Madness, a holier tournament already has Christians rooting and cheering this Lenten season. For three years running, “Lent Madness” has taken to the Internet as a competition between Episcopal saints in a single-elimination bracket tournament resembling the one followed by March Madness fans.

Check it out. Penny Nash, one of our celebrity bloggers gets some airtime too, proving that the Supreme Executive Committee is not only humble, but generous with the limelight.

It's a Religion News Service article, so it might pop up elsewhere. There are a couple of minor factual errors, which we'll work to correct, but we are grateful for the coverage -- not only for Lent Madness and the Episcopal Church, but for a fresh way to engage with the remarkable stories of God's involvement in the lives of women and men through history.

In the last battle of the week, influential 2oth-century writer Evelyn Underhill squares off against Nicholas of Myra. You wanted to know how "Santa Claus" would fare in Lent Madness? Well, here's your chance to vote for or against St. Nick.

Regarding, yesterdays smackdown between Catherine of Siena and Emma of Hawaii, all we can say is "wow." With Catherine holding a slight lead throughout much of the day, Queen Emma came storming back to defeat Catherine 60% to 40% in heavy voting (over 2,000 votes cast). As the sun started to wane on the East Coast of the United States and rise over the Pacific Ocean, Emma's numbers slowly started to increase. Once the Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii sent out a plea on Emma's behalf via their e-news, the Queen dowager never looked back, again highlighting the importance of rallying your friends and considering voting blocs to promote your favorite saints. Madness indeed!

We do hope you'll take the necessary precautions this weekend to ward off any lingering effects of LMW (Lent Madness Withdrawal). If you're feeling isolated, lonely, and depressed, you can always check in with our Facebook fan page, where the conversation never stops (and we just topped 1,500 'likes'). If you're on Twitter, you can always find people to chat with by using our hashtag #LentMadness. And if you missed this week's Monday Madness video, Tim and Scott discuss LMW remedies among other timely Lent Madness news. Finally, since Scott seems to fly anywhere at the drop of a biretta, I'm sure he'd be happy to make a personal pastoral call if you're feeling particularly lost.

Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) was a writer, theologian, mystic, spiritual director, and pacifist, who arguably did more than anyone else to illuminate mystical experience and claim it as one not reserved for the spiritual elite. She spoke with some authority, not being among the spiritual elite herself, but a lay woman setting forth what she herself discovered.

Born in 1875 to a prominent barrister and his wife, Underhill was baptized and confirmed in the Church of England but had no formal religious training. She married a childhood friend, Hubert Stuart Moore, a barrister, and lived a typical Edwardian life for a woman of her class, including charitable work and regular trips to the Continent. Less typically, she wrote 39 books and more than 350 articles (both under her maiden name and under the pseudonym, John Cordelier), presented programmes (as they say) on the Spiritual Life on the BBC, and became a prominent spiritual director and retreat leader. She became the first woman to lecture at an Oxford college on theology and the first woman allowed to lecture to Church of England clergy.

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