23 comments on “Happy Nominationtide!!!!”

1. Mother Theresa. She embodies Christ-like behavior while also admitting to be a sinner.

2. How have we not had Saint Moses the Black as a competitor?
   I love a good redemption story, and this guy has it all. He was so naughty, that even his own master didn’t want him anymore. He was a leader of a gang— he robbed people he murdered, he beat people up.
   But then thanks to some monks, Moses changed his ways, and later converted a group of robbers to be Christians as well. He was devoted to his faith, very strongly, but never believed he was worthy enough. At the end of his life, he was murdered because he wouldn’t fight back against those who were attacking him and his group. They all became martyrs, and he is known as the patron of nonviolence.
   What a shift from his early life!

3. I nominate Matthew Talbot, the worker saint of Dublin, Ireland, for Lent Madness 2027. He is commemorated on June 16th (or June 18th) in the Roman Catholic Church, and has been declared “Venerable”, an early step towards canonization.
   In Dublin, near where the Memorial Bridge crosses the River Liffey, there is a statue of a plain-looking man in work clothes, head bent forward as he clasps the plank he’s carrying. On the one hand, the statue shows who Matt Talbot was and what he did for a living. He worked in a lumber yard most of his life, moving boards and loading wagons. I’ve always wondered, though, if the sculptor was using this imagery to tell us something more. The statue also can be seen as Matt Talbot embracing the foot of the cross.
   Born in 1856 in the Dublin slums, by the time Matt was fourteen he was already an alcoholic like his father and some of his brothers. By his late twenties he was considered hopeless, selling his clothes and stealing to get money for drink after he’d spent his pay at the pub. One day, when he was standing in he street hoping to cadge a drink off a passing friend, he had an experience of deep conversion. He turned around, went home, and told his mother he was “taking the pledge” – giving up drinking. He had broken so many pledges before that his mother laughed at him. But this time was different. From that day forward he never drank again.
   Through the following years, Matt slowly changed into a man of deep faith and prayer. Nearly illiterate, he taught himself to read so he could study the Bible, theology, and the lives of the saints. He lived simply and gave any money he earned beyond his own needs to the poor. He gained a reputation as a hard worker who never turned away anyone who asked for his help. Far from a pious killjoy, he was known for his cheerfulness and dry wit, and was especially loved by the children who knew him. I nominate Matt Talbot because his story reminds us that no one – absolutely no one – is beyond God’s grace and love, and that even the most ordinary people can lead lives of holiness and do great work for God.

4. Saint Rita of Cascia
   Patroness of impossible causes

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5. Billy Bray, a self-described Son of the King [Jesus]. His story, from brawling, drunkenness, and blasphemous lifestyle to devout preacher, chapel builder, and lover of God, is really the stuff of legend in Cornwall.

   Read his story in "The King's Son Or, A Memoir of "Billy" Bray"
   by F.W. Bourne

   Read his conversion story at this link: https://onemethodist.org/03-10.htm

6. I would like to nominate Pauli Murray for Lent Madness and the Golden Halo. Pauli was the first female-presenting African-American to be ordained priest in the Episcopal Church. They were a great leader in many areas: a co-founder of NOW, the National Organization of Women, an author of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a great role model, and a wonderfully pastoral priest. I know this because Pauli was the priest-in-charge of my home parish, Church of the Holy Nativity, Baltimore, when I was in college. Pauli invited me to their home several times and was amazingly generous with her time.

   1. How wonderful that you knew such a remarkable person. I would love to hear your stories. If she does make it into Lent Madness, I hope her celebrity blogger will incorporate some of your memories.

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7. I'd like to nominate Pauli Murray, who is an Episcopal saint (https://today.duke.edu/2012/07/saintmurray), a civil rights activist, professor, lawyer, and Episcopal priest (and the first African American female priest ordained in the US Epsicopal Church). Some highlights: coined the term "Jane Crow" to describe segregation and discrimination against Black women; author of States' Laws on Race and Color (which Thurgood Marshall called the Bible of the Civil Rights movement); co-founder of NOW; in 1940 refused to sit in the back of a bus and was arrested; published a volume of poetry; ordained as a priest when she was in her early 60s; seems to have been queer (some people identify her as transgender, appears to have had lesbian relationships). All in all, she was clearly a brilliant scholar, powerful activist, and woman of faith. In the words of Bishop Michael Curry,""Pauli Murray had an agenda for the human good that was constant and unswerving....As a descendent of slaves and slaveholders, people who were members of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, she is a symbol for the importance of bringing different worlds together, even in midst of great pain."

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8. I am nominating Frederick (Ted) Howden, New Mexico’s own saint (he even made the calendar, I think). He basically gave his life for his men by sharing his food with them during prisoner internment during WWII. Our priest has also created a wonderful icon of him that is now in the hands of the Diocese of the Rio Grande.

9. I nominate Charles de Foucauld (Little Brother Charles of Jesus) a French aristocrat and soldier who, after his conversion, became a Trappist monk, then went to live among the nomads of the Sahara desert where he lived the hidden life of Jesus in Nazareth. He was shot in his compound during a robbery. Never having gathered any followers, his writings inspired the founding of the Little Brothers and Little Sisters of Jesus. Feastday 1 December.

10. I nominate the Holy Innocents. These are the children killed by King Herod because he was afraid that his throne would be taken by the king of the Jews. I nominate these children in memory of the children killed these days by man’s lust for power. Especially in memory of the children killed in Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, and Ukraine.

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11. Bona of Pisa: She has one of the most exciting and interesting stories I've ever read. In the 12th century, she was a guide for pilgrims to the Holy Land, and she also went to Compostela nine times. She had visions of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and St. James the Lesser her entire life. She would walk into a church, and the statues would gesture to her and speak to her. On one trip to the Holy Land, she was kidnapped by pirates and had to be ransomed by the citizens of Pisa. As a result, she is known for helping sailors and victims of shipwrecks. Her official patronage is of tour guides and flight attendants. Her feast day is May 29. I think she'd be a great addition to Lent Madness!

12. Richard of Wyche. I teach religion at St. Richard’s Episcopal School in Indianapolis. My students love Lent Madness. Every year, the first question is whether or not St. Richard is in the bracket this year. It would make approximately 300 kids so excited to have our obscure saint appear in the Lent Madness bracket. His Day by Day prayer is pretty amazing, and we sing it every day.

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13. St. Thecla of Iconium. Followed Paul, upon hearing him. He let her preach to women. She survived many attempts to put her to death. Women, including female lions, protested and turned on men, freeing Thecla. A best selling "book" about Paul and Thecla acts was preserved and many versions still exist (I think)

14. How about Athanatius? Not many people have a creed named after them.

15. I nominate the Martyrs of Lubeck: Roman Catholic priests Johannes Prassek, Eduard Muller, Hermann Lange, and Lutheran Pastor Karl Friedrich Stellbrink, guillotined together by the Gestapo in Hamburg Germany 10 Nov 1943. They displayed ecumenical solidarity in their opposition to the Nazi regime, and paid for it with their lives only a few minutes apart.

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16. Grüezi! I nominate Nicolas of Flüe, the patron saint of Switzerland.

    His counsel prevented a civil war between cantons in the 15th century, and even today, we in Switzerland credit 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!

17. I nominate Saint Carlo Acutis. Carlo is a young person who loved Jesus and was devoted to the Holy Eucharist. He used the internet to craft a website to document Eucharistic miracles. He lived a holy and righteous life modeled after St. Francis of Assisi.

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18. Once again, I nominate Pauli Murray, first person of color designated female to be ordained to the priesthood, and champion of civil rights and women's rights--and a poet, too!

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19. John Coltrane for "A Love Supreme." Venerated by the African Orthodox Church. He has the most incredible icon ever!

20. I nominate St. James the Greater /Elder—One of the original 12 apostles and the first to be martyred. He is the patron saint of Spain (and many other countries) and his relics in Santiago de Compostela are the terminus of the pilgrimage route the Camino de Santiago, an ancient route traveled by millions even in modern times (I was blessed to be one of them this year and it is a powerful experience ). 2027 is a Jacobean or Jubilee Holy Year for the Camino so it would be very fitting to have this saint “walking through” Lent Madness as well!

    https://www.caminoadventures.com/blog/camino-holy-year-2027-guide/

21. Blessed Fulton Sheen. He was just beatified, his feast is December 9. He won an Emmy in 1952 for Most Outstanding Personality. He was famous for sharing his faith on the TV and radio. His shrine is in Peoria, IL where I live. Think it would be cool
    If a recent saint made the brackets!

22. I nominate St. Guinefort, a greyhound who lived near Lyons, France. He protected his master's child when a snake crawled into the nursery. The master upon entering the nursery saw the greyhound covered in blood and killed the hound thinking it killed his child. Only afterwards, did he see the child just fine in the cradle, and the dead snake. He was heartbroken. St.Guinefort was prayered to by the people in that area as a protector of children.
    It's time to honor humans best friend, dogs who've protected children, we're used in the military, search & rescue dogs, support dogs. They are special creatures God has given to us. It's time to include them for the saints they are.
    If it has to be a human saint, I nominate Henri Nouwen, the prolific author who has touched so many lives by his writing, his being and his life tending to the disabled in the L'Arch community.