Here at Lent Madness we believe there's a fine line between a teaser and a foretaste. Actually, in this case they're synonymous as we tease you with a foretaste of the Lent Madness 2013 that is to come. This year, we're offering four play-in matches leading up to the official 32-saint bracket that kicks off on Ash Thursday (February 14, 2013).

As Lent Madness Day is commemorated throughout the world, we give you the first ever play-in match: the Great Battle of the Gregorys: Gregory the Great vs. Gregory of Nyssa. Here's the deal -- the winning Gregory makes it into the official bracket while the losing Gregory goes home to lick his wounds and pray that he makes it in next year. We figured we'd ask two veteran Celebrity Bloggers, who just happen to be in Indianapolis for General Convention, to do the write-ups. We tried to find two people named Gregory to do this but we've settled for a Heidi and a Laura.

Heidi Shott is the Canon for Communications in the Diocese of Maine. While at convention, you can check out Heidi's three-minute nightly video Convention wrap-up at The Daily Lap. Of course at some point she'll be focusing on Lent Madness which makes Tim worried that he'll have to sit on Scott's lap.

The Rev. Laura Toepfer is also at this year's General Convention letting people know about Confirm not Conform. Check out this innovative confirmation preparation curriculum and sign up for the monthly e-newsletter. If you're at General Convention, come meet her at the Forward Movement Booth.

The play-in format is straightforward: we've asked for a Top Ten List answering the question "Why should Gregory of/the ______ be included in the 2013 bracket? For those keeping score at home, the winner will face Martin of Tours in the First Round of Lent Madness 2013.

View the full 2013 bracket here.

Gregory the Great

10 . Gregory the Great was a liturgical innovator of the 6th Century whose contributions to the order of worship endure to the present day.

9. Gregory the Great listened to the Holy Spirit and enjoyed a very interesting relationship with doves.

8. Gregory the Great was great. Everybody said so. He was canonized by popular acclaim, and John Calvin called him “the last good pope.”

7. Gregory the Great was a monk. Even after he became POPE and could have really lived it up, he eschewed a sybaritic lifestyle.

6. Gregory the Great, unlike a certain other Gregory, didn’t ride into ecclesiastical prominence on the coattails of his older brother, though he did come from a prominent family with ties to the Church. Nor was he, unlike you-know-who, virtually unremembered until the mid-20th Century when theological scholars had to dig deep into the shrouded veils of Eastern church history to find new dissertation topics.

5. Gregory the Great was into chant before chant was cool, as in Gregorian chant. (Though naming it after him a couple of hundred years after he died was a marketing move to capitalize on his venerated name in order to standardize liturgical practice across the Frankish empire.)

4. Gregory the Great is survived by a boatload of his sermons, commentaries and letters. What he had to say must have been pretty memorable and important to last 1,400 years. Just sayin’.

3. Gregory the Great was a huge advocate for the health and well-being of the poor and those displaced by war. He gave lavishly from his own substance and and became a gadfly to wealthy Romans by inducing them to give generously as well.

2.    Gregory the Great was concerned about all the churches in Christendom not just a squirty, little place called Nyssa  that only a few serious church history geeks could, if pressed, find on a map of Central Asia without looking it up on Wikipedia.

and finally....

1. Gregory the Great’s compassion for the plight of young Anglo-Saxon slaves (“Non Angli, sed angeli” -  They are not Angles, but angels) he encountered at the Roman Forum so moved him that he sent St. Augustine to England as a missionary and, well, here we are in Indianapolis.

-- Heidi Shott

Gregory of Nyssa

 10. For all his conceptual thinking, apologetical writing, and doctrinal teaching, Gregory of Nyssa still said, “Concepts create idols; only wonder grasps anything.”

9.  As a leading figure in the Council of Constantinople in 381, Gregory played a primary role in the Nicene Creed we know and love.

8. He and his brother Basil made the Trinity the Godhead it is today.

7. He may have been a pretty lousy bishop, but was a darn good thinker. Hey, at least he was cleared of that embezzlement charge.

6.  His experience as Bishop of Nyssa during the Arian controversy makes General Convention look like a cakewalk with delicious frosting and pretty flowers on top.

5. When he said he didn’t want to be a bishop, it’s because he really, really didn’t want to be a bishop.

4.  Despite the fact that Gregory didn’t have much good to say about pilgrimages, he put Nyssa on the map. The Cappodocian Board of Tourism owes him big time.

3. He was an early and vocal opponent of slavery, asserting since all are made in the divine image, all are radically equal.

2. He showed proper deference to his older sister Macrina (as younger siblings ought, ahem), and became a Christian through her witness and guidance. He was devastated by her death in 379.

and finally...

1. Gregory of Nyssa would be an excellent patron saint of home-schooled children.

-- Laura Toepfer

Vote!

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Ladies and gentlemen, it's the moment you've been waiting for since the lighting of the New Fire at the Easter Vigil: the unveiling of the 2013 Lent Madness Bracket! We received many, many nominations -- thanks to all who took the time to prayerfully submit them. The Supreme Executive Committee took the process of selecting saints very seriously as you can tell from this video. However, as it says (somewhere) in the Bible, many are called yet few are chosen.

Click here to view the bracket in all its glory (special thanks to Bracket Czar Adam Thomas). We're excited to release the bracket in conjunction with Lent Madness Day at General Convention, which we're petitioning to become the first-ever worldwide holiday (negotiations with the UN are ongoing).

One of the new features is the inclusion of four "play-in" matches. These will take place before the official kick off on Ash Thursday (February 14, 2012). The concept is simple -- two saints do battle, one advances to the 32-saint bracket, the other rues the day and plots to get in next year. The first play-in match will take place today, July 6th, starting at 8:00 am with voting being closed on July 7th at 8:00 am. This will be forever known in the annals of Lent Madness as the Great Battle of the Gregorys as it pits Gregory the Great versus Gregory of Nyssa. It will be epic.

If you happen to be in Indianapolis for General Convention, stop by the Forward Movement booth to meet Tim and Scott, have your picture taken with a giant cardboard cutout of last year's Golden Halo winner Mary Magdalene, tell us how annoyed you are that Saint XXX didn't make it into the bracket, and generally revel in the Kingdom of Heaven-like aura that is Lent Madness. If you're not in Indianapolis (and don't feel too bad since it's 100 degrees here), we'll look forward to seeing you online!

PS. If you haven't yet "liked" us on Facebook click here. Your reward will be in heaven.

Some people think General Convention is the most important thing going on in the Episcopal Church. The Supreme Executive Committee disagrees, and we have ten reasons to prove that Lent Madness is better than General Convention.

1. Far from being limited to the shangri-la that is Indianapolis, Lent Madness is a global phenomenon.

2. Elections are truly democratic rather than foregone conclusions.

3. Having a Supreme Executive Committee eliminates mind-numbing non-supreme, non-executive committee work.

Voting at General Convention -- snore.

4. Instead of boring names like Katharine and Bonnie, we have names like Enmegahbowh and Philander.

5. Lent Madness mugs rock.

6. House of Bishops? House of Deputies? We have the House of Tim and Scott (not that they would ever consent to live under the same roof).

7. We have a MUCH better logo (halo trumps mitre every time).

8. Who needs an exhibit hall, when you can go to the Lent Madness Store? (with great merchandise on the way for Lent Madness 2013).

Voting at Lent Madness -- score!

9. Instead of 250 resolutions, we resolve things the old-fashioned way: 32 saints walk in. Only one walks out with the Golden Halo.

10. Ever hear an Easter sermon about a piece of legislation? Of course not. But I'll bet a few of you heard sermons about the winner of the Golden Halo 2012.

We have some ideas for how to make General Convention better and our ideas have nothing to do with restructuring or elections or numbered committees. Stay tuned for BREAKING NEWS on St. Alban's Day for our plans to make this the best General Convention in the history of bicameral synodical assemblies.

Nominations for next year's saints are currently being accepted from the floor! And the ceiling and the undercroft and the slate roof and any other part of the church that might be  susceptible to a touch of deferred maintenance.

As always, we seek to put together a balanced bracket of saints ancient and modern, Biblical and ecclesiastical representing the breadth and diversity of God’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. In other words, kindly submit your nominations to the Supreme Executive Committee but don't throw a hissy fit if he/she is not accepted this year. There's always Lent Madness 2014 or Lent Madness 2029.

This year's bracket was formed with input from the Celebrity Bloggers and a Ouija Board (with the Holy Spirit hanging around behind the scenes). But for next year we decided to open the nominations to everybody. Don't worry, the SEC is not suddenly becoming a democratic institution -- the only time democracy rears its ugly head in Lent Madness is during the actual voting. Still, there may well be saints we didn't think of (hard to fathom) or a particular pairing that is worthy of the madness.

We're also considering two or three pre-Lenten play-in match-ups to keep things interesting and whet everyone's voting whistle in the waning days of the Season after the Epiphany.

As you discern saints to nominate, please keep in mind that a number of saints are ineligible for next year’s "saintly smack down." This includes the entire field of Lent Madness 2012 and those saints who made it to the Round of the Elate Eight in 2010 and 2011. Here is a comprehensive list of ineligible saints. Please keep this in mind as you submit your nominations.

The field from 2012:

Joan of Arc
Lancelot Andrewes
Mary Magdalene
Augustine of Hippo
Monnica
Evelyn Underhill
Nicholas
Margaret of Scotland
William Temple
James Lloyd Breck
John Cassian
Thomas the Apostle
Enmegahbowh
David Oakerhater
Martin of Porres
Thomas Cranmer
William Law
Columba
Catherine of Siena
Emma of Hawaii
Paul of Tarsus
Theodore of Tarsus
Rose of Lima
Brigid of Kildare
James the Apostle
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Thomas Merton
Philander Chase
Jerome
John Patteson

From 2010 & 2011:
Aelred
Francis of Assisi
Julian of Norwich
Peter
Theresa of Avila
Hildegard of Bingen
George Herbert
John Chrysostom
Polycarp
C.S. Lewis
Clare of Assisi
William Tyndale
Thomas Beckett
Constance
Perpetua
Vincent of Saragossa

Congratulations to 2012 Golden Halo Winner -- Mary Magdalene!

The Holy Gospel of Lent Madness,
according to the Supreme Executive Committee.

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. Plus, I was worried that Emma might win the Golden Halo once all of Hawaii cast their votes.’ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have voted for Emma please tell me and I will go away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary! You have won the 2012 Golden Halo!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Holy Toledo!). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet decided upon the bracket for Lent Madness 2013. But log onto www.lentmadness.org and encourage my disciples to buy a commemorative mug.' Say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my SEC and your SEC (to straighten out those two goofy priests).”’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord.’ And then she told them she had won the Golden Halo. They were amazed, but Thomas cast his eyes downward, for he remembered his poor performance in the first round .

The "Gospel" of the Supreme Executive Committee.

We began this Lent Madness journey over five weeks ago on "Ash Thursday." We started with 32 saints and have now whittled the field down to two: Mary Magdalene and Emma of Hawaii (who staged a wild comeback against Dietrich Bonhoeffer yesterday).

Along the way we've met some truly remarkable holy women and men. Perhaps you learned about some folks you'd never heard of or maybe you renewed acquaintances with saints who have long offered inspiration. Of course the entire notion of placing saints in a bracket is absurd -- each "contestant" has already earned a crown of righteousness in addition to a "golden halo." But at the heart of Lent Madness is the abiding conviction that Lent need not be gloomy or depressing. After all, what could be more joyful than a season specifically devoted to being drawn into deeper relationship with the risen Christ?

In the process of this whimsical Lenten devotion we have made some new online friends, encountered a community of believers who take their faith but not themselves too seriously, learned some things, were inspired by saintly witnesses, and had a lot fun along the way.

We literally couldn't have done this without our "Celebrity Bloggers" to whom we offer sincere gratitude. Dr. Meredith Gould, the Rev. Penny Nash, the Rev. Bosco Peters, Canon Heidi Shott, the Rev. (Bracket Czar) Adam Thomas, the Rev. Laura Toepfer, the Rev. Neil Alan Willard, and the Rev. Chris Yaw -- you guys rock!

Finally, thanks to all who have participated in this devotional journey. We've loved having each one of you along for the "madness" and on behalf of the Supreme Executive Committee we wish you a blessed Holy Week and a joyous Easter.

Oh, wait, there's one more thing before we set our face toward the Triduum. Cast your vote for either Mary Magdalen or Emma of Hawaii -- the 2012 Golden Halo hangs in the balance! The polls will be open for 24 hours and the winner will be announced at 8:00 am Eastern time on Maundy Thursday.

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!"
John 20:18

Mary Magdalene: Giovanni Savoldo, c.1535-1540

Excerpts from a lament by the Pacific Commercial Advertiser upon Queen Emma’s death in 1885.

Auwe! Auwe! The bitter wail resounds,
From far Kauai to bold Hawaii’s shore;
The people’s grief and sorry know no bounds,
For their loved Ema-lani is no more.

---Auwe! Auwe! The mourning nation cries;
Auwe! Auwe! She does not heed its grief;
Auwe! No more she wipes the weeping eyes,
No more she gives the sick and poor relief.

The King and lowliest native equal share
The common grief, for each has lost a friend,
And closer draws the bond of sympathy -
The throne and hut unite their tears to blend.

And not alone Hawaiians grieving cry,
The Haoles join in universal moan;
America extends her sympathy,
And England’s Queen will mourn a sister gone..

Kaleleonalani is not dead!
She sleeps on earth, but wakes in Paradise;
Rejoince we then and lift the drooping head,
She is but veiled from our mortal eyes.

And so we leave her sleeping sweet in God.

Vote!

NOTE: At 4:13 p.m. EDT, the Supreme Executive Committee removed 120 votes for Emma, based on heavy repeating voting from a single location. We are glad you are enthused about your saints, but please vote only once!

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In anticipation of tomorrow's Championship Round between Mary Magdalene and the winner of today's Dietrich Bonhoeffer vs. Emma of Hawaii match-up, we thought we'd scour the interwebs for other Golden Halos. There is only one that counts, of course, and we will soon be driving these other folks out of business. But just so you don't get confused tomorrow, we thought we'd highlight these interlopers.

First we found an organization called Golden Halo Eldery Care. Who knew "eldery" was even a word? Since it has do with nursing homes and elder care, I can only imagine it's synonymous with "elderly." It's not clear whether the caregivers are saints or whether their services prepare those who will soon enough meet their maker to become saints.

Then there's the Golden Halo Foundation. It's hard to argue with an organization that helps children with long-term disabilities and their families. I didn't see any halos on the website -- just a plethora of butterflys. We wish them well even as we're slightly annoyed that they own the domain name www.goldenhalo.org.

We're less enamored with the Golden Halo Salon in Culpeper, Virginia, whose slogan is "Look hot and heavenly at the Golden Halo Salon." I guess if you're going for that saintly glow this would be your place though I think the closest thing they'd offer to an actual Golden Halo would be highlights. And anyway "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity," the writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us.

In the same vein, Maybelline has a product called Dream Mousse Shadow Gold Halo. Neither member of the SEC is familiar with such products although we're both thinking of picking some up in time for Easter Sunday.

Believe it or not there's also a rose called the Golden Halo, technically the Rosa Savaholo for you gardening connoisseurs. A bouquet of these babies would make a perfect gift for that special Lent Madness-loving woman in your life. Or guy since we're all about equality around here.

For some reason neither Tim and Scott were not asked to be the featured speakers at the Golden Halo Banquet put on by the Christian Chamber of South Florida. So rude.

Finally, here's a product with which to celebrate the winning of the Golden Halo. Drink to your favorite saint with Golden Halo Blonde Ale from Red Rock Brewery in Utah. If the St. Pauli Girl-esque label is too much for you, perhaps you'll prefer the more staid yet much creepier older logo.

Well, there you go. I hope this little exercise makes you appreciate the Lent Madness Golden Halo even more. We'll see you at 8:00 am Eastern Time to start the voting.

The Faithful Four continues today as Dietrich Bonhoeffer takes on Emma of Hawaii for the right to face Mary Magdalene (who dominated Margaret of Scotland yesterday) for the 2012 Golden Halo. This match-up features one of the favorites to make it to the Faithful Four (Bonhoeffer) along with the true Cinderella of Lent Madness (Emma).

If anyone who completed a bracket before the start of Lent Madness had Emma of Hawaii making it this far, we commend you for your prophetic voice. Though we secretly believe you're lying. Seriously, did anyone out there pick Emma to make it to the Faithful Four?

To get to this point, Dietrich Bonhoeffer defeated James the Apostle, Brigid of Kildare, and Jerome while Emma of Hawaii got past Catherine of Siena, Paul of Tarsus, and Thomas Cranmer. And now, in the final battle before the Championship Round, we turn it over to celebrity bloggers Neil Alan Willard (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) and Heidi Shott (Emma of Hawaii).

Just as a reminder, the polls for the Golden Halo will open at 8:00 am on Spy Wednesday and close at 8:00 am on Maundy Thursday. Here's the updated bracket.

Easter Monday will mark the sixty-seventh anniversary of the execution of Dietrich Bonhoeffer at the Flossenbürg concentration camp in Nazi Germany and of his last words: “This is the end – for me the beginning of life.” Those words, it seems to me, testify to the Easter faith that will be proclaimed this weekend throughout the world. In proximity to human suffering on a scale that is unimaginable to most of us, Bonhoeffer was able to declare that the ultimate word, a word of life, belongs to God.

The St. Stephen’s Martyrs – a group of men at my church – gather weekly for an hour or so of theology and a pint or so of beer. About a year ago we talked about the Holocaust. While having that discussion, there were related artifacts, Nazi and otherwise, in the middle of the table. It’s one thing to see those objects in old black and white news reels and quite another to see them in living color as we wrestled with suffering, revenge, justice, doubt, and – yes – faith, too. I can’t imagine how much harder it must have been for Bonhoeffer and others as they together wrestled not with relics but with realities. These were imperfect people, including Bonhoeffer, making imperfect decisions that they would have to live with for the rest of their lives.

Would we have returned home to Germany rather than stay in the United States? Would we have supported an underground seminary for the Confessing Church? Would we have chosen to jam the wheel of injustice by helping the conspiracy to assassinate the Nazi Führer Adolf Hitler?

Bonhoeffer made a decision, as a result of his faith in Christ, to stand with his own people and with the innocent in the midst of their experience of Good Friday. That, I think, was his most important and courageous decision.
Here’s a final endorsement from a higher authority in the Anglican Communion. Soon after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, announced that he would be resigning his position at the end of this year, he was interviewed about his various roles and secularism and faith by a parish priest in the Church of England. Archbishop Williams was asked, as the final question, with whom he would like to have dinner if he could sit down with anyone who has lived over the last hundred years. He answered, “Dietrich Bonhoeffer.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury has cast his vote. Now it’s your turn.

-- Neil Alan Willard

After such hefty and regular doses of saintliness these past 40 days, the notion of what constitutes a saint is somewhat clearer in my mind. Several characteristics stand out: faithfulness to God despite hardship, fierce loyalty to one’s people, extravagant charity outside the bounds of cultural and social expectations. Queen Emma of Hawaii displayed all of these in boundless measure. Ultimately saintliness - our own included - is determined by the choices we human beings make over the course of our lives. Emma’s remarkable witness and legacy is defined by her choices.

Despite the tragedy of losing her beloved young son and her cherished husband as a woman still in her twenties, she chose to overcome her grief and become a staunch advocate for the Anglican mission in Hawaii and for her people. Despite her high station in life, she chose to work tirelessly to improve the health, the education, and the spiritual well-being of native Hawaiians of all ranks as well as haolies and foreigners.

Upon her death in 1885, Emma, whose baptism had been the first recorded in the parish register of St. Andrew’s Cathedral, was eulogized in Hawaiian by a congregational minister, the Rev. H.H. Parker. He posed the question to the grieving, “How did the late queen hold so supreme a place in the hearts of her people?”

He answered: “She loved the people. Love begets love. The common people believed that Queen Emma really did care for them.”

I am deeply inspired by the choices that Queen Emma made. She could have hunkered down in a cocoon of grief and privilege given her losses, her wealth, and her royal status. She could have abandoned the work of building the cathedral and the schools, but instead she sailed across two oceans to drum up funding for the cause. Indeed Bishop Wilberforce of Oxford, her guide in England, said, “...her energetic efforts and activities taxed his physical endurance.” By the time she left England - where she drew standing-room only crowds at numerous cathedrals - she had raised 6,000 pounds (about $640,000 in today's currency) for the work in Hawaii.

An obituary read, in part:

“The Queen is dead. We will not think of her as dead. Her good deeds will live after her, in them she will live, in that noble Hospital, in her Christian example she will live and those who knew her, loved her, cherished her can say with resignation:

There is no death!
What seems so is transition;
This life is of mortal breath
Is but a suburb of the life Elysian,
Whose portal we call death.”

Many saints are honored and venerated, but few are so beloved  - generation beyond generation - as Queen Emma of Hawaii.

“Love begets love” is right, and a standard for all the saints of God.

 -- Heidi Shott

Vote once!

NOTE: At 12:14 a.m. EDT, the Supreme Executive Committee removed 70 votes from Emma of Hawaii. We noticed that there were 20 votes in close succession from a residence in Hawaii and 50 from a residence in Arizona. While we commend your enthusiasm, we do not commend repeat voting. We're watching this one carefully, so don't vote more than once, please.

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Welcome to the Faithful Four, friends. After weeks of learning and voting and occasionally squabbling (in a holy, churchy kind of way) we have whittled the field down to four spiritual heavyweights: Mary Magdalene, Margaret of Scotland, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Emma of Hawaii. Collectively, it's a fascinating group of four heroes of the faith stretching from Biblical times to the 20th century.

As we like to tell our five-year-olds when they join their first soccer team (that's football for our friends across the pond), "there are no losers, everybody's a winner." Of course we're lying. Thus, while we can sing the praises of these saints, only one Golden Halo will be awarded.

Today Mary Magdalene (Meredith Gould) takes on Margaret of Scotland (Penny Nash); tomorrow Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Neil Alan Willard) battles Emma of Hawaii (Heidi Shott); and on Spy Wednesday the championship round will take place. In this round, we let our four remaining Celebrity Bloggers loose as they answer the question "Why should Saint XX win the Golden Halo?" In other words, they've been charged with letting us know why their particular saint is so awesome. And, in a nod to the fact that the SEC is responsive to the cries of (some of) the masses, we are including a few works of saintly art.

To make it to the Faithful Four, Mary Magdalene dispatched John Huss, Joan of Arc, and Evelyn Underhill with relative ease. Margaret of Scotland bested William Temple and John Cassian before squeaking by Enmegahbowh. See the updated bracket and then please vote just once.

What calls any of us to embrace a particular saint? Our saints are extraordinary models of Christian faith and fidelity.  Throughout history, all have endured conditions and situations that, despite our best imaginations, we cannot fully comprehend.

These women and men of God are spiritual Sherpas, guiding us along the path; welcoming us back when we wonder and wander away. What makes Mary Magdalene first among equals is simply this:

“When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene…” (Mark 16:9).

Jesus is indisputably the Christ, and entrusts Mary Magdalene with the near-thankless task of reporting his Resurrection from the dead. The disciples do not immediately believe her story of death defeated. Gospel stories about their resistance to hearing this liberating truth from a woman foreshadows a woeful and ongoing history of truth denied and evangelists mocked. (I sometimes find myself asking what has changed.)

While I have a (short) list of holy women and men who help sustain my faith, Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles, is my radical go-to saint. Contemplating her love and loyalty to Christ Jesus keeps my heart from breaking whenever I focus too long on wreckage wrought in the name of religion. For all this and more, she’s already wearing a golden halo.

Click here to see my Mary Magdalene board on Pinterest.

 -- Meredith Gould

Why should Margaret of Scotland win the Golden Halo? Because she was an awesome, saintly saint! Oh, yeah? you may ask...well, read on.

-- Penny Nash

Vote!

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The Elate Eight continues with an intriguing match-up between Margaret of Scotland and Enmegahbowh. One of the sub-plots of this round has been "What will Celebrity Blogger Heidi Shott possibly come up with for Enmegahbowh kitsch?" This will be answered today as these two pillars of the faith vie for the third spot in the Faithful Four.

Yesterday, Dietrich Bonhoeffer punched his ticket to the next round by ousting Jerome 74% to 26% and joining Mary Magdalene in keeping their Golden Halo hopes alive.

To make it this far, Margaret defeated William Temple and John Cassian while Enmegahbowh beat Thomas and David Oakerhater. Check out the updated bracket to see what's coming up in Lent Madness.

Meanwhile, back at Lent Madness HQ, Tim and Scott plot to launch an entire line of saintly kitsch. Kitsch-meisters? You bet! Speaking of which, check out our recent post Kitsch Cranks (which really should have been spelled "Kranks") and read about Lent Madness in the Huffington Post.

Hey, all you Margaret fans! How does one show one’s admiration for and devotion to (Queen) Margaret of Scotland? There are just too many options to show here, but I picked out a few for your consideration:

If she’s a queen, there must be a doll, right? And indeed there are several dolls one can purchase for your saintly queen doll collection. First, there’s this wooden peg doll, made to order, featuring the blonde queen (she was Saxon after all) holding a black cross and wearing a tartan sash (“not historically accurate but cute all the same”).

Or, if a wooden doll doesn’t seem cuddly enough, here’s a whimsical Margaret of Scotland Felt Saint Softie. This Margaret is holding her special book of Gospels that miraculously did not show any water damage after being dropped into a river and she is also wearing a special prayer on her back. I personally am planning to buy one of these!

Want to color your own St. Margaret? Download this coloring page and experiment with different queenly shades for her outfit and fingernails!

Or get a St. Margaret tote bag to carry all your St. Margaret stuff around with you. The same design is featured on a keepsake box to keep all your St. Margaret stuff safely at home.

Speaking of home, if your taste runs more to home furnishings than dolls and coloring pages, here’s a St. Margaret throw pillow for your sofa or favorite chair so that you can read your morning prayers and devotional books with the saint by your side. The same design can be ordered on a coffee mug, ornament, or keepsake box.

St. Margaret can also reign over your refrigerator from this handy (and lovely!) “attention-grabbing” magnet set. Order just one, or a pack of 100, so you can share with all your St. Margaret-loving friends! (Yes, it’s the same design as the pillow, but, hey, it’s “stained glass!” And you can also "Liven up any room or party with our fun, hip" St. Margaret tile coasters!)

Finally, while you’re out and about (visiting the St. Margaret Pub in Twickenham, say), show your Team Margaret pride and solidarity while wearing this great Team Margaret Hoodie and make everyone guess why there’s a shamrock on the front. Pair this with the Team Margaret doggie shirt for your canine companion for the ultimate in kitschy Margaret-wear!

Go Team Margaret!

 -- Penny Nash

As predicted by a member of the SEC, commercial kitsch featuring Enmegahbowh, the first Native American to be ordained as an Episcopal priest, is scarce. In fact here’s a screenshot of an early attempt to turn up any product that would even begin to rival yesterday’s St. Jerome/Lion Reversible Doll.

Alas, “0 results found for “Enmegahbowh kitsch.”

Enter the fans! Team E supporter Mary-Elise Haug offered an assist by sending along a Not For Sale (and one-of-a-kind, we suspect) item honoring the “Providential Man” himself. This handmade doll depicting Enmegahbowh was on display in 2007 at the Native American Ministries Winter Talk Conference held in Jamestown, Virginia, to mark the 400th Anniversary of Jamestown.

Please take note that the stole he’s wearing is identical to the one in the icon displayed during the Saintly 16 round.  Excellent attention to detail, Dollmaker!

Are we surprised by a sad lack of cheesy saint crap? No! John Johnson Enmegahbowh was a serious man serving his people and his Church during a very serious era of the American experiment. It’s not surprising that his kitsch-factor is low.

However, that’s not to say he wasn’t a funny guy. So, in lieu of sufficient kitsch, here are a couple of stories: In 1874 Enmegahbowh wrote with stunning poignance to the Office of the Indian Commission at 30 Bible House in New York to report the death of his great friend and fellow Christian, Chief Nabunashkong, aka, Isaac H. Tuttle.

In telling the story of Tuttle’s conversion and his role in it, Enmegahbowh revealed his mischievous side. As a mark of Tuttle’s new faith, he asked his Enmegahbowh to cut his long locks of hair, a symbol of his standing in the tribe. Enmegahbowh wrote:

“[Tuttle said] ‘If the Great Spirit has so big a love for poor Indian, surely Indian ought and must give back big love to the Great Spirit. Now dear brother,’ he said, ‘to be true to return my big love to the Great Spirit, I brought this scissors, to have you cut my hair locks which I shall throw away forever.’

“...When it was all over, he took wild, and threw his head in every direction, to see if any one coming to see him. I smiled, and pitied him greatly. ‘Friend,’ he ask, ‘what made you smile?’

“I said: ‘You look precisely like the baboon I saw at Barnum’s Museum in New York, some years ago.’”

Ouch.

Then there’s another story that tells of the feistiness of his wife, Biwabiko-gizig-okwe or Iron Sky Woman, (or Charlotte, if you must). It also indicates a measure of Enmegahbowh’s humanity, if not his good humor, and offers a fuller explanation about why he and Methodists at Fond du Lac parted company early in his ministry. The “Man Who Stood Before His People” also stood by his wife. Fair play to him! The story goes that in 1849 Iron Sky Woman and a fur trader got into an argument.

According to Owanah Anderson in Forward Movement’s 1988 volume, Jamestown Commitment: The Episcopal Church and the American Indian, “...a white man insulted Enmegahbowh’s wife Charlotte and that Enmegahbowh knocked the man down and held him while his wife gave the worthless man a sound beating.”

Beyond the pricelessness of story, there is at least one thing for sale that offers a wonderful reminder of Enmegahbowh’s legacy. Holy Women, Holy Men credits him with training “many others to serve as deacons throughout northern Minnesota. The powerful tradition of Ojibway hymn singing is a living testimony to their ministry. His understanding of Native tradition enabled him to enculturate Christianity in the language and traditions of the Ojibway.”

For $.99 cents you can buy an MP3 and hear the Ojibwe Hymn Singers’ lovely rendition of “On the Beautiful Beyond.”

And finally, if you need a button to sport on your General Convention nametag, how about this? Unfortunately they only come in packs of 100.

-- Heidi Shott

The Supreme Executive Committee subtracted 80 votes from Enmegahbowh at 12:33 a.m. EDT, because of voting irregularity we discovered. The person(s) involved have been blocked from Lent Madness. Remember, we encourage you to spread the word about your favorite saints. However, voting 50+ times from one computer is not allowed.

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