2013 Bracket -- Accepting Nominations!

Nominations for next year's saints are currently being accepted from the floor! And the ceiling and the undercroft and the slate roof and any other part of the church that might be  susceptible to a touch of deferred maintenance.

As always, we seek to put together a balanced bracket of saints ancient and modern, Biblical and ecclesiastical representing the breadth and diversity of God’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. In other words, kindly submit your nominations to the Supreme Executive Committee but don't throw a hissy fit if he/she is not accepted this year. There's always Lent Madness 2014 or Lent Madness 2029.

This year's bracket was formed with input from the Celebrity Bloggers and a Ouija Board (with the Holy Spirit hanging around behind the scenes). But for next year we decided to open the nominations to everybody. Don't worry, the SEC is not suddenly becoming a democratic institution -- the only time democracy rears its ugly head in Lent Madness is during the actual voting. Still, there may well be saints we didn't think of (hard to fathom) or a particular pairing that is worthy of the madness.

We're also considering two or three pre-Lenten play-in match-ups to keep things interesting and whet everyone's voting whistle in the waning days of the Season after the Epiphany.

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 the entire field of Lent Madness 2012 and those saints who made it to the Round of the Elate Eight in 2010 and 2011. Here is a comprehensive list of ineligible saints. Please keep this in mind as you submit your nominations.

The field from 2012:

Joan of Arc
Lancelot Andrewes
Mary Magdalene
Augustine of Hippo
Monnica
Evelyn Underhill
Nicholas
Margaret of Scotland
William Temple
James Lloyd Breck
John Cassian
Thomas the Apostle
Enmegahbowh
David Oakerhater
Martin of Porres
Thomas Cranmer
William Law
Columba
Catherine of Siena
Emma of Hawaii
Paul of Tarsus
Theodore of Tarsus
Rose of Lima
Brigid of Kildare
James the Apostle
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Thomas Merton
Philander Chase
Jerome
John Patteson

From 2010 & 2011:
Aelred
Francis of Assisi
Julian of Norwich
Peter
Theresa of Avila
Hildegard of Bingen
George Herbert
John Chrysostom
Polycarp
C.S. Lewis
Clare of Assisi
William Tyndale
Thomas Beckett
Constance
Perpetua
Vincent of Saragossa

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184 comments on “2013 Bracket -- Accepting Nominations!”

  1. I nominate one who, like Julian of Norwich, hasn't been canonized: the Rev. Fred "Mister" Rogers, who lived his faith by reflecting his Creator's creativity through serving young chikdren and their families. Want details? I've got 'em!

    1. I nominate Lioba--I don't know much about her but think her observed date is September 8th, year unknown.

      1. Please forward this to the committee. I nominate Saint Sebastian (died c. 268) was a Christian saint and martyr, who is said to have been killed during the Roman emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians. He is commonly depicted in art and literature tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows. This is the most common artistic depiction of Sebastian; however, he was rescued and healed by Irene of Rome before criticising the emperor and being clubbed to death.[1] He is venerated in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches

    2. I am Thoroughly Embarassed that I didn't think of Fred Rogers myself.
      My childhood was not what one would call a "dance around the maypole"....when I came home from school feeling lower than the dust of several kings past, Mr. Rogers ALWAYS made me feel better with the simple yet powerful words that people can like you "just the way you are." the timelessness of this message is just as, no more important today than ever. I will miss this man to the day I die. The morning I learned of his passing, I spent the day at work wiping away tears. I am choking up as I type this.
      We Love You, Fred Rogers. This world is a poorer place without you.
      Madeleine Borthwick

  2. I nominate Shenoute of Atripe, a hardcore monk who ran a monastic federation in Egypt and fought demons with his bare hands. That's right! Shenoute also managed a convent full of unruly nuns (at least, unruly by his standards) and, at least in his hagiography, got to have personal audiences with Jesus Christ. The late Coptic Pope Shenouda III was named after him. Clearly, he is a worthy competitor.

    1. I second this nomination. Although this year I tended to vote for earlier rather than later historical figures (and thus lost most rounds! 🙂 Oscar Romero would be a great addition to the lineup.

      I also love the idea of Fred Rogers.

  3. I sent that first one too fast how about a match up between St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Mother Frances Cabrini (pioneering women of the faith as our country first formed) Another one is Kateri Tekakwitha vs. Katherine Drexel (American women who tried to break socio-cultural boundaries for the faith).

    1. I agree with Rejane's choices!! St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Mother Frances Cabrini, Kateri Tekakwitha and Katherine Drexel. Four awesome choices!

  4. I nominate St Louis, Louis IX of France. Managed to be a king and saint. Said by some to have created accountants because he did not trust his officials to abuse their power. He has a home team in the US!

  5. I nominate Damien of Molokai. He ministered to the least of our brethren, the leper outcasts, unto his death.

  6. I also nominate Richard Benson, founder of SSJE, who brought the religious life back to Anglican Church and if you nominate him I am sure the Friends of SSJE will root for him.

  7. I nominate St. Elizabeth of Hungary. I had never heard of her until I moved to a small town in north Georgia and began attending a church named for her. Pretty impressive lady!

  8. I nominate Jonathan M. Daniels, seminarian and martyr of the Civil Rights movement. He exemplified and demonstrated the courage and commitment we should all have when faced with a great moral wrong.

  9. Søren Kierkegaard. Actually commemorated on the Episcopal calendar. I love this church!!!

  10. The concept of the "play-in" contests is great! Something to warm us up and get our thinking revved up for the Big Dance.

    With a bow-wow to the French, how about St. Guinefort? Dare I say it w/b something to howl about. Guinefort w/b able to run the competition to death.

  11. Hi! Thank you for giving us a way to manage long-term Lent Madness withdrawal (the only thing this withdrawal compares to for me is Tour de France withdrawal) by offering the opportunity nominate saints for next year's bracket.
    My two immediate thoughts were Julian of Norwich, who I see was in the 2010 bracket, and so while I would advocate for her, there are many other choices, though I dearly love her. Christina Rossetti, then, is my other suggestion. Both women have much to teach us about Christian mysticism and God's grace, among many other things. Plus, Christina has some great kitsch! For example, Zazzle.com offers quite a selection of Christina Rossetti: http://www.zazzle.com/christina+rossetti+gifts.
    In any case, I look forward to next year, in which I hope to get whatever church (or seminary) I attend to take an active part in the bracket! I do love what you're doing in involving folks in active learning about the saints. I even used you as an example several times in my EfM class (I'm Year One).
    Yours in Christ,
    Christine

  12. When we were children we used to end our night prayers saying three times, "St Roch, pray for us and keep us well." No one seemed to know who he was (or even if he was). When I grew up I did locate his story. A saint we can turn to in time of illness or to stave off illness, I think he'd be an interesting candidate for us to consider.

    1. When I visited Paris a few years ago, I stayed in a little hotel on Rue St Roch, just down the road from a church dedicated to St Roch (which turned out to be one of the highlights of my trip! I loved the architecture of its chapels). There were also plaques in almost all the churches I visited saying "Merci St Roch". I got the impression that prayers to him in time of sickness were about as common in France at one time as prayers and novenas to St Jude were when I was growing up.

    1. I second Benedict of Nursia. Father of Western monasticism. His Rule is STILL relevant after almost 1500 years!

  13. Ok, are we counting MLK as a saint? I do, even if he wasn't Episcopalian. I suppose they have to be dead too, which rules out Desmond Tutu...

    1. I think we should do a match up between Martin Luther King Junior and Martin Luther his name sake. That would be an interesting match-up! Or I'd like to see Gandhi vs. Martin Luther King. Are you including non-christians?

  14. Finally !!! And, gee, Padre Schenk, where did we learn to say "hissy fit"? Hmmm ??? OK, on to the matter at hand: Definitely (1)Jonathan Daniels, modern day martyr; (2) Rt. Rev. John Walker, Bishop of DC..completed the National Cathedral; (3)Rev. Paulie Murray, noted clergywoman, civil rights leader, lawyer; (4) Rahab-helped Joshua "fit de battle of Jericho" so the walls could come tumblin' down ! More later and you can still come to Nashville. You and your co-padre-in-madness, Lent, that is, owe it to yourselves.

  15. Is there an "official" nomination form?
    I nominate Saint Lucy. Dec 13.
    She can carry the pity vote - "Her name, which means "light," probably accounts for the story that her eyes were put out and her eyesight miraculously restored."
    She has Kitsch - I checked. statuettes in which she carries plates holding her eyes. ("She is said to have had her eyes gouged out at her martyrdom, and so is often protrayed carrying them on a plate.")
    And puns - She casts her eyes around the rooms... just saying....

  16. I nominate James Solomon Russell, educator, archdeacon, and saint of Southern Virginia. Russell will come before General Convention this year to be added to the calendar of Holy Men and Women. An ex-slave and founder of St. Paul’s College in Lawrenceville, Virginia. Russell also served as Archdeacon for Colored Work in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia from 1893 to 1929. Russell founded over 20 African American congregations in Southern Virginia. http://saintpaulsnet.com/?page_id=1677

  17. Joseph... Because I want to sell my house and will be statue hunting tomorrow. Burying one is important than finding a good realtor right ?

    1. Hi, Mary-Elise,
      Madeleine Borthwick here, isn't it supposed to be a statue of St. Francis of Assisi in front of your house if you're trying to sell said house?
      Peace,
      Madeleine

      1. I'm sorry if someone else has already commented on Joseph vs. Francis of Assisi as patron saint of home sellers--it is actually St. Joseph, a statuette buried upside down in the front garden to be specific, in Roman Catholic tradition. You can buy kits—statuette, directions and prayer—from most Roman Catholic book and gift shops. Now, all good Catholics know that a statue of Francis of Assisi OR a small shrine to Mary in whatever is the most meditative part of your outdoor space will promote a happy home life. ...

  18. The Rev. Billy Graham should definitely be in the next Lent Madness. The American preacher who spent his life preaching Gods word to anyone who would listen, yes Rev. Billy Graham.

  19. St. Gertrude of Nivelles
    Harriet Tubman
    St. George
    Healey Willan
    Thomas Tallis
    St. Hugh of Lincoln

  20. I would be remiss to not take the opportunity to nominate St. Hubert, patron saint of hunters. Hubert was born a nobleman and gave up all after seeing a vision of a stag in the woods with a cross between its antlers on Good Friday! How can you pass up a story like that?

  21. Ok, I sent this in before but now an official nomination:
    Alban of Britain, because the first parish I served was St. Alban, Morehead, Ky, and
    Cuthbert of Lindisfare, because I visited his tiny isle off the south end of the Holy Island.