331 comments on “Nominationtide is upon us!”

1. I nominate Chiune Sugihara, the "Japanese Schindler", who converted to Orthodox Christianity as a young man and went on to save over six thousand lives in WWII in his capacity as Japanese ambassador to Lithuania. He wrote out thousands of travel visas by hand, working day after day until his hands cramped and his wife had to massage them before he got some sleep, despite being told to stop by the Japanese government. When they were forced to repatriate, he continued writing visas and throwing them out the train window until it pulled away, finally flinging his official seal out the window so that it could be used to forge more. The travel visas he provided enabled thousands of Jews to escape death at the hands of the Nazi regime. He lost his government job in retaliation for his deeds, and lived most of the rest of his life in menial obscurity. He is honored today by the Episcopal Church on the feast day of the Righteous Gentiles.

   https://www.episcopalcafe.com/feast_day_of_the_righteous_gentiles/

   https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/opinion/sugihara-moral-heroism-refugees.html

   1. I would second this, I love his story.

   2. i seocnd this one too!

   3. I've heard his story, and he deserves a spot.

   4. Seconded --- and suggest you also consider Aristide de Sousa Mendes. Very, very similar life story. I nominated him.

   5. I agree with this nomination.
      He is one of only two Japanese citizens honored in the Court of the Righteous Gentiles at Yad Vashem.

2. So many great and truly worthy saints have already been nominated, but after a little hesitation I will offer one more: St. Anselm of Aosta and Archbishop of Canterbury. Not just for his teachings, but for his humility and courage in resisting Kings William II and Henry I of England to stand up for the independence of the Church from temporal power.

3. I nominate St. Hyacinth. He established the Dominican order in Poland. More fun, he once fed a starving crowd with bottomless pierogi. Reportedly "St Hyacinth and his Pierogi" means "holy cow" in Poland. Plus there's load of saintly kitsch. All of these as up to St. Hyacinth being a fantastic nominee for 2022. Plus we eastern European Anglicans need to represent!

4. I would like to nominate the magnificent Christian Dorothy Day who wrote, "As a convert, I never expected much from the bishops. In all history, popes and bishops and father abbots seem to have been blind and power loving and greedy. I never expected leadership from them. It is the saints that keep appearing all thru history who keep things going." And on a hopeful note, "No matter how corrupt the Church may become, it carries within it the seeds of its own regeneration." (quoted by Colman McCarthy in National Catholic Reporter)

5. I nominate The Rev Suzanne Radley Hiatt. She was the impetus behind the Philadelphia ordination in 1974. Had it not been for her, women might not have been ordained to the priesthood for years. She died in 2002.

6. I nominate Saint Roch; traditional life c. 1295-16Aug. 1327. Catholic saint a confessor whose death is
   commemorated on Aug. 16 and Sept. 9 in Itay, he is especially invoked against the plague.
   A patron saint of DOGS, INVALIDS,FALSELY ACCUSED PEOPLE AND BACHELORS. His name is
   translated in 32 different languages.
   BIO: born Montpellier on the border of France, son of a noble governor. HIs miracle birth from
   his barren mother did not occur until she prayed to the Virgin Mary. Marked from birth with a
   red cross on his breast that grew as he did. At age 20,parents died and he gave all of his wealth
   to the poor and went rom as a mendicant during a plague epidemic. The term plague in the medievil
   times indicated a whole array of illnesses and epidemics not just Black Death.
   He also became ill, was expelled from the city, withdrew into the forest into a hut of boughs and leaves.
   A miraculous spring supplied him with water He would have died except for a DOG belonging to
   G. Palastrelli brought him bread and licked his wounds. His owner found Roch and became his
   acolyte. Paintings and other art work portray Roch with a dog holding a loaf of bread in its mouth
   and Roch displaying a plague wound on his thigh.
   Healed he returned to Montpellier where his uncle put him in prison where he died 5 years later.
   An angel brought a table divinely written in gold to lay under his head where God granted Roch his
   prayer...that whoever calls on him meekly, will not be hurt by any pestilence.
   AS a breeder of Welsh Springer Spaniels for 20 years and training them as therapy dogs with
   children and adults, I have witnessed first hand the miracles that a dog can perform with troubled
   children, grieving adults and as great companions. St. Roch is clearly the patron saint of dogs
   .....not so sure about the bachelors but, maybe! My nomination for 2022 Lent Madness.

   1. Enthusiastic second for St. Roch. He gives his name to a street, a cemetery, a marketplace, and an entire neighborhood in New Orleans. The veneration of St. Roch is incomplete without inclusion of his dog, name unknown, that was reputed to have curing power too.

7. Mother Theresa. She taught generations the true meaning of Christian care, Christian love, Christian witness. She is a model of Christian life.

8. I nominate Jonathan Myrick Daniels, born 1939, died 1965 in Haynesville, AL on August 20. His saint day is August 14. He was part of that group of young people who answered the call of Dr. King to work for voting rights in the south and was killed there by a shotgun blast. It is possible he stepped between the killer and the young girl who was in the line of fire. I find his life deeply compelling and inspiring, especially his own struggle with faith and what it means to live into it. John Lewis was just a few months older than Jonathan and I would think their paths crossed during those Selma days.

   1. I second this nomination! Daniels' story is one the world needs to hear right now.

9. I nominate St. Maximus the Confessor. His feast day is August 13th. He was an Abbot, theologian and a doctor of the Church. He lived in one of the most turbulent times in Christian History (580 -662) and was seen as a heretic, because he believed in the two natures of Christ (Divine and Human). At the time, the Byzantine Emperor, Constans II, was a monothelitist. He had St. Maximus arrested and tortured. Maximus lost his writing hand and his tongue to keep him from talking and writing,

10. I was going to nominate either Bede or Hilda, but when I saw the nomination of Jonathan Daniels, I realized that he is my nominee. He literally took the bullet for someone else. His conscience sent him to Alabama in the first place. He is honored in the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

    1. Jonathan Daniels perceived his vocation while worshipping in my parish church, the Church of the Advent in Boston. Great choice!

11. Thomas Berry, Passionist Priest and geologian, who wrote among other books”The Dream of the Earth”. Berry coined the phrase’The New Story’ I.e. the old story of separation from the divine and all of creation including each other is not working. The New Story is that all are beloved and co creators of an evolutionary Presence. He stands on the shoulders of Teilhard de Chardin.

12. I would like to nominate Saint Boris (brother of Saint Gleb), one of the first two Russian saints. Boris and Gleb refused to raise their arms against their brother, who sought to kill them. Boris died forgiving his brother.

13. I would like to nominate Margaret of Scotland (1093), feast day November 16. Born in Hungary to exiled English royalty, she reached Scotland after persecution and shipwreck to marry King Malcolm. As Queen she brought to the Scottish monarchy a new sense of the ruler as a benevolent and just witness of the reign of God. She reformed the Scottish Church and established monasteries and educational institutions. She cared for the poor and homeless every morning before she had her own breakfast, and among many other things established a ferry across the Firth of Forth so that pilgrims could get to St. Andrews. (Queensferry, Scotland, is still a thriving town). She is my personal saint, as I went to St. Margaret's School for Girls in Aberdeen Scotland when I was young. Their motto "Tenez Ferme" ("Hold Fast") is said to come from the future Queen Margaret's translation of the Scots "haud sikkar" which the senechal called out to her when the horse they were on (she riding pillion) stumbled in a bog. She held fast to him, as she held fast to her faith in trying times, heeding St. Paul's admonition to "Hold fast to that which is good." Especially in the last 18 months it has been my motto too.

14. I nominate Juliana of Liège, the thirteenth-century nun who first advocated a feast honoring the Blessed Sacrament and composed the first liturgical office for it. She convinced her Bishop, many theologians, and a future Pope, but Thomas Aquinas gets most or all of the credit for the liturgy. Also I share her name, so I’m a little biased.

15. I nominate Mother Julian of Norwich. She wrote the first book in English by a woman. Her words are a continual source of comfort and strength to so many. She also survived and ministered through several plagues. She’s a model for trusting, expectant faith in a time of great uncertainty (just like today!).

16. I second the nomination of Julian of Norwich. Her book Revelations of Divine Love is inspiring. Her revelations/showings came to her when she was extremely ill- perhaps having a near-death experience. I start the day by using her Silver Halo Winner coffee mug, issued when she was runner-up previously. This past year, her reassurance that " All manner of thing shall be well" was helpful. She lived in times of bubonic plague and political upheaval, which put our problems in perspective.

17. Origen of Alexandria.
    Adored as a leading (some consider the first) theologian during his lifetime, Origen was a victim of "cancel culture" a few hundred years after his death. Was he a heretic or just parts of his writing heretical? Was he excommunicated or just censured? Who knows? But much of Origen's theological treatsies remain with the church today...the ransom theory of atonement; the relationship of the trinity. Sure he caused a big uproar by positing that God did not have an actual physical body, but to modern day Christians this notion isn't even worth a side glance. Some may feel uncomfortable that Origen's work was found heretical by Justinian I. But that was at the urging of Pelagius, who was later declared a heretic at the urging of St Augustine. Despite all this early theologian posturing and bullying, Origen's ideas have survived. He is even venerated in some churches as St. Origen the Scholar. He was instrumental in the early Church's understanding of the Hebrew scriptures and the Gospels. His writings have influenced many theologians after him. I think the SEC should overlook the 6th century hiccup in his longevity and give him a fair chance to earn his place on the Lent Madness bracket.

    1. YASSSSS! Origen is my nomination, too.

18. My Nomination woul dbe for Father Michael McGivney, whos is the founder of the Knights of Columbus. His personal story is of struggle and suffering threw life, he left school to support his Mother and siblings before becoiming a preist. He was born in Waterbury CT so he is an American and the roman Catholic Church appointed august 13 as his feast day. You study this man you will see how God worked many times threw this man.

19. I nominate Marian Wright Edelman (1939 - ), American activist for children's rights. She has been an advocate for disadvantaged Americans her entire professional life. She is the founder and president emeritus of the Children's Defense Fund. She influenced leaders such as Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Hillary Clinton. In 1959, she became involved with the Civil Rights Movement, and in 1960, she was arrested along with 77 other students during a sit-in at segregated Atlanta restaurants. MWE graduated from Spelman College as valedictorian and went on to study law at Yale Law School. She was the first African American woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1964, She helped establish the Head Start Program. As leader and principal spokesperson for the CDF, Edelman worked to persuade United States Congress to overhaul foster care, support adoption, improve child care and protect children who are disabled, homeless, abused or neglected.
    She continues to advocate youth pregnancy prevention, child-care funding, prenatal care and greater parental responsibility in teaching values.
    Her abiding Christian faith has been the foundation on which her belief in rights for all people is based.

20. I nominate St. Botolph of Thorney (also called Botwulf, Botulph, or Botulf), a seventh-century abbot after whom many churches in England were named. Per Wikipedia, he is "the patron saint of boundaries, and by extension, of trade and travel, as well as various aspects of farming." He has given his name to the town of Boston (originally Botolphston) in Lincolnshire and, subsequently, a town in Massachusetts in this country. He is also the eponym of a dynamite hymn tune.

    1. Having been christened at St. Botolph's in Chevening, Kent, England, where my mother and my maternal grandfather were also christened, wearing the same dress my mother wore at her christening and that my children wore in their turn, I like this nomination!

21. I nominate Bruno Groning who believe the power of God to heal was absolute.
    Please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Gr%C3%B6ning.
    I do not know if he was commemorated by a church, but I do know that his message has helped people to heal and believe in a supreme being.

22. I nominate St Alban,the first English martyr. He gave his life to protect another and legend is the executioners eyes fell out!

23. I nominate st eligius. Patron of horses. Cows. But also a very hard worker in metals and gold. Used all his resources to help the poor

24. I nominate Emil Kapaun, Army Chaplain and POW in the Korean War. True servant of God.

25. I nominate Aristide de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese consul to Vichy France during WWII. You can read about him here: http://sousamendesfoundation.org/aristides-de-sousa-mendes-his-life-and-legacy/ He was a devout Catholic who put his life on the line in order to save Jews and many others who were trying to escape the Nazis. He did this by issuing them exit visas to transit through Portugal. His own government reprimanded him and told him to stop doing this (the Portuguese government, while neutral, was definitely fascist) but was unable to stop him. He was eventually fired and lost his livelihood, dying in abject poverty in Lisbon a few years after the war, a happy man because --- in the worst of times --- he had done what was right despite great personal risk and loss. He saved an uncountable number of people. He deserves to be named a saint!

26. St. Spyridon the Thaumaturge, patron of Corfu. A very popular saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Spyridon was active at the Council of Nicea and was effective in opposing the Arians. He was given the title of "Thaumaturge" (wonder-worker). https://www.goarch.org/chapel/saints?contentid=332 The world needs spiritual wonder-workers today as a effective force against the many shamans of materialism and solipsism that abound.

27. Once again I would like to nominate the Quaker sometimes called the "the Quaker saint." -- John Woolman. He was instrumental in leading the Quakers in the US to become the first group to free slaves. He also worked for better conditions among sailors on merchant ships and he worked in friendship with Native Americans. The writings of this 18th century American reveal a truly spiritual man who deserves the Halo.
    PROBLEM: Quakers do not use titles and obviously don't have "saints." So would Tim or Scott please tell me how one can nominate a Quaker!

    1. Some Quakers are honored with feast days & commemorations on the Anglican calendar. George Fox & Elizabeth Fry I'm sure of.

28. On this memorial day, I nominate Emil Joseph Kapaun, Catholic priest and U. S. Army Chaplain, Medal of Honor recipient. During the Korean War on All Souls Day, his unit was attacked and he ran from foxhole to foxhole dragging out the wounded and giving last rites to the dying. Going back again and again, he was taken prisoner and began an 87 mile "death march" to a POW camp, picking up one wounded soldier and carrying him.
    In the camp he cared for the wounded and gave his food rations to other prisoners. He preached openly even when forbidden. He died May 23, 1951 at age 35. In 1993 Pope John Paul II declared him "A Servant of God"

    1. I second this nomination. John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
       His feast day is May 23
       Born April 20, 1916 Pilsen, KS
       Died May 23, 1951 Pyoktong County, North Korea

29. I nominate Henri Nouwen, priest, writer, professor, and theologian, known for his work with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
    I hope more contemporary choices are included. I love Francis of Assisi - but I think he already gets the recognition his life deserves - what I love is when Lent Madness inspires me by introducing me to someone new.

30. I nominate Saint Drogo about whom I learned in ‘Holy Grounds.’ He is the patron saint of coffee, and my reasoning is............coffee. Obvious. While I am not nakedly sucking up to Fr. Tim, hope it helps because................coffee.

    1. I was coming here to nominate him! I second this nomination