To help you through this weekend's likely bout of Lent Madness Withdrawal, the Supreme Executive Committee wishes to offer menu suggestions for Palm Sunday. We hope this will also aid in your discernment as to which of the Faithful Four you will seek to propel into the championship battle on Spy Wednesday.

Monday morning, Margaret of Scotland will face Mary Magdalene beginning at 8 a.m. Eastern time. One of two queens in the Faithful Four, Margaret will face the "Apostle to the Apostles."

Flickr user Meri Tosh gives us this picture of the classic Scottish food, haggis. Of course, whether it is food is debatable, but that's not our purpose here. Because the SEC seeks to be inclusive, we note (with some wariness) that there is something called "vegetarian haggis" too.

Finding food to represent Mary Magdalene was tricky. The one time in scripture we know she showed up for dinner, she brought ointment in an alabaster jar (or so Pope Gregory the Great said, referring to Luke 7:37). That seemed like a lousy choice for an illustration, so we combed through tradition. She is said to have confronted the Emperor Tiberius to tell him of Christ's resurrection whilst holding an egg. The emperor laughed and said that Christ's resurrection was as likely as that plain white egg turning red. Well, guess what happened? So here we portray Mary's red eggs (thanks to Flickr user jessmonster).

On Tuesday morning, Emma of Hawaii is up against Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The action begins promptly at 8 a.m. Eastern time.

People will argue about the quintessential German food. Here we shall go with the classic pretzel as portrayed by Flickr user avlxyz.

Finally, a photo which shows the ubiquity of Hawaiian influence on pan-Asian cuisine. A few years ago, I snapped this photo in Tokyo. Yes, that's a Hawaiian food truck. In Tokyo.

So there you have it. Tomorrow after church, have a meal with eggs, haggis, pretzels, and perhaps some fruit. As you say grace, ask God to inspire you through dining.

Be known to us, Lent Madness, in the breaking of the pretzel, the cracking of the eggs, the slicing of the haggis, and the peeling of the pineapple.

This week, Tim and Scott preview upcoming battles in the Elate Eight and more. Hilarity ensues.

On a related note, if you want the very best wall-to-wall, up-to-the-minute, action-packed, lemon-fresh coverage of the Lent Madness action, follow us on Twitter (@LentMadness).

Enjoy more videos on the Lent Madness video channel.

Tim and Scott step out of the limelight to let the people share their love of Lent Madness. Watch this five-minute video for all that and more. People also say who they're rooting for. These are not ordinary people, by the way. They are Episcopal Communicators speaking at Kanuga and from an undisclosed location which looks much like the Asheville Regional Airport.

Watch as the newly named Lent Madness Poet Laureate makes her video debut. Did we mention outtakes? What more could you want?

If you love this one -- and we know you will -- then make sure you visit the Lent Madness video channel for more.

A couple of days ago, the Supreme Executive Committee received a flash news alert from one of our intrepid Lent Madness Field Agents. Doug Allen of Lincoln, RI was the first one to report that Lent Madness is mentioned in this week's Sports Illustrated. Phil Taylor, in his last-page column, covers a range of brackets beyond the tired college basketball tourney. Under the headline "My Picks? Pulled Pork, Joan Of Arc," Taylor writes, "I am also religiously following lentmadness.org's bracket to determine which saint deserves the Golden Halo. (In their highly anticipated Saintly Sixteen meeting, Joan of Arc couldn't put much heat on Mary Magdalene.)"

We couldn't be happier, even before we learned (in a tweet from @SI_PhilTaylor to @scottagunn) that Taylor is the son of an Episcopal priest, now deceased. No doubt Taylor's father has heavenly box seats in the saintly smackdown as the action heats up heading into the Golden Halo championship.

The mainstream madness might get most of the TV coverage, but at least the grand dame of sports magazines has begun to cover the best athletic contest since Jacob wrestled. We can only hope that the infamous swimsuit issue will be redeemed by a Golden Halo profile issue next spring. And we do not wish to see any of the saints in swimwear.

Another venerable magazine failed to serve its readers well by neglecting Lent Madness. The Atlantic Monthly has a "battle of the brackets" going on right now, and they left out the best battle of them all! We encourage our readers to go leave comments (in prose or poetry) on their site to remind them that they should cover Lent Madness.

Last but not least in this week's media round-up, the Rev. Elizabeth Wheatley Dyson of the Diocese of Massachusetts has written about Lent Madness in the Wicked Local. Nicely done.

If you want major, global fame, get Lent Madness into your local, national, or global media source. We'll give you a shout out on the website and possibly even in the crown jewel of global media sensations, Monday Madness.

Today's installment, recorded partly on location from the Kanuga Conference Center in North Carolina, features Tim and Scott discussing the wide-ranging impact of Lent Madness from Lambeth Palace to the NCAA. Also, we highlight some exemplary campaigning by the Bishop of Hawaii.

Enjoy more videos on the Lent Madness video channel.

It is impossible to overstate the worldwide impact of Lent Madness. Not only is Lent Madness having an impact from Houston to Toledo, but even Lambeth Palace has been shaken to its foundations. Savvy Lent Madness commenter and intrepid reporter Jason Tillman writes about the truth behind the recent news from Lambeth. After much investigation, the Supreme Executive Committee is now able to confirm that Lent Madness is responsible for the leadership change in the Anglican Communion. Here is Tillman's report:

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams must be following Lent Madness. He was so impressed with Mary Magdalene’s trouncing of Joan of Arc that he was moved to accept the post at Magdalene College!

Obviously, Rowan Williams felt that it would be impolitic to resign immediately so he could devote his full energy to cheering on Mary Magdalene in Lent Madness 2012. But his resignation will have boosted her name recognition even further. And it is almost certain that his decision to go to Cambridge (as opposed to Kenyon College) must have been influenced by his desire to be associated with a Lent Madness winner.

Who knows what other world events will be influenced by Lent Madness? Will parents start naming their children Enmegahbowh? Will Santa Claus give up this year, and will children receive copies of books they'll never read? Will helicopter parents finally back off, thus enabling their children to be chaste, but "not yet"? Will people named Thomas ever regain their self-esteem?

All we know for sure is that the next Archbishop of Canterbury had better be more impressive than Theodore of Tarsus if there's to be any hope of getting past the first round of Lent Madness.

Finally, the SEC did want to quell one rumor that has Twitter all abuzz. In a jointly released statement Scott and Tim made it clear that neither one of them will accept the nomination to serve as the next Archbishop of Canterbury. "We are utterly dedicated to the task at hand: helping Lent Madness attain world domination. While we would both willingly accept a few hand-me-down cloth-of-gold copes and perhaps even the bishop's throne itself from Canterbury Cathedral, reliquishing a spot on the Supreme Executive Committee to become the titular head of the Anglican Communion would be a vocational step backward."

We trust this knowledge will allow Lent Madness Nation to sleep soundly this evening. And not merely because you have gorged yourself on corn beef, cabbage, and Guinness.

A misinformed angry mob tried to confront the Supreme Executive Committee

Erroneous Lent Madness Readers Corrected

March 13, 2012

In our recent post on Lent Madness, the Supreme Executive Committee asserted that Virginia is named for the Virgin Mary. Some people claimed that this is false, and that Virginia is allegedly named for Elizabeth I of England, the "Virgin Queen." The SEC knows that, in fact, the Commonwealth of Virginia was named by recusants and that, ipso facto, the referent is to none other than the Ever-blessed Virgin Mary.

Remember, if you disagree with us, you are also disagreeing with the Our Lord's Mother, who is still mighty and important, even though she didn't make this year's bracket.

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This week Tim and Scott review the worldwide media frenzy surrounding Lent Madness and they preview the first battles of the Round of the Saintly 16. To deal with LMW, you are urged to drink coffee from a Lent Madness mug or to read the Calendar of Saints: Lent Madness 2012 Edition on your Kindle or Nook. Oh, and there's a cameo appearance this week.

Enjoy more videos on the Lent Madness video channel.

This is a special edition of Monday Madness, recorded on a Friday at the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes conference in Charlotte, NC. Tim and Scott discuss breaking news and the future of Lent Madness as it develops into a new institution.

Enjoy more videos on the Lent Madness video channel.

The Supreme Executive Committee of Lent Madness has sometimes been accused of over-hyping things. Clearly these are baseless charges. The Supreme Executive Committee is composed of simple, humble priests trying to form disciples through a saintly smackdown with a global viewing public. But that said, for those who doubt the significance of Lent Madness, the Washington Post (yes, the actual Washington Post) has posted an article about Lent Madness on their website.

As college basketball fans prepare for March Madness, a holier tournament already has Christians rooting and cheering this Lenten season. For three years running, “Lent Madness” has taken to the Internet as a competition between Episcopal saints in a single-elimination bracket tournament resembling the one followed by March Madness fans.

Check it out. Penny Nash, one of our celebrity bloggers gets some airtime too, proving that the Supreme Executive Committee is not only humble, but generous with the limelight.

It's a Religion News Service article, so it might pop up elsewhere. There are a couple of minor factual errors, which we'll work to correct, but we are grateful for the coverage -- not only for Lent Madness and the Episcopal Church, but for a fresh way to engage with the remarkable stories of God's involvement in the lives of women and men through history.