985 comments on “Nominations Open!”

1. Clara Maas

2. St Gertrude of Nivelles, patron saint of cats, gardeners, and those avoiding mental illness. While we did enjoy Roche this year he was admittedly a dog person, and this Gertrude deserves equal time with the other one who went up against him. Do all the cat people, gardeners, and those avoiding mental illness agree with me??

   1. Yes.

   2. I second that!

   3. Yes, Gretrude for sure.

      Also, Elizabeth of Hungary, Mother Teresa and Rosa Parks. I *was* going to say St. Luke, but apparently he's no eligible. John Paul II is also a good choice.

      1. Yes, Elizabeth of Hungary! I second that nomination.

   4. Definitely Gertrude! From an avid gardener and crazy cat lady whose favorite aunt was Gertrude.

   5. Yes

   6. yes

3. Eric Little Olympic runner ,missionary killed by the Chinese in World War 2 Think Chariots of Fire

   1. A second vote for the "muscular Christian," Eric Little

   2. It's actually Eric Liddell 🙂 A very worthy candidate.

4. Jacopone da Todi ~ "who joined the Third Order of St. Francis. During this period, he gained a reputation as a madman, due to his eccentric behavior, acting out his spiritual vision, earning him the nickname he was to embrace of Jacopone (Crazy Jim). Examples of this behavior included appearing in the public square of Todi, wearing a saddle and crawling on all fours. On another occasion, he appeared at a wedding in his brother's house, tarred and feathered from head to toe." (Wikipedia)
   He's my patron saint!

   1. Any relation to Christina the Astonishing? 🙂

5. Johann Sebastian Bach
   Henry Martyn
   Janani Luwum and the Martyrs of Uganda
   Perpetua and Felicity

   1. Great ideas all. I second all four of these nominations.

6. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne; Patrick of Ireland; Cornelia Whipple

7. I nominate St. Dunstan, of blacksmithing, organ-making, harp-playing, church reforming, and Glastonburian fame! At our parish of St. Dunstan's in Atlanta, we have candlesticks of wrought iron, our baptismal font is a stone from Glastonbury, and our newsletter is called "The Bellows." Did you know that Dunstan once bested the devil by grabbing his nose with his (Dunstan's) blacksmith tongs? Did you know that he was taught by Irish monks--and you know how happy it makes the Lent Madness viewing public to vote for anyone connected with Ireland. There's even a kitschy t-shirt for Dunstan Irish Beer available at Cafe Press!

   1. St. Dunstan's, Bethesda, MD too!

8. I would like to nominate John XXIII. He opened the door to ecumenism and helped bring about new liturgical possibilities.

   1. Yes and amen!

   2. Yes! You took the words right out of my mouth. (Or off of my keyboard.) I am quite sure that if it were not for Vatican II, the Episcopal Church would still be using only Elizabethan English. (Which is fine every once in a while, but not every day.)

   3. I second the nomination of John XXIII; whatever fresh air has been brought into the Catholic Church by Pope Francis originated from his nostrils.

      I also want to nominate Abraham Lincoln, saint, martyr, savior of the union, and exemplar of how politics should be conducted.

   4. By all means!!

   5. John XXIII gets my second.

9. One of my favorite saints in the Episcopal calendar is Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky. His journey in faith took him on a path of many twists and turns. Eventually he went to China as a missionary where he became very ill. His condition became so physically severe that he could only type with one finger on a typewriter. With faith and persistence he translated a good portion of the Bible on that typewriter into a Chinese dialect for his people. At first this was a real struggle, but he persisted for 20 years. Eventually he realized God had made him fit for this labor of love.

   1. I second SIJS!

      One of my favorites, a complete inspiration.

   2. Yes, thank you for nominating Schereschewsky....I had been wracking my brain trying to remember his name (and spelling).

   3. I second the nomination of Schereschewsky. I seem to recall he was in the bracket some years back but didn't advance very far in the competition, which was disappointing. What an amazing man of God.

10. I would like to nominate Brother Lawrence, Francis Asbury, and George Mueller.

11. Isaac of Ninevah (Saint Isaac the Syrian)

12. A courageous Christian woman, Miss Wilhelmina "Minnie" Vautrin,, Dean of studies at Ginling Women's Arts and Science College, Nanking, China. She protected thousands of women from the Japanese during the "Rape of Nanking" She was a member of the Disciples of Christ denomination a missionary from Central Illinois.

13. I respectfully submit Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, founders of Alcoholics Anonymous.

    Also Paul.

    1. I agree wholeheartedly. Bill and Dr. Bob have saved millions of people's lives

       1. agree: Dr. Bob and Bill!

       2. Yep.

    2. I'd second the nomination of St. Paul, but if he were included in the bracket, it would pain me to see him voted down in the first round. Folks don't seem to like him much around here.

14. Benedict of Nursia

15. Adso of Montier-en-Der (important for all the Outlander fans of the world!)

16. I concur- Francis Asbury for a Great Awakening.

17. I nominate St Brother André of Montreal - a very pious man.

18. Bishop Leontine Kelly, and E Stanley Jones would BOTH be great representatives of the Methodist tradition.

19. I Would like to nominate:

    Fredrick Baraga

    Fredrick Baraga was born in village of Dobrnič, in the Habsburg Monarchy. Today it is a part of the municipality of Trebnje, Slovenia; by age 16, Frederic Baraga was multilingual—a skill that would serve him well in later life.
    At age 26, he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on September 21, 1823 in the Cathedral of St. Nicholas by Augustin Johann Joseph Gruber, the Bishop of Ljubljana. He wrote a spiritual book in Slovene entitled Dušna Paša (Spiritual Sustenance).
    In 1830 Baraga answered the request of Bishop Edward Fenwick of Cincinnati for priests to aid in ministering to his growing flock, which included a large amount of mission territory. A year later he was sent to the Ottawa Indian mission at Arbre Croche (present-day Cross Village, Michigan to finish his mastery of the Ottawa, one of the Algonquian native languages.

    In 1837, he published Otawa Anamie-Misinaigan, the first book written in the Ottawa language, which included a Catholic catechism and prayer book. After a brief stay at a mission in present-day Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1835 Baraga moved north to minister to the Ojibway aka Chippewa Indians at La Pointe, Wisconsin, at a former Jesuit mission in the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior.
    In 1843 Baraga founded a mission at L'Anse, Michigan. During this time he earned the nickname “the Snowshoe Priest” because he would travel hundreds of miles each year on snowshoes during the harsh winters. He worked to protect the Indians from being forced to relocate, as well as publishing a dictionary and grammar of the Ojibway language.
    Baraga was elevated to bishop by Pope Pius IX and consecrated November 1, 1853, in Cincinnati at Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral by Archbishop John Purcell. He was the first bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, now the Diocese of Marquette.
    On July 27, 1852 he began to keep a diary, written in several languages (primarily German, but with English, French, Slovene, Chippewa, Latin, and Italian interspersed), preserving accounts of his missionary travels and his relationship with his sister Amalia. During this time, the area experienced a population explosion, as European immigrants were attracted to work in the copper and iron ore mines developed near Houghton, Ontonagon, and Marquette, Michigan. This presented a challenge because he had few priests, and had to attend to the needs of immigrant miners and the Native Americans. Increased development and population encouraged the improvement of transportation on Lake Superior.
    The only way to travel in winter was on snowshoes, which Baraga continued to do into his sixties. He was particularly challenged by the wide diversity of peoples in the region, which included the native inhabitants, ethnic French-Canadian settlers, and the new German and Irish immigrant miners. Difficulties in recruiting staff arose because of many languages; while Baraga spoke eight languages fluently, he had trouble recruiting priests who could do the same.
    Baraga traveled twice to Europe to raise money for his diocese. On one trip he was presented a jeweled cross and episcopal ring by the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. The bishop later sold these for his missions.
    Baraga wrote numerous letters to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith describing his missionary activities. The Society published them widely as examples of its missions in North America, and they were instrumental in inspiring both Saint John Neumann and Father Francis Xavier Pierz to come to the United States to work. In time, Baraga became renowned throughout Europe for his work. In his last ten years, his health gradually declined; he became intermittently deaf and suffered a series of strokes. He died January 19, 1868 in Marquette, Michigan. He is buried there in the crypt beneath Cathedral of Saint Peter.

    1. Yes, great choice!

20. Thurgood Marshall, Teresa of Avila, Harriet Tubman, Lucy, Catherine of Siena

    1. YES to Thurgood Marshall!

       1. Yes Indeed to Thurgood Marahall!!!!!

       2. Another YES for Thurgood Marshall. And Mother Teresa.

21. Please consider St. Francis Xavier. I choose him as my confirmation name while a sixth grade Roman Catholic. I found him to be an exciting saint who died in the mission field in China in 1552. He was a founder of the Society of Jesus. His spirit is a constant in my life as an Episcopal Priest (and, known to you as the father of Bracket Czar Adam Thomas). My car's license plate is WCFT for William Carl Francis Thomas.

22. Albert Einstein, recently memorialized in this icon:
    https://www.trinitystores.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/art_image_full/RLABE.jpg

23. I nominate John Eliot, Puritan who translated the King James Bible into the Indian language and who help found several Indian villages before the French and Indian War.

    1. I concur; I was born in one of those "villages," Natick, MA, where in Eliot's time only Christian Indians could own property.

24. Mother Theresa
    Henri Nouwen
    Joan of Arc
    Mark the Evangelist

25. I would like to nominate Kelly Gissendaner. Her story is as inspiring as it is tragic.
    Also:
    Francis Asbury
    Richard Allen
    Fannie Lou Hamer

26. John Ball, of the Peasants' Revolt. "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?" Also Sydney Carter wrote a song about him (Saintly Kitsch!). In honor of John Ball, present rector at Trinity in St. Mary's, MD, an old friend and mentor.

    1. Yes, to John Ball - a great reminder of the challenge of Christianity to powers and principalities.

27. How about St. Isaac the Syrian? Love his ascetical homilies. Anyone who can preach that we must love even the devil in order to follow Christ is awesome. Of course he wouldn't win the Halo with our electorate but exposing them to his Faith journey would be wild!

28. Thomas Cranmer. Whatever his faults...the Book of Common Prayer is one of the great books of the Western World.

    1. Thomas Cranmer! Hugh Latimer! Nicholas Ridley!

29. Verna Dozier, please!

    1. Yes! Yes! Yes! All the yeses!

    2. I third this.

30. I have nominated Thurgood Marshall for the last two years now with no luck. This absolutely must be the year you select him! Thurgood Marshall for Golden Halo 2017!