Nominations for next year’s field of 32 saints are currently being accepted by the Supreme Executive Committee.
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 2029.
The 2013 bracket was the first time we included nominations from the Lent Madness faithful and a number of your suggestions made it in. While the SEC remains responsible for the formation of the final bracket, we encourage your participation in the nominating process.
That’s not to say the (usually) benevolent dictatorship that is the SEC is showing cracks in its junta-like Lenten power. The only time true democracy rears its ugly head in Lent Madness is during the actual voting. However, nominations from the floor mean that if you are unhappy with the 2014 bracket you can transfer your angst away from the SEC and toward one another. As for us, we can always blame the ancient Greeks.
We may have play-in rounds again this year, depending on where the mystical dove lands on our blank bracket as we discern which saints to include. Play-ins allows everyone to get a small foretaste of the Madness that is to come as eight saints vie for four spots in the official bracket on to-be-determined dates. On the other hand, play-ins cause endless confusion for those who are new to bracketology.
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 2013, those saints who made it to the Round of the Elate Eight in 2012 and 2011, and those from the 2010 Faithful Four. Here is a comprehensive list of ineligible saints. Please keep this in mind as you submit your nominations -- which you can do by leaving a comment on this post.
Also, please note that the saints you nominate should be in the sanctoral calendar of one or more churches. Anglican calendars are a bonus, but we're open minded. To a point. Fred Rogers is not eligible, despite the royal pleas of King Friday XIII. If you are looking for lists of actual saints, you might check here, here, here, or here, among other places.
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!
The Field from 2013 (all ineligible)
Hilda of Whitby
Thomas Tallis
John Donne
Macrina the Younger
Martin Luther King, Jr.
T.S. Eliot
John Merbecke
Lucy
Nicholas Farrar
Jonathan Daniels
Martha of Bethany
Luke
Elizabeth Ann Seton
Gregory the Great
Frances Perkins
Dorothy Day
Ignatius of Loyola
Absalom Jones
Harriet Tubman
Oscar Romero
Damien of Molokai
Florence Li-Tim Oi
Janani Luwuum
Martin Luther
George Berkeley
Benedict of Nursia
Theresa of Lesieux
Anne
Ignatius of Antioch
Samuel Seabury
Chad of Lichfield
John the Baptist
Martin of Tours
Agnes of Rome
Edward Thomas Demby
Past Golden Halo Winners (ineligible)
George Herbert, C.S. Lewis, Mary Magalene, Frances Perkins
From 2010 -- 2012 (ineligible)
Emma of Hawaii
Margaret of Scotland
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Evelyn Underhill
Enmegahbowh
Jerome
Thomas Cranmer
Polycarp
Clare of Assisi
William Tyndale
Thomas Beckett
Constance
Perpetua
Vincent of Saragossa
Francis of Assisi
Julian of Norwich
Theresa of Avila
267 comments on “Nominations Open for 2014!”
I suppose St. John Coltrane http://www.coltranechurch.org/ is probably ineligible too. Maybe we could incorporate a few riffs into "A Mighty Fortress is our God."
I nominate Columba (Colm Cille) and Eric Liddell.
Yes to Columba!
Yay!!
I nominate St Alban, the first Christian Martyr in Britain,
Yes. It is time for Alban. Because my firs church out of seminary was St. Alban's, Morehead, Kentucky.
I nominate Frideswide of Oxford, an Anglo-Saxon Abess
I nominate St. Brigid of Kildare.
George Herbert
I nominate the Four Chaplains (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Chaplains) as a four-for-one. I believe they exemplify the saintly values we're looking for, and they are celebrated on a feast day in the Episcopal liturgical calendar (Feb. 3rd, the Dorchester Chaplains). I believe they are figures deserving of our Lent Madness recognition.
St. Margaret of Antioch
I second St. Margaret of Antioch. A brave dragonslayer!
GO DRAGONSLAYERS!!!
I would like to request that St. John Chrysostom NOT be nominated so that he can continue as a commentotor for Lent Madness, AND
Also, I hereby nominate Robert Machray, Archbishop and Metropolitan of Rupert's Land, and first Primate of all Canada. He is included in the Calendar of the Anglican Church of Canada.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Machray
I agreed on this one. Don't want a season without John Chrysostom!
I really think we need to give Fred Rogers special dispensation.
That being said, as a church musician I have to suggest St. Cecilia, and I see I am not the only one.
I think we should make a concerted effort to get Fred Rogers onto a sanctoral calendar! Since Mr. Rogers is ineligible for reasons beyond his control, I nominate: The Venerable Bede - let's face it, venerable is such a good word and gets used so little;
Catherine of Siena
Alfred the Great (can you tell I'm a medievalist?)
Matthias - a Biblical one for good measure
Anne Hutchinson
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Nominate Venerable Bede.
I would like to nominate Thomas Merton.
Excellent choice!
I was going to nominate Thomas Merton!! So glad someone else thinks he is worthy of the Madness
I had Merton winning the whole thing year before last, and was wrecked when he got wiped out. Killed my bracket, and dented my soul a little. He deserves another chance!
I would like to nominate:
Francisco de Osuna
Richard Rolle
Kentigern (Mungo)
Ninian
and Pelagius
St. John of Damascus, defender of icons in the first Iconoclastic Controversy. Pointing out that the uncircumscribable chose to become circumscribable in the person of Jesus, St. John said, "I worship not matter, but the Creator of matter, who became matter for my sake."
The Martyrs of Memphis
Pierre Teilhard
St. Andre Bessett
I nominate Albert Schweitzer
As I recall, I think the SEC has a "No Jesus/No Mary" rule. Sort of like the Vatican's unwritten rule wherein popes don't take the name Peter.
like
Catherine of Sienna. April 29th is both her day on the calendar and my birthday.
I nominate Roger Williams, and man of complexity and deep conviction.
Scholastica of Nursia, and Clare of Assisi.
Catherine of Sienna
St. Brigid
Princess Elizabeth of Hungary
I would like to nominate Moses Ben Maimon, better known in English as Maimonides. I first heard about his eight levels of charity when I was a little girl as part of a sermon in church. It has always stuck with me, and the more I learn about Maimonides the better I like him.
Oh, and also Christina Rossetti, British poet of the 19th century
St. Colman and his companions, a cock, a mouse, and a fly.
St. Stephen
St. Alban
St. Tristan
Moses the Ethiopian! Former street thug turned pacifist monk!
Julie Billiart. She founded the sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Known as the smiling saint. I've spent the past two years volunteering with the Notre Dame Mission Volunteers.
I second Moses the Ethiopian (or the Black as he is sometimes called)
I'd vote for Fred Rogers too. There were many days when my children were young that I needed to hear someone say "I like you just the way you are." I also concur with William Wilberforce (especially as portrayed by Ioan Grufford in "Amazing Grace).
Alas, until the powers that be add Mr. Rogers to Holy Men and Holy Women, I nominate Hildegard de Bingen.
Fred Rogers would get my vote too; he never failed to honor children as whole people in his show/ministry.
I would like to nominate Hilda of Whitby! She was up against such stiff competition from Frances but deserved the halo equally as much and so should definitely be a first round draft for 2014!
May I suggest that you consider the "Deacon Saints" a list developed over many years by Deacon Ormonde Plater. Many are well known, such as David Pendleton Okerhater, and far more not as well known. You may find this list on the AED Association for Episcopal Deacons website, left side under Resources, DEACON SAINTS. If need be I can send you a copy. I can suggest specific names if desired. In any case, more deacon saints please.
I agree and would certainly second the nomination of David Pendleton Oakerhater, also known as O-kuh-ha-tuh.
Agree!
This is exciting! My nomination has to go to the one and only John Muir and/or Hudson Stuck! They share a day. If I can only choose one, though, my vote is for Muir. I feel like taking a little hike in the woods now..
Muir Madness!! I second this one!
St. Cuthbert.
Yes! Because he has his own little island off Lindisfarne and a cave a fe miles inland. And I've been to both!
I'd like to nominate Alban, first martyr of Britain. His story is lovely, like the righteous gentiles who harbored Jews during the holocaust, and his name is used often enough that the masses will enjoy learning about him.
I nominate St. Richard of Chichester - he was a protector of the clergy, and helped write the lyrics to a very popular song from Godspell:
Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ
For all the benefits Thou hast given me,
For all the pains and insults Thou hast borne for me.
O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother,
May I know Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly