177 comments on “Happy Nominationtide!”

1. I nominate St. Ephrem the Syrian. He is a 4th century saint from modern day southeast Turkey, on the border with modern day Iraq and Syria. He was a deacon in the church. He was a prolific hymnographer, writing over hundreds of songs and hymns, with the goal of being pedagogical in both practical theology and more esoteric theology. He is also credited with being the first hymnographer to write specifically for all-female choirs, which I think is a pretty cool development. I think he would also make a great nomination to highlight the ethno-linguistic diversity of the early Church. There are many well-known and famous European, Greco-Latin saints from the early Church, but very few people know about the Syriac (Aramaic)-speaking tradition which was -- and still is -- thriving today. Ephrem is a good representative of these communities, both then and now.

   It is important to note though that -- like many early Christian writers and saints -- his text is filled with nasty polemic, especially towards Jews and "heretics." I don't think this should disqualify him (if so, we would have to reconsider our relationship to every early Christian saint) but it is a part of his legacy that is important to note.

2. I nominate Kateri Tekawitha, patron saint of indigenous Americans. Having lived to only 24, St. Kateri leaves a legacy of both faith and resilience. Tekakwitha lost her parents in a smallpox epidemic that left her disfigured and half blind. She was baptized with the name Kateri on Easter Sunday; from there on treated as a slave by her tribe, constantly facing opposition because of her conversion and commitment to chastity. She was powerfully moved by God’s love for human beings and saw the dignity of each of her people.

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3. Jeremiah railed against the religious and political establishments in the seventh century BCE. He proclaimed an agonizingly unpopular message of his people’s imminent destruction by the Babylonian empire, a message “like a burning fire shut up in [his] bones” (Jeremiah 20:9). He foretold famine, plunder, exile, and captivity while his friends and family abandoned him and the royal court imprisoned him.…Sounds like a guy for and from our current time. He was filled with tears and rage and warned the people of his time of what was to come.

4. I nominate Chiune Sugihara, who is honored by the Eastern Orthodox Church, and whose brave actions during WWII saved the lives of an estimated 6,000-10,000 Jewish people from the Nazi regime.

   Sugihara converted to Christianity while serving as the Japanese ambassador to Russia in the 1930s, and was later made vice-consul to Lithuania. When the Nazi forces were bearing down on the country, he deliberately defied the orders of the Japanese government and used his authority as vice-consul to write thousands of travel visas, which allowed their Jewish carriers to flee to safety. He hand-wrote visa documents for weeks on end, working up to 20 hours a day, determined to save as many lives as he could. Finally, as his exhausted and terrified family was evacuated, he threw his personal seal out the train window into the crowd so that it could be used to forge further documentation.

   As a consequence of his disobedient actions, Sugihara's career as a civil servant was destroyed, and he lived the rest of his life in great financial hardship and obscurity, struggling to support his family. He expressed no regrets, and maintained until the end of his life that he had only done what anyone would do, when they saw refugees begging for help with tears in their eyes.

   I have hoped for many years to see this brave and compassionate saint have his shot at the Golden Halo, and receive the recognition he has always deserved. Hopefully 2026 will be his year!

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5. I nominate St. Guinefort, the Greyhound. Lived in13th century near Lyon, France. Feast Day-August 22, Patron Saint of Infants.
   Since so many infants have been at risk and abused,hete is a defender of an infant threatened by a serpent. The greyhound protected the infant by battling and killing the serpent, upsetting the cradle. Found with blood on him and the cradle, the knight took his sword and killed his greyhound, only to discover his baby was safe, ok, and then seeing the remains of the serpent. He buried his brave and dear greyhound whose local folk venerated him. St.Guinefort is perhaps the only dog saint. With so many greyhounds used and abused in the racing industry and with the closures of greyhpund race tracks, the breed, outside of show dogs will be nearly non-existent. And so for these wonderful hounds, one of the oldedt breeds, for all the wonderful dogs who've braved war service, were service and therapy dogs, who fill our lives with such goodness, joy, unconditional love, and have protected infants, children, and adults, and servive the public as K9 officers, i nominate St. Guinefort.

6. St. Therese'of Lisieux The Little Flower. She only wanted to be a simple person who was just love. She has been my mentor on how to be in community.

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7. Fray Pedro Ponce Deleon 1508-1574
   Frey Pedro Ponce Deleon was born in Sahagun Spain in about 1508. The exact date cannot be determined. He was decended from a nobel family and probably was educated in that city in the monastery of San Benito. He became a monk on November3,1526 at the monastery of San Salvadorin Ona. He is best known for his work on communicating and teaching the deaf.

   During this time, there was very little knowledge about deafness
   or how to treat it. He started his career by trying to help a layman,Gaspar de Burgos who was born deaf and mute. He started teaching this man by using a two handed alphabet derived from the "musical hand" which had been invented by another monk, Guido 0f Arezzo (991-1033). Gaspar started trying to speak. Fray Pedro's fame spread far and wide (viral?). The Marquis of Berlanga entrusted the training of his two deaf sons. Another nobleman, the son of the justiciar of Aragon also sent his son.
   Frey Pedro wrote a manuscript about his method of teaching the deaf. Sadly,only a full page and a part of a page exists today.But the method that he used lives on. Other monks in the monastery became interested in what Fray Pedro was doing. Soon the entire monastery was learning and teaching sign languague.
   The benefit to the students was great. For the first time, they could communicate,read,write, and some learned Latin and Greek.It became possible for the deaf first born sons of the nobility to inherit.
   Frey Pedro'work put an end to prejudices against the deaf and formed the foundation for their languague instruction.
   Frey Pedro passed away on August 29, 1584.

8. I humbly submit for consideration St. Maedoc of Ferns, also known as St. Aidan. I am blessed to attend St. Aidan's Episcopal Church in Milton, Georgia, named for this lesser known saint. St. Maedoc/Aidan was part of many miracles. One of these miracles was the simple reconstruction of a broken jug Maedoc was using to fetch ale for others.

   I would also not be opposed to some sort of tournament of champions, perhaps made up of those who were semi-finalists but did not win the Golden Halo.

9. I nominate St Paul of Tarsus/Saul - he did a pretty good job of getting "the word out", and he is in the saintly calendar for his own feast day as well as sharing one with St Peter

10. I would like St. Frances Xavier Cabrini to be in the bracket next Lent.
    As Nominationtide rolls in, I’d like to toss a halo into the ring for St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. The first American citizen to be canonized, Cabrini’s legacy of tireless service, deep faith, and fearless compassion deserves a spotlight in Lent Madness 2026. She founded schools, hospitals, and orphanages across the U.S. and beyond—all while navigating prejudice, poverty, and papal skepticism. Her story is one of grit wrapped in grace.
    Cabrini’s life reminds us that sainthood isn’t reserved for the cloistered—it’s forged in the chaos of real life, in the care of the marginalized, and in the courage to keep going. She’s a saint for our time, and a worthy contender for the Golden Halo.
    Let’s give Mother Cabrini her shot at saintly bracket glory!

11. Mary MacKillop (1842-1909) was an Australian Catholic nun and educator, and the first Australian to be recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. She was the founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, a religious order dedicated to educating the poor. During Mary's life she had many struggles, crosses and challenges. Her suffered poor health, and was unjustly excommunicated by Bishop Shiel in 1871. She championed the lives of the poor wherever she was. She was beatified in 1995 and canonized in 2010.

12. I have not seen an Angel listed thus far.
    If acceptable I nominate the Angel Gabriel as his
    Messages about Elizabeth and to the Virgin Mary were
    God's greatest gift to humankind.
    He or She, as I don't think of Angels having a gender,
    is rarely honored enough to suit me.
    Although not a human being, I think the Angel Gabriel is
    Holy, Trusted, full of Compassion, Power and Grace.

13. I nominate Frances Xavier Cabrini, aka Mother Cabrini, patron saint of immigrants and first American Saint recognized by the Vatican.

    I was moved by the story of her life depicted in the movie Cabrini (2024) and most especially by the way she, over and over, "Made a Way out of 'No Way'".

    I grew up outside of Chicago and knew about "Cabrini Green" but had no idea who it was named after. I'm amazed at how much this little woman who suffered from chronic illness was able to accomplish.

    You can learn more about her, and the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus who continue her work of "Bringing Christ's Love to the World" at: https://www.mothercabrini.org/who-we-are/mother-cabrini/

    (I also agree with all the nominations for Pauli Murray. More people need to know about both of these incredible saints!)

14. Bernadette of Lourdes. She saw the Virgin Mary but remained humble and devoted her short life to God.

15. I nominate the great educator and agricultural scientist George Washington Carver for Lent Madness. I don't think he is on any calendar of saints, but he was a devout Christian and really lived his love of his fellow humans. He worked on their behalf at Tuskegee his entire career, refusing offers from more prestigious and better paid institutions. He set up an early model of an agricultural extension service and worked to convince poor Black farmers to switch from cotton to a more diversified crop that wouldn't bankrupt the soil. And much more than space allows but I'm sure we'd learn it from the celebrity bloggers!

16. I also nominate Wilfred Grenfell for Lent Madness. He, like Carver (my other nominee) lived his faith and love for his fellow humans. He started out as a doctor in the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen, and, seeing great need in Labrador, spent most of the rest of his life there, sailing along the dangerous coast all off the short summer, building hospitals, dispensing medicine, treating patients, and counseling them from his deeply held Christian beliefs. In the winters, he travelled widely in the US, Canada, and the UK, soliciting funds to carry on his work. He also advocated for the people of Labrador, fighting against the company store system and working on ways they could support themselves without relying completely on fishing His development of a cottage industry making hooked mats was more successful than his experiments with reindeer.

17. Maria Skobsova, aka, Maria of Paris. Former Communist and divorcee turned Russian Orthodox nun, she and her son (a priest) ministered to the poor of Paris -- a sort of Orthodox Dorothy Day. She was derided by Church authorities for drinking beer, smoking cigarettes and hanging out with poor people. During the German occupation, she hatched a successful plot to smuggle children of Jews held in a sports stadium turned concentration camp out to new lives under assumed names. For this, she was arrested and died in Ravensbruck concentration camp herself, substuting herself for someone else at roll call, on Easter Sunday. She was canonized by the Orthodox Church in 2004 and is commemorated as Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem in Israel. She is also commemorated in the Episcopal Church. Her feast is July 20.

18. I would like to nominate the Rev. Thomas Gallaudet, who established the oldest and first church for the Deaf in the United States. St. Ann’s (NYC) was founded in 1852 by the Rev. Thomas Gallaudet and was incorporated into the Episcopal Church in 1854. The first service in sign language was held on October 3, 1852 in the chapel of New York University. Fr. Gallaudet, called the Apostle to the Deaf, established dozens of churches for the deaf around the US. The Episcopal Church truly lead the way for Deaf ministries, through the work of Fr. Gallaudet. the Episcopal Church celebrates his feast day on August 27th.

    Fr. Gallaudet was the oldest son of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, who, along with Laurent Clerc (a French educator) developed what we now know as American Sign Language and established the American School for the Deaf, the first of its kind in America. Fr. Gallaudet's younger brother established and was the First Superintendent of The Columbia College for the Deaf (1857), now known as Gallaudet University in Washington, DC.

    You can see why the Gallaudet family is like royalty in the Deaf world. I would love for the rest of the hearing world to learn about Fr. Gallaudet and the ministries of the the Deaf in the Episcopal Church.

19. I second the nomination of St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower. She is a Doctor of the Church, and her Little Way of doing small things with great love is a path that can be followed by all, regardless of religious inclination.

20. Grüezi! I nominate Nicolas of Flüe (Brother Klaus), the patron saint of Switzerland.

    He left his family behind (with his wife's blessing) to live as a hermit in the Swiss countryside, and was renowned for his political mysticism. His counsel prevented a civil war between cantons in the 15th century, and even today, Switzerland credits him with the fact that we all get along... rural and urban, Catholic and Protestant, German-/French-/Italian- and Romansh-speaking.

    In a world where so much is trying to divide us, we could use a little more unity!

21. I nominate Mychal Judge. Most people just see him as the FDNY chaplain who was killed by flying debris while responding to the attacks on 9/11. His was much more that that though - a Fransiscan priest who ministered to people who were homeless, who were immigrants, who had AIDS.

22. Please add St. Kevin to the list of nominees, a monk in the 6th century AD from Glendalough, Ireland. While he was praying in his cell one day with his arm stretched out through the window, a blackbird landed in his palm, began to make a nest and laid three eggs. Moved to pity and love, Kevin kept his hand outstretched until the birds hatched and fledged. This is a legend, but beautiful.

23. I would again like to nominate Padre Pio to compete for the Golden Halo. He is a Catholic saint canonized in 2002. He led a long life of service and prayer and frequently bore the stigmata and was investigated by the Vatican because of it. There is much to study about this multifaceted man and I think Lent Madness could present him with style. I offer him because he is of the Capuchin order and I grew up near a Capuchin Monastery where the monks were always so kind. Also, years ago, I was given a tiny Padre Pio figurine and he still greets me each morning.

24. I would love to nominate Mr. Rogers! I have learned that he is celebrated every year in the Presbyterian Church, although my understanding is that they do not have a calendar of saints they follow - - but I hope he counts in spite of this. The world and the United States could really use a dose of Fred Rogers' wisdom and compassion. I think he modeled Jesus's commandment to love one another so well. He even washed the feet of a man on his show (a black man at a time when their was racial tension). I think he also demonstrated Jesus's words to let the little children come to him. He welcomed others with a genuine respect and interest; he also validated feelings like anger and strove to give children a way to handle these so-called negative emotions in a manner that would not hurt themselves or others. His faith imbued his ministry to children through his show. And he showed how to live that faith day-to-day by loving our neighbors and ourselves.

    Thank you for your consideration of Mr. Rogers, an gentle and inspiring saint for our time!

25. I nominate Mary McLeod Bethune, b. July 10, 1875, d. May 18, 1955

    Mary McLeod Bethune, born to former slaves a decade after the Civil War, devoted her life to ensure the right to education and freedom from discrimination for African Americans. Bethune believed that with education, African Americans would begin to earn a living in a country that still opposed racial equality.

    She founded Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, FL.

    Dr. Bethune's last will and testament: https://www.cookman.edu/history/last-will-testament.html

26. I would like to nominate St. Benedict who founded the Benedictine Order and is considered the father of Western Monasticism. He wrote the Rule of St. Benedict which contains a set of rules for the monks to follow but this rule has also been a source of guidance for laity as well, for over 1500 years.

27. Rev. George F. Tittman, was Head of Diocese of Va. Youth Program UMCY, and preached the first sermon on Fear that gave people the strength to end McCarthyism in the The 1950’s. At St. Marks in Berkeley, Caifornia, he co-founded the Overseas Mission Society and was President of the association of Episcopal Clergy. He wrote several theological books. His life was cut short in a robbery in which he was shot.