Nominations for next year’s field of 32 saints are currently being accepted by the Supreme Executive Committee. Yes, in addition to Eastertide, today begins 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 Lent Madness 2014 tote bag, the Lent Madness wall clock, some Lent Madness 2014 coasters, a Lent Madness 2014 magnet, and much, much more. And, of course, don't forget to stock up on Charles Wesley or Lent Madness perpetual purple mugs.
And now, on to the main attraction, the call for nominations for Lent Madness 2015!
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.
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 the entire field of Lent Madness 2014, those saints who made it to the Round of the Elate Eight in 2013 and 2012, and those from the 2011 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. 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!
The Field from 2014 (all ineligible)
Mary of Egypt
David of Wales
Ephrem of Edessa
Catherine of Siena
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Alfred the Great
Lydia
Catherine of Alexandria
Antony of Egypt
Moses the Black
Thomas Gallaudet
Joseph of Arimathea
John Wesley
Charles Henry Brent
Christina the Astonishing
Alcuin
Julia Chester Emry
Charles Wesley
FD Maurice
SJI Schereschewsky
Phillips Brooks
Harriet Bedell
JS Bach
Anna Cooper
John of the Cross
James Holly
Nicholas Ridley
Aelred
Louis of France
Thomas Merton
Basil the Great
Simeon
Past Golden Halo Winners (ineligible)
George Herbert, C.S. Lewis, Mary Magalene, Frances Perkins, Charles Wesley
From 2011 — 2013 (ineligible)
Jonathan Daniels
Harriet Tubman
Hilda of Whitby
Luke
Dorothy Day
Li-Tim Oi
Oscar Romero
Enmegahbowh
Emma of Hawaii
Margaret of Scotland
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Evelyn Underhill
Jerome
Thomas Cranmer
Clare of Assisi
Thomas Beckett
Perpetua
By the way, it's worth remembering that all the talk you hear these days about transparency and accountability is moot for the SEC. We reveal little and answer to no one. So if you don't like the choices that we'll announce at an unspecified future date known only to us (see what we did there?), start your own online devotional.
For now, we wish you a joyous Eastertide and Nominationtide.
985 comments on “Nominations Open!”
In looking over a list of Holy Women, Holy Men: many names caught my attention and these are the one Chosen for nomination; John Muir because Earth Day is Friday, William Passavant because his work with deaconesses in the US and I like way Zelienople rolls off the tongue, Oscar Romero because he lived and died for his beliefs and values, Joseph of Arimethea because his discussion with his wife about giving his newly dug tomb to Jesus would make a great biographical anecdote; Florence Nightingale because I'm a nurse with a cat named Cassadra; Moses the Black because he is such an excellent example of why Jesus lived and died.
Junipero Serra
1712-1784
Let’s take a road trip. We are going to travel north on I01 from San Diego California, near the Mexican border, to San Francisco in northern California. As we travel, you will notice a particular landmark—a pole about 6 feet nigh, shaped like a shepherd’s crook with a bell suspended from it. These appear every 50 miles or so to remind travelers that they are following El Camino Real, the King’s Highway.
This highway has never seen the feet of a king; it was first trodden by the sandaled feet of a saint, Fr. Junipero Serra (canonized in 2015). This Spanish Franciscan was sent from his teaching post in Mexico City, New Spain to establish missions in Alta California.
Fr. Serra, along with Fr. Lasuen and Fr. Crespi did just that/ Their route took them along the Pacific coast, and established 21 missions a day’s journey apart—about 30 miles. The furthest inland they went was to establish Nuestra Senora de la Soledad, 30 miles from the sea.
The first mission was San Diego de Alcala founded in 1769. The very last mission was San Rafael Arcangel, built in 1817 to care for sick Indians. Fr. Serra himself died in 1783 at Mission San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel. This was Serra’s headquarters, and he is buried there.
All these missions had a church, living quarters and workshops for tanning leather, making candles, spinning wool and other crafts. Serra introduced citrus olives and grapes from Spain. These crops became the foundation for California’s citrus and wine industries. They also introduced sheep and cattle. Nearly all have a camposanto, cemetery, where the friars, Indian converts, and Spanish grandees are buried.
Most are still active parishes run by the Franciscans. Some, like San Juan Bautista, serve the migrant farmers. Others, like Santa Barbara have congregations of the affluent.
Not all of the gifts brought by Fr. Serra were so beneficial—smallpox and measles were also introduced to a native population that had no resistance to them. Fr. Serra also forced the Indian converts to live at the mission for fear of backsliding should they return to their villages. Thus, fam
Teresa of Avila
Martin Luther
Katharina Von Bora Luther
Philipp Melanchthon
Chief Seattle
John of Damascus
I second Martin Luther, Katharina Von Bora Luther and Philipp Melanchthon.
Juan Diego
I nominate Polycarp.
Offered an "out" instead of burning at the stake if only he would declare Carsar as Lord, he said:
"Eighty-six years I have served Christ and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?"
Btw: so, when burning at the stake didn't work, they killed him with a dagger.
I also second the nomination of St. Michael the Archangel, patron saint of police officers. I'm a police chaplain, who for 20+ years have observed the heroes who every single day risk their lives to serve and protect us. They need some good press. All we see are the bad cops. St Michael, watch over those who daily risk their lives to keep us safe.
Deaconess Anna Alexander
Dorothy Day
Woody Guthrie
Hildegarde of Bingen
Gertrude of Nivelles
St Dymphna
Nicholas Ferrar
Thomas Cranmer
Brother Lawrence
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (will be canonized in September 2016)
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Gustavo Gutierrez, O.P. (Liberation Theologian)
Thomas Cranmer, for our BCP.
St. Mark
Saint Joan of Arc
St. Mary the Virgin (Blessed Virgin Mary), Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Founder of the American Sisters of Charity
William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury
St. Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers
St. Hildegard von Bingen, Professed Religious of the Benedictine Nuns
St. Joan of Arc, French heroine and martyr
St. Teresa of Ávila, Spanish Mystic
Cornelius the Centurion
John Wesley, Priest
St. Patrick, Bishop of Ireland
Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury
Henry Purcell, Composer
Samuel Seabury, First American Bishop
I submit Saint Patrick for 2017 Lent Madness
Benedict of Nursia!!!
Hildegard of Bingen
Edith Cavell
what does that mean?
Fred Rogers
Esther, Queen of Persia!
One more from yours truly.....
Hildegard of Bingen
Timothy
St. James. the Apostle. Lets have some people who are actually in the Bible.
I nominate Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple.
Pauli Murray!!!
If you don't know who she is, I beg you to listen to the fascinating podcast about her from "Stuff Mom Never Told You" (from the "stuff you should know" crew!) Let's hear it for the inventor of intersectionality!
Fr. Stanley Rother, murdered in his church in Guatemala for his solidarity with and love for the Mayan people.
Since Lent Madness is modeled on the March Madness basketball tournament. I nominate St. Sebastian, the patron saint of athletes.
I nominate St. Stephen, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, and St. Agnes!
Martin Luther King, Jr. (How is it that he's never won????) Then Philander Chase, Thurgood Marshall, Mother Teresa, Thomas a Becket, Bishop Henry Hobson of Southern Ohio, and Bishop John Henry Hobart of New York. I'm a firm believer in waiting until someone has entered into the realm of the Church Triumphant before bestowing saintly accolades on them. People elevate the living at great risk, such as Cincinnati having a dedicated street named "Pete Rose Way."
A triple yes, for Pauli Murray.
I agree with a previous post that only those who are not longer with us in body should be nominated! No living saints, please.
I nominate St. Theresa of Avila
I nominate Mother Marianne of Molokai for her work with the Hansen's Disease (lepers) patients.