668 comments on “Nominationtide has arrived!”

1. Damian of Molokai because he went tocare for the lepers in Hawaii and he gave them love,care, and attention. He eventually came down with leprosy himself and then died from it.

   Jay Whisnant

2. Sister Jackie

   I nominate Hilda of Whitby. Not only was she a great Celtic saint but she started the first non-gender convent (you know what I mean). She also hosted the Synod of Whitby which, although she disagreed with the outcome, she followed it faithfully. Lots to learn from this one!

3. I would like to nominate St. Jerome. I'm nominating him for helping to spread God's word through translating the Bible and his own theological writings. I am a librarian, so he's a special saint to my profession.

4. I would like to nominate St Peregrine, the patron saint of those with cancer or recovered from cancer. As a 2 year breast cancer survivor, I appreciate all the help I can get.

5. I am nominating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, Dr. King spearheaded non-violent campaigns in the late 1950s and 60s, calling for African-Americans living across the United States to be given legal equality.

   He became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and led the Civil Rights movement although he knew it might endanger his life to do so. He was assassinated at the age of 39. He was made a saint by the Holy Christian Orthodox Church on Sept 9, 2016.

6. I nominate Father Damien of Moloka'i. for his selfless love and devotion to the residents of Kalaupapa.

7. I'd like to nominate St. Martin of Tours, born in what is now Hungary in 316 A.D, whose feast day is November 11th. He's the patron saint of France and the early father of monasticism in Gaul, as well as the first great leader of Western monasticism.

8. St. Andre Bessette. A recently-ish canonized saint in the Catholic Church but an amazing example of humility and divine providence. His trust in God's will in his life is incredible. He had a special devotion and prayed frequently for the intercession of St. Joseph. Through this devotion, many people were healed. He was a simple man but his life influenced, and still continues to influence, thousands. Definitely a worthy candidate for the 2019 bracket!

9. I would like to nominate St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, an Irish saint who died in 651. He was a monk and a missionary who re-established Christianity in England. He brought the good news to both rich and poor and gave away whatever he was given. He is a little known saint but one whose story begs to be told again in this day and age.

   PS. I have only known about Lent Madness for 2 years but have learned so much about so many selfless people both past and present. Thank you for this gift.

10. I nominate Dr. Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, born in England in 1865, arrived in Newfoundland in 1892, and spent the rest of his life in service to the poor and forgotten people of northern Newfoundland and Labrador. As a young medical student, he had asked himself what Jesus would do if he were a doctor, and he decided the answer was to provide medical care to people who had none. He had incredible energy, traveling by dogsled in winter (very long; I know, having lived there for 25 years) and by hospital ship in summer when the water was free of ice. He was shocked by the conditions he saw: households with no food except a cup of peas, a family of nine with no beds or bedding, who had to sleep huddled on the floor, "keeping themselves from freezing by the abundance of firewood, which, thank God, cost them nothing." Raising funds in Canada and the US, he founded a network of hospitals, nursing stations, schools and home industries, a network which survives in modified form to this day. He died on October 9, 1940. He is depicted in the Physicians' Window in the National Cathedral in Washington. His feast day in The Episcopal Church is October 9.

    1. Seconded!

11. I would like to nominate , James (The Greater), son of Zebedee. Why? because if he wind the Golden Halo, I can get a mug with my name on it! Plus, like myself, when I was called to follow, I left my dad behind operating the family business.

12. I nominate Dr. Charles F. Menninger (March 6 is his feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church) is the founder, with his sons, of the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. “We had a vision,” he said, “of a better kind of medicine and a better kind of world.” Guided by his faith, and his view of humankind, Dr. Menninger created a loving, family atmosphere among patients and staff alike at the clinic. His vision was to grow a community of doctors, nurses, and staff that would heal patients. “Let each person know how much you value them,” the staff were instructed; “shower these people with love.” At a time when patients with mental illness were warehoused for life, Menninger’s patients were treated with respect and dignity. The treatment worked and Menninger’s approach to healing became world famous.

13. I would like to nominate Saint Guinefort, tho I am not sure he is eligible. I remember hearing of him in seminary and have come to believe that the morales attributed to saits, the thousands of worshippers that visit shrines and find healing, relief an the presence of holiness make those places and"saints" holy. There is power i the prayers said to them dn with them. For that reason, I am nominating a dog. Yes i know he's a dog--and for time was on an appropriate calendar. How many of us have not known what it is to be loved by a dog? Guinford all the way!

    Saint Guinefort
    Dog Saint
    Died 13th-century
    near Lyon, France
    Venerated in Folk Catholicism
    Feast Venerated locally on August 22
    Patronage Infants
    Catholic cult suppressed
    Never recognized officially by Catholic Church; cult persisted until the 1930s by Catholic Church
    Saint Guinefort was a 13th-century French dog that received local veneration as a folk saint after miracles were reported at his grave.[1][2]

    His story is a variation on the well-travelled "faithful hound" motif, similar to the Welsh story of the dog Gelert. Guinefort the greyhound belonged to a knight who lived in a castle near Lyon. One day, the knight went hunting, leaving his infant son in the care of Guinefort. When he returned, he found the nursery in chaos – the cot was overturned, the child was nowhere to be seen and Guinefort greeted his master with bloody jaws. Believing Guinefort to have devoured his son, the knight slew the dog. He then heard a child crying; he turned over the cot and found his son lying there, safe and sound, along with the body of a viper. Guinefort had killed the snake and saved the child. On realizing the mistake the family dropped the dog down a well, covered it with stones and planted trees around it, setting up a shrine for Guinefort. Guinefort became recognised by locals as a saint for the protection of infants. It was alleged by contemporary commentators that locals left their babies at the site to be healed by the dog:

    The local peasants hearing of the dog's noble deed and innocent death, began to visit the place and honor the dog as a martyr in quest of help for their sicknesses and other needs. They were seduced and often cheated by the Devil so that he might in this way lead men into error. Women especially, with sick or poorly children, carried them to the place, and went off a league to another nearby castle where an old woman could teach them a ritual for making offerings and invocations to the demons and lead them to the right spot. When they got there, they offered salt and certain other things, hung the child's little clothes on the bramble bushes around, fixing them on the thorns. They then put the naked baby through the opening between the trunks of two trees, the mother standing on one side and throwing her child nine times to the old woman on the other side, while invoking the demons to adjure the fauns in the wood of "Rimite" to take the sick and failing child which they said belonged to them (the fauns) and return to them their own child big, plump, live and healthy. Once this was done, the killer mothers took the baby and placed it naked at the foot of the tree on the straws of a cradle, lit at both ends two candles a thumbsbreadth thick with fire they had brought with them and fastened them on the trunk above. Then, while the candles were consumed, they went far enough away that they could neither hear nor see the child. In this way the burning candles burned up and killed a number of babies, as we have heard from others in the same place.
    Stephen de Bourbon (d. 1262): De Supersticione: On St. Guinefort.[1][2]
    The cult of this dog saint persisted for several centuries, until the 1930s, despite the repeated prohibitions of the Catholic Church.[2]

14. Thomas Aquinas, father of "reason" in theology. Truth is to be accepted no matter where it is found.

15. I nominate St. John Bosco, founder of the Salesian order, who dedicated himself to the religious education of young people. Images of him have him accompanied by Dominic Savio, his student, who died at the age of 14, possibly of pleurisy.

    This page offers more information on St. John Bosco: http://www.salesianmissions.org/about-us/about-st-john-bosco than I could ever say. St. John Bosco is a favorite among the Cuban community.

    I also nominate him because my mom chose to name me because he was her favorite saint and she prayed to him during her very problematic pregnancy.

    I hope he makes the cut!

16. I would like to nominate Eric Liddell, best known as an Olympic runner and depicted in the movie, "Chariots of Fire." His best claim to the Golden Halo, however, involves his life as a missionary to China and internment in a Japanese prisoner of war camp for non-combatants in Shantung. The book "The Shantung Compound " by Langdon Gilkey (a wonderful book) tells of Liddell's devotion to others especially young people in the camp, and his self-sacrificing behavior. He died of disease shortly before the camp was liberated.

17. I nominate John Hines, who transformed the Episcopal Church as Presiding Bishop (1964-1975). He led the Church to proclaim the gospel by grapling with society's ills, especially racial discrimination in the US and in South Africa.

18. I nominate Abraham Lincoln. He is, in fact, dead, and not a pet. He changed history and gave his life for it. Against all odds, he got elected and ended the great shame of our nation. And he called that nation, in his unassuming and eloquent way, to listen to our better angels.

19. I nominate Fr. Damien of Molokai (also a saint) He was a priest that went to the Island of Molokai in Hawaii which was a leper colony. He lived with the lepers, helped in building a community for them. Helped with feeding, and nursing the people. He helped build roads, houses, schools. He eventually contracted the disease himself and died.

20. Melangell of Wales! I've long loved the story about the hare pursued by a hunter who found the saint praying in a glade and took refuge under her skirts, knowing her to be a safe person. Possibly not the most profound or heroic hagiography, but for some reason I just have an affection for her.

21. Christina Rossetti,poet. She wrote In the bleak mid winter and Love came down at Christmas.

    1. In the Bleak Midwinter, my favorite hymn!

22. I nominate Matthew Talbot, the Dublin workingman who overcame what seemed like a hopeless addiction to alcohol, underwent a deep conversion, and thereafter completely devoted his life to God. Matt is recognized as "venerable" by the Roman Catholic Church, and his cause for sainthood was recently augmented by a miracle attributed to him. I nominate him for several reasons. He was a very obscure, poor laborer who worked at humble jobs and was never seen as anything out of the ordinary, yet he chose to discipline himself to a life commited totally to God. His life shows that even the most humble, ordinary people can lead lives of perseverance and holiness. His life also shows that there is no such thing as complete hopelessness - God's grace worked in him to change him even when his family and all who knew him had written him off as a hopeless alcoholic. Addiction is so rampant today, in so many forms. I believe he is important because he shows that no one is beyond God's help, and that no one, no matter their history, should ever despair. I also nominate him because it is good to remember that not all the Celtic saints lived 1500 years ago. He died less than a hundred years ago, in 1925. Please consider him.

23. I nominate Fred Rogers television personality, musician, puppeteer, writer, producer, and Presbyterian minister. Known for creating, hosting and composing the theme music for the educational preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
    He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and over40 honorary degrees and a Peabody Award. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame, was recognized in two congressional resolutions. He was ranked number 35 of the TV Guide's Fifty Greatest TV Stars of All Time.
    In 1969, Rogers appeared before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications. His goal was to support funding for PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in response to proposed budget cuts. In about six minutes of testimony, Rogers spoke of the need for social and emotional education that public television provided. He argued that alternative television programming like his Neighborhood helped encourage children to become happy and productive citizens, sometimes opposing less positive messages in the media and in popular culture. He recited the lyrics to one of his songs.[39]

    The chairman of the subcommittee, John O. Pastore, was not familiar with Rogers' work and was sometimes described as impatient. However, he reported that the testimony had given him goosebumps, and declared, "I think it's wonderful. Looks like you just earned the $20 million." The subsequent congressional appropriation, for 1971, increased PBS funding from $9 million to $22 million

    1. Yes! Seconded.

24. I would like to nominate Fr. Ted Howden, who ministered to troops during the Bataan Death March, and did not evacuate when he had the opportunity. Here is an article from the Albuquerque Journal that introduces him nicely:

    https://www.abqjournal.com/152125/chaplain-chose-a-higher-way-to-live.html

25. St. Raphael the Archangel.
    General reason because he is one of the major Archangels. Personal reason: he is one of my two name patron saints, and my Guardian Angel... I'm keeping him so busy as such that he deserves a recognition!
    We don't know if he is factually dead, though.... he might or might not qualify.

26. I would like to nominate Dorothy Day, one of the founders of the Catholic Worker movement, social justice advocate, champion of the poor, writer, and worker.

    1. Yes, please.

27. I nominate Saint Maria Goretti, martyred at age 11 in 1902, defending her chastity from an attack by a neighbor boy. One of the youngest saints, I have been reading Kathleen Norris' discussion about her in "The Cloister Walk" and I think she would provide excellent discussion about what counts as martyrdom, and the role of chastity and virginity in sainthood.

28. St. George. April 23 is the feast of Saint George, soldier, martyr, patron of England, and by legend, a dragon slayer. Also the patron saint of Scouting. I was born in England, was a girl guide as well as an Akela in cub scouts. My father was a Scout and a Rover leader and my brother was a Queen's Scout. I think a lot of people would be interested in learning more about St. George including myself. Also there are quite a few churches named St. George.

29. St. Philibert -- He's a very cool early French Christian saint (616 - 685) with a church dedicated in his honor in lower Burgundy in the town of Tournus. Interestingly, Philibert was founding abbot of an abbey in Noirmoutier, France that was captured by the Normans. In 885, St. Philibert's homeless monks, wandering the countryside carrying St. Philibert's relics, were offered the site of the Abbey of St. Valerian in Tournus by King Charles the Bald. A novel situation where two separate religious communities were expected to share the same abbatial site. Visited this site many times and love it's cool stone interior, its crypt and its imposing Romanesque style!

30. Henry Budd. First Indigenous priest - Cree. His legacy working with and empowering the indigenous people in Canada continues with the Henry Budd College for Ministry in the Diocese of Brandon.