Saints end up in the Lent Madness bracket for a variety of reasons. Some for heroic acts or miracles, some for leadership or great teachings. And some simply because they have cool names (ie. Christina the Astonishing in 2014). Today's saintly souls didn't end up in the bracket because of their names alone, but they are kind of awesome. Hermione vs. Melangell. It just kind of rolls off the tongue -- at least if you can pronounce them. But just to be clear, Hermione is not the one from the Harry Potter series. And Melangell is not the one from, well, no best-selling book series we're aware of. Yet.
Yesterday, Albert the Great proved greater than Leo the Great 54% to 46% in a matchup between two great saints.
Also yesterday, Tim and Scott shared another epic episode of Monday Madness. You can watch it here, but know that we're disappointed in you. Fortunately you can redeem yourself by watching this week's episode and waiting with an expectant heart for next week's version.
Hermione
Hermione was a saint of the second century who had an ability to both heal people—and avoid martyrdom.
According to church tradition, Hermione was one of the daughters of Philip, the deacon. She and her sisters had the gift of prophecy and were Christians from an early age. We know nothing about her childhood, but we know that when she became an adult, she and her sister Eutychia set out from Caesarea in Palestine to Ephesus, to seek out the apostle John to study with him.
Upon arrival, they discovered that John had died, so they studied instead with Petronius, a disciple of Paul’s. From Petronius, Hermione learned about healing and began to minister to the sick of the city. Meanwhile, the emperor Trajan came to town on his way to battle the Persians. Encountering Hermione, he ordered her to renounce Christianity, but she refused. He ordered her to be hit in the face for hours on end. By all accounts, she withstood this undeterred because she had a vision of Jesus sitting enthroned in front of her, encouraging her. Seeing that she would not renounce her faith—and not wanting to be late for his war—Trajan finally let her go.
Hermione decided this would be a great time to start setting up hospices in Ephesus—a place that was half-hospital, half-hotel, where people could receive both spiritual and physical nourishment. She carried on her hospice work with vigor until the next emperor, Hadrian, came to town. He, too, decided to try his luck with Hermione and demanded she recant her faith. When this didn’t work either, he ordered her to be boiled alive in a cauldron of boiling lead, tar, and brimstone. But one did not simply boil Hermione; an angel appeared and scattered the coals so that the cauldron went cold. Enraged, the emperor came forward and touched the cauldron to see if it had gone cold. (He burned his hand off.)
Not being one to take a hint, Hadrian ordered Hermione to be roasted on something like a big iron skillet. This also didn’t work. He then told two servants to go and chop her head off. When they tried, their hands withered, and beholding the miracle, they immediately converted themselves. Hadrian declared defeat, and Hermione died of natural, non-martyrdom causes in 117.
Collect for Hermione
Almighty God, whose will it is to be glorified in your saints and who raised up your servant Hermione to be a light in the world: Shine, we pray, in our hearts, that we also in our generation may show forth your praise, who called us out of darkness into your marvelous light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Melangell
A poem penned in 1723 in the registry of the Welsh church named for Melangell reads: “Melangell with a thousand angels triumphs over all the powers of evil.” Also hunters, as her story goes.
Melangell was the daughter of a sixth-century Irish monarch, as recorded in the book Tours of Wales. When her father attempted to marry her off to a nobleman in his court, Melangell, who wanted to pursue a life of prayer and solitude, fled Ireland. She found sanctuary deep in the Berwyn Mountains in what is now Wales, where she lived as a hermit for fifteen years.
Enter the hunter in our tale, the prince of Powys. While hunting a hare, the prince chased the animal into a “great thicket,” where he was surprised to find instead “a virgin of surpassing beauty.” It was Melangell, deep in prayer, with the hare seeking sanctuary beneath her robe. The prince’s hunting dogs retreated, howling. Impressed by the hermit’s courage and devotion, the prince not only let the hare go free, but he also gave the land to Melangell to be “a sanctuary to all that fled there.”
Melangell founded an abbey on the land, where she remained abbess until her death. Her small religious community ordered its life around prayer and works of mercy, providing sanctuary to all creatures in need. Even the hares. After her death, she became known as patron saint of the hares and other small animals who continued to come to her. The hares became known in Welsh as “Wyn Melangell”—or St. Melangell’s lambs. Centuries later, the Tours of Wales recounted, hunters still refused to kill hares in the parish.
Today, the land remains a sanctuary, ringed by trees estimated to be more than 2,000 years old. Some consider it a “thin place,” where Celts believe heaven and earth seem especially close. The Shrine Church of St. Melangell calls it “a place beyond words and far from the rush of twenty-first-century life; a place where God speaks in the silence and where all people have an opportunity to experience a sense of the holy.”
Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox pilgrims visit the shrine, where bones that are believed to belong to the saint were discovered beneath the floor in 1958. Melangell is remembered on May 27.
Collect for Melangell
O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich: Deliver us from an inordinate love of this world, that we, inspired by the devotion of your servant Melangell, may serve you with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
NOTICE
At about 8:30 p.m. EST, the Lent Madness Voter Security Unit noticed 389 bogus votes for Hermione. These votes were removed, and the suspect addresses were blocked. This is a reminder. Do not cheat. Vote once. Get your neighbors to vote. But don't vote several times, lest you be cast into the outer darkness of Lent Madness.
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221 comments on “Hermione vs. Melangell”
Hermione's faith was tested,
Her body bent and bruised,
She held fast to her values in Christ as she thwarted the Emperor’s abuse,
Hermione focused on healing all as did Jesus Christ,
Awe inspiring, spiritually moving, a guide to act,
We’re voting Hermione and that is fact!
My entire family have been hunters. My mother got her deer every year until she was 90. My brothers hunt everything. So I do have concern for the hunters.
Hermione Granger from harry potter
Hermione is a bad-ss. She got my vote.
Such wonderful choices! I had to vote for our Welsh Lady, for her protection of small animals, her strength of character to be herself rather than follow her father's orders and her protection of this area where our world meets the heavens.
I wish Lent Madness would choose saints for whose lives there is at least a kernel of truth among all the fantastical and improbable "miracles," as for example in the case of Hermione! I don't find such fanciful tales at all edifying. There are plenty of legitimate saints to choose from, of whom we actually know something of their lives.
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The first improbable miracle was turning water into wine. The rest are appreciative footnotes.
I find the fanciful tales entertaining. There's usually something of truth to them. It's also a way to include the older saints.
Interesting tale of Hermione, but too fanciful to offer me inspiration, guidance or solace. Hadrian died with both hands. I doubt if he could grow a new one like a crab. Melangell leads me to be kind to small animals and observe even tinier creatures as I sit and meditate in meadow or glen.
Today, Hermione had me at "Hospice" as Hospice gave my mother such a wonderful experience for her last 3 weeks! Besides, I am in a snit over how darn hard it is to get my hands on Brother Cadfael books these days!
St Melangell gets my vote today. The world needs more places of sanctuary.
I learned about two fascinating saints today. Hard to pick one. Joy is learning something new every day. Both of them are bad woman. Hit in the face and still you survive and thrive. Look at God Melangell gets my vote she provided sanctuary to all creatures in need. That can be hard to do sometime. Melangell is my pick today.
Same here, Sharon. Even though I marked for Hermione in my bracket, I'm voting for Melangell. Had never heard of the Irish/Welsh saint, and find her story enchanting!
Love the Mabinogion, and her story echos the tales in that collection.
Yay to Melangell standing up to being married off. Also, yay to the Prince of Powys who, upon seeing a beautiful woman, didn't try to marry her but instead respected her chosen vocation and gave her space (literally) to continue in it.
I was expecting all the literary references to be with Hermione. Leave it to Lent Madness to immediately turn the literary references to Melangell.
Impressed as I am by Hermione and her work establishing hospices, not to mention the write up, I vote for Melangell, for her refusal to accept anything other than her call, for her care for animals, and for hallowing a thin place. The pandemic has kept me from Iona so a reminder of a thin place lifts my spirit. I am also rather impressed by the prince who recognised a woman's vocation and supported her.
I think it is colonial, misogynistic and unfair to place 2 women together in the first round. We are not given a fair chance. Odds count! Live your show as they say
Melangell all the way! Her life continued to benefit others to this day.
I'm not sure I buy all the gory details in Hermione's story, but I do approve of somebody who created a hospice. Hermione it is - by a hair, not a hare.
As a deacon, how could I not vote for Hermione?
I had difficulty accepting Hermione's story with all its miracles. And in today's world where we are focused on protecting the environment I had to vote for Melangell. Thanks for the tip about Cadfeal. I remember seeing some of the episodes with Derek Jacobi many years ago and we do enjoy the Father Brown series. I will order some Cadfael from our local library and, if I like them, present them to our book group for reading next year.
Arrghgh! So difficult, but I decided to go with Hermione, mainly for her Hogwarts' namesake.
But now I have yet another reason to go to Wales besides The Dark Is Rising series, which I own and which make me want to go to Wales and Cornwall.
Today in Texas it's 75 degrees! I went out to the deck and removed all the furniture covers.
Clearly, an animal (rabbit perhaps!) had escaped the storm by using my chair under the tarp.
Melangell and her care for animals speaks to my heart!
My cat is named Hermione, but she is clearly not in THIS Hermione’s league, being a creature who demands comfort above all else. So I had to vote for Melagell, whose legacy is more concrete.
Celts do remarkably well here. Both our figures have strong stories.
Hospice is one of the best services I can imagine for families going through the death process. If Hermione was behind that concept, she should get the vote of anyone, without regard for ancestry, who expects to die or have a lived one die.
I cast my vote for Melangell—for bunnies and hares, for Cadfael, for thin places, and for strong women who follow God’s call to serve.
My family is awash in very strong women, and this was a difficult choice.
I voted for Hermoine. I suspect she was the role model for Harry Potter's friend.
I suspect that J.K. Rowling must have been thinking that as well when she developed the character of Hermione. 🙂
Hermione, because of her hospice work. Both my late husband and just 2 weeks ago, my Mother, spent their final days in a wonderful hospice. I am eternally grateful for the care of the staff.
So sorry fir your losses, Susan.
I'm no expert, but from what I understand, the Welsh "LL" is pronounced with the tongue in the "L" position with air forced outward. It's similar to, but not quite, the soft "TH" sound.
"Meh-LAN-geth" should be pretty close to the right thing without injuring yourself.
My condolences for your losses, Susan. I hope the levity of Lent Madness helps a little. I also am a great supporter of hospice, birth my mom and my dad. And caring for the family, too. What a blessing! I voted for Hermione as well.
Both, not birth.
Wynne O. must vote for Wyn Melangell.
Hermione for me. I was taken by her healing, prophecy, studying, spiritual guidance, hospice, and her bravery and determination.
Although I don’t believe that Hadrian’s hand was burnt off (his statues show no such deformity) I honor Hermione for aiding the people of her adopted city.
Voted for Mel. Her bio touched me and seemed a touch more grounded. Grew up in Bryn Mawr...near Bala Cynwyd, Merion, Narberth, Haverford, Radnor, St. David’s. Wales prevailed.