Week 2 of Lent Madness closes out in style and it’s only fitting that today’s matchup inspired not just blogs and devotions, but an entire theatrical production and movie trailer! 🎬🔥 Be sure to watch today’s Daily Saintly Showdown video for the full drama.

First, let’s talk about yesterday. The Allies showed up in force and it was the twin physician saints Cosmas and Damian narrowly defeating the original clergy power couple Priscilla and Aquila with 53.60% to 46.40%. The healers advance! 🩺✨

But now… the moment many of you have been waiting for.

Today’s showdown feels a bit like David vs Goliath. On one side, the warrior saint who led armies and inspired a nation. On the other, the quiet, disguised monk whose life of humility became one of the most fascinating stories in Christian tradition.

It’s Joan of Arc vs Marina the Monk. ⚔️🕊️

And of course the SEC is never biased… but we might gently encourage everyone to at least read Marina’s story before immediately running to vote. Trust us, it’s worth it.

So read the blogs, watch the video, learn the stories… and then cast your vote in today’s saintly showdown! 🏆

Joan of Arc

At first glance, Joan of Arc seems like an unlikely saint. She was a teenager, a farmer’s daughter, a military commander, and eventually a condemned heretic. And she did all that in just about two decades of life, while I hadn’t even picked a major in college yet at that point in my own journey. And yet, the Church remembers her not for fitting expectations or blazing a women-in-pants trail, but for faithfully following God’s call even when it led straight into danger.

Joan was born around 1412 in the small village of Domrémy in northeastern France, during the chaos of the Hundred Years’ War. France was fractured, occupied, and, frankly, demoralized by English forces. At around thirteen years old, Joan began to experience spiritual visions, including of Michael the Archangel. These visions instructed her to support the rightful French king, Charles VII, and to help drive the English out of France.

This was, to put it mildly, a tall order for a teenage girl with no formal education or military training. And yet, Joan persisted. After navigating various checkpoints of skepticism, she gained an audience with Charles and convinced him of her divine mission. Dressed in armor and carrying a banner rather than a sword, Joan accompanied French troops to the besieged city of Orléans. Against expectations, the siege was lifted, and French morale soared. Joan’s presence shifted the tide of the war, not through military genius, but through courage, faith, and an unshakable conviction that God was at work.

Joan’s success quickly racked up a whole host of enemies, and in 1430 she was captured by Burgundian forces allied with the English. She was put on trial by an ecclesiastical court. The charges ranged from heresy to wearing men’s clothing, a true crime! Despite intense interrogation, Joan remained full of spiritual clarity. When asked if she was in God’s grace, she declared, “If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.”

She was condemned and burned at the stake in 1431 at about nineteen years old. Twenty-five years later, her conviction was overturned. In 1920, nearly five centuries after her death, Joan of Arc was canonized. She is now one of the patron saints of France.

Joan’s story is not the typical tale of triumph. It is a story more about obedience, discernment, and faithfulness under pressure. She reminds us that God often calls the unexpected and that holiness can look like bravery, clarity, and persistence in the face of overwhelming odds. For Lent Madness competitors and faithful alike, Joan of Arc challenges us to ask: what might happen if we trusted God as fiercely as she did?

— Samantha Smith

Collect for Joan of Arc

Holy God, whose power is made perfect in weakness: we honor you for the calling of Jeanne d’Arc, who, though young, rose up in valor to bear your standard for her country, and endured with grace and fortitude both victory and defeat; and we pray that we, like Jeanne, may bear witness to the truth that is in us to friends and enemies alike, and, encouraged by the companionship of your saints, give ourselves bravely to the struggle for justice in our time; through Christ our Savior, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Marina the Monk

St. Marina of Bithynia, also known as Marina the Monk, is a member of a group that I call “church-basement saints” – the ones in the background, quietly doing what they can to make the world better through faith with grace. These saints do not have books or letters for us to read, there are no grand churches or shrines named after them, and they did not perform impressive miracles. They simply lived a life of faith and the world turned towards them because of it. Because Marina is a church-basement saint, we do not have many hard facts, but we do have a legend about this monk. Born sometime between the fifth and sixth centuries in the Middle East, Marina was raised a devout Christian by her father after her mom died when she was very young.

As she reached marriageable age, her father, Eugenius, decided that once she was settled, he would become a monk. Marina vehemently opposed this plan, angrily asking,

“Why would you save your own soul at the cost of destroying mine?” Baffled, her father inquired what her suggestion was, then. In answer, Marina shaved off her hair, put on men’s clothes, and stated that they would join the monastery together. Eugenius agreed and off they went, with Marina now being introduced as a man named Marinos.

Marinos and his father lived, worked, and prayed together in that monastery for a decade before Eugenius passed away. Marinos mourned his loss. He stayed in community at the monastery, though, and continued to live as a monk.

One day, a young, unmarried, pregnant woman told her parents that Marinos was the father of her baby. Outraged, the parents went to the Abbot to demand answers and justice. When confronted, Marinos did not deny the accusation. He took responsibility for the situation and the child. We cannot know why Marinos did this. I personally like to believe that Marinos knew the importance of a good father, one who, like St. Joseph, would go against the pressures of the world for his son. He did not want this innocent little boy, whom he named Fortunato, to grow up lonely and unwanted.

Because of this apparent violation of his vows, Marinos was exiled from his community. He spent years on the streets, begging for food for Fortunato. Eventually, the monks took the two back into the monastery, where Marinos was expected to continue atoning through hard labor. Marinos lived out the rest of his life at that monastery with his son. His secrets were not discovered until after his death, at which time his fellow monks lamented their accusations and experienced miracles at his tomb.

— Bekah Scolare

Collect for Marina the Monk

Give us grace, Lord God, to refrain from judgments about the sins of others; that, like your servant Marina the Monk, we may hold fast to the path of discipleship in the midst of unjust judgments; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.