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.

Here at Lent Madness, we take seriously our commitment to answer the bags and bags of viewer mail that we receive each day. Following St. Nicholas’ defeat at the hands of Evelyn Underhill on Friday, one letter in particular caught our eye and we thought we’d share it with you.

Dear Lent Madness Supreme Executive Committee,

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Saint Nicholas. Papa says, “If you see it on www.lentmadness.org, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Saint Nicholas?

Virginia O’Sanctity

Well, we couldn't leave precious Virginia wondering about the existence of Saint Nicholas so we sent her this letter in reply:

Dear Virginia,

Your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a pre-Lent Madness age. Like a saint named Thomas who once doubted Jesus’ resurrection (and then lost to Enmegahbowh), they do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be a great intellectual’s like St. Jerome (who was responsible for translating Scripture into Latin in the edition known as the Vulgate and will soon be facing off against Philander Chase in the Round of the Saintly Sixteen) or a child’s, are little.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Saint Nicholas. Even though he somehow lost to Evelyn Underhill in the first round of Lent Madness, he exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Saint Nicholas! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias or Lent Madness.

Not believe in Saint Nicholas! You might as well not believe in Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Thomas Cranmer or the Supreme Executive Committee of Lent Madness. Nobody sees Saint Nicholas, but that is no sign that there is no Saint Nicholas. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor adults can see. Did you ever see Scott and Tim filming “Monday Madness?” Of course not, but that’s no proof that they only exist inside your computer.

No Saint Nicholas! Thank God he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of children who participate in Lent Madness. Even if he likely would have lost to St. Margaret of Scotland in the next round.

Sincerely yours,

The Supreme Executive Committee

PS. Good luck with your weekend case of LMW (Lent Madness Withdrawal) and know that voting resumes tomorrow at 8:00 am with Rose of Lima battling Brigid of Kildare.

In the last battle of the week, influential 2oth-century writer Evelyn Underhill squares off against Nicholas of Myra. You wanted to know how "Santa Claus" would fare in Lent Madness? Well, here's your chance to vote for or against St. Nick.

Regarding, yesterdays smackdown between Catherine of Siena and Emma of Hawaii, all we can say is "wow." With Catherine holding a slight lead throughout much of the day, Queen Emma came storming back to defeat Catherine 60% to 40% in heavy voting (over 2,000 votes cast). As the sun started to wane on the East Coast of the United States and rise over the Pacific Ocean, Emma's numbers slowly started to increase. Once the Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii sent out a plea on Emma's behalf via their e-news, the Queen dowager never looked back, again highlighting the importance of rallying your friends and considering voting blocs to promote your favorite saints. Madness indeed!

We do hope you'll take the necessary precautions this weekend to ward off any lingering effects of LMW (Lent Madness Withdrawal). If you're feeling isolated, lonely, and depressed, you can always check in with our Facebook fan page, where the conversation never stops (and we just topped 1,500 'likes'). If you're on Twitter, you can always find people to chat with by using our hashtag #LentMadness. And if you missed this week's Monday Madness video, Tim and Scott discuss LMW remedies among other timely Lent Madness news. Finally, since Scott seems to fly anywhere at the drop of a biretta, I'm sure he'd be happy to make a personal pastoral call if you're feeling particularly lost.

Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) was a writer, theologian, mystic, spiritual director, and pacifist, who arguably did more than anyone else to illuminate mystical experience and claim it as one not reserved for the spiritual elite. She spoke with some authority, not being among the spiritual elite herself, but a lay woman setting forth what she herself discovered.

Born in 1875 to a prominent barrister and his wife, Underhill was baptized and confirmed in the Church of England but had no formal religious training. She married a childhood friend, Hubert Stuart Moore, a barrister, and lived a typical Edwardian life for a woman of her class, including charitable work and regular trips to the Continent. Less typically, she wrote 39 books and more than 350 articles (both under her maiden name and under the pseudonym, John Cordelier), presented programmes (as they say) on the Spiritual Life on the BBC, and became a prominent spiritual director and retreat leader. She became the first woman to lecture at an Oxford college on theology and the first woman allowed to lecture to Church of England clergy.

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Today we have an early Reformer of the Church versus one of Jesus' first disciples. It is precisely such odd juxtapositions that make Lent Madness so much fun. Will John Huss be re-martyred in the next 24 hours? Or will Mary Magdalene have her name further besmirched? Only time, and your one vote, will tell.

In recent action, Thomas Cranmer soundly defeated Ephrem of Edessa (58% to 42% with 1,825 votes cast) although the vote was a lot closer than the Vegas bookies anticipated. If you didn't catch the latest Monday Madness video featuring Tim and Scott, go watch it right away.

John Huss (1371? - 1415) or Jan Hus, was a Bohemian (born in what is now the Czech Republic) priest, theologian, and professor. Against the backdrop of the papal crisis in the Church known as the Babylonian Captivity during which there were two popes, one in Rome and one in Avignon (France), Hus wrote many treatises urging reform of the Church in the face of papal and clergy abuses and corruption a century before Martin Luther posted his famous 95 Theses in Wittenburg. In addition to his objection to the sale of indulgences and the practice of simony (the buying/selling of spiritual things, from sacraments to relics to Holy Orders), Hus was, following John Wycliff, a champion of of broad participation of the laity in the life of the church. He believed that people should be able to own and read their own Bibles in their own tongue and that worship should be conducted in the local language. He denounced the practice of withholding the chalice from everyone except the priests at Holy Communion and argued from his pulpit in Prague (the Bethlehem Chapel) that Christ, not the Pope (neither the French nor the Italian one) was the true head of the Church. For this he was excommunicated for insubordination by his archbishop in 1412.

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By now you have surely discovered the Lent Madness Channel with our weekly webcasts of Monday Madness. Well, friends, there is good news. The book that goes behind the movie is now available. It's only $6.99 for Kindle or Nook (ebook only!). Calendar of Saints: Lent Madness 2012 Edition is the ultimate guidebook for Lent Madness and devotional handbook for the saints of the Episcopal Church.

Back in 1972 (before Holy Women, Holy Men was a glimmer in anyone's eye), Canon David Veal wrote a book for Forward Movement called Saints Galore! It was popular. So popular that it was reprinted and updated a bunch of times, most recently in 2004. Canon Veal write brief devotional essays about each saint in the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church. These essays were intended to convey something of God's grace at work in the saints and to inspire us with the idea that God might work in our lives too.

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For one full week, the Supreme Executive Committee will be accepting nominations for Lent Madness 2023. The nominating period will remain open through Monday, May 16, at which point this brief exercise in Lenten democracy will cease and the SEC will return to their regularly scheduled benevolently authoritarian ways.

Nominationtide, the most underrated of liturgical seasons, never begins at the same time other than the vague "sometime after Easter Day." This is partly because Tim and Scott have day jobs and partly because "whim" is one of their ecclesiastical charisms. But it's here! And the world rejoices!

To insure your SUCCESSFUL nomination, please note the Nominationtide Rules & Regulations, which reside in an ancient illuminated manuscript tended to by aged monks who have been set aside by saints and angels for this holy calling.

1. The nominee must, in fact, be dead.
2. The nominee must be on the official calendar of saintly commemorations of some church.
3. We will accept only one nomination per person.
4. You must tell us WHY you are nominating your saint.
5. The ONLY way to nominate a saint will be to leave a comment on this post.
6. That means comments left on Facebook, Twitter, attached to a brick and thrown through the window at Forward Movement headquarters, or placed on giant placards outside the residences of Tim or Scott don’t count.

As you discern saints to nominate, please keep in mind that a number of saints are ineligible for next year’s Saintly Smackdown. Based on longstanding tradition, this includes the entire field of Lent Madness 2022, those saints who made it to the Round of the Elate Eight in 2021 and 2020, and those from the 2019 Faithful Four.

Needless to say Jesus, Mary, Tim, Scott, past or present Celebrity Bloggers, and previous Golden Halo Winners are also ineligible. Below is a comprehensive list of ineligible saints. Please keep this in mind as you submit your nominations. Do not waste your precious nomination on an ineligible saint!

For the sake of "transparency," the rest of the process unfolds thusly: Tim and Scott will gather for the annual Spring SEC Retreat at a secure, undisclosed location/coffee shop to consider the nominations and create a full, fun, faithful, and balanced bracket of 32 saints. Then all will be revealed on All Brackets' Day, November 3rd. Or at least, "that's the ways we've always done it."

Time to nominate your favorite saint! But first, look over this list.

The Saints of Lent Madness 2022 (ineligible)

Stephen
Wenceslaus
Teresa of Avila
Crispin
Perpetua
Cecelia
Juliana of Liege
Blaise
Juana Inés de la Cruz
Gabriel the Archangel
Origen
Hilda of Whitby
Columbanos
Drogo
Mesrop Mashtots
Madeline Sophie Barat
Melania the Elder
Hilary of Poitiers
Aloysius Gonzaga
Thomas of Villanova
Felix of Burgundy
Oscar of Ansgar
Thomas Aquinas
Jerome
Emma of Hawaii
Hugh of Lincoln
José Gregorio Hernández
Constance of Memphis
James Holly
Lydia
Olaf
Kateri Tekakwitha

Past Golden Halo Winners (ineligible)

George Herbert, C.S. Lewis, Mary Magdalene, Frances Perkins, Charles Wesley, Francis of Assisi, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Florence Nightingale, Anna Alexander, Martha of Bethany, Harriet Tubman, Absalom Jones, José Hernández

From 2019 to 2021 (ineligible)

Gobnait
Zenaida
Pandita Ramabai
Herman of Alaska
Hildegard of Bingen
Elizabeth Fry
Joseph
Camillus de Lellis
Benedict the Moor
Ives of Kermartin
Albert the Great
Theodore the Empress
Catherine Booth

As you contemplate your (single!) nomination, why not aid your reflection and sharpen your focus with a hot mug of your favorite beverage? The most effective way to do this, of course, is by reverently sipping out of a Lent Madness mug from the Lentorium. We assume you’ve already ordered your José Hernández 2022 Golden Halo winner mug, but if not, here’s the link.

Our wild week of kitschy saintly action comes to a conclusion today. One final spot in the Faithful Four remains up for grabs and, while we won't know for 24 hours who has nabbed the last spot, we do know this: his name will be Thomas. Today, Thomas of Villanova faces Thomas Aquinas. To get here, Thomas of Villanova defeated Aloysius Gonzaga and Hilary of Poitiers, while Thomas Aquinas dispatched Jerome (barely!) and Oscar.

Yesterday, Madeleine Sophie Barat easily slid past Origen 72% to 28% to join Teresa of Avila and José Hernández in the Faithful Four.

Enjoy the weekend of palms and we'll see you first thing Monday morning as Teresa of Avila faces Madeleine Barat. Vote now!

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Welcome to the final battle of the week AND the (actual) penultimate battle of the Saintly Sixteen.

Yesterday in the Saintly Smackdown, José Gregorio Hernández defeated Emma of Hawaii 55% to 45%.

On Tuesday next week we kick off the Elate Eight. In the meantime, on Monday, prepare for Oscar vs. Thomas Aquinas. Hang onto your halos!

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And suddenly it was Friday. Welcome to the last matchup of another full week of first round matchups. Today, it's Juliana of Liege vs. Blaise. Medieval nun and mystic vs. bishop and martyr of the early church.

Yesterday, Oscar (aka Ansgar) swept past Felix of Burgundy 53% to 47% to make it to the Saintly Sixteen.

We'll see everyone first thing Monday morning as we prepare for our final three matchups of the First Round. First up, it's Emma of Hawaii vs. Hugh of Lincoln Then, on Thursday, we continue our journey with the start of the Saintly Sixteen. Onward!

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Happy Friday! The first full week of Lent Madness 2022 is nearly complete. Today we head back up to Confusion Corner as Aloysius Gonzaga tips off against Thomas of Villanova. If you're not a college basketball fan, this matchup may well seem rather confusing. Then again, if you're not a college basketball fan, the whole idea of a bracket competition may have initially been confusing.

Yesterday, Columbanus revved his way past Drogo 53% to 47% to secure a spot in the Saintly Sixteen against Madeleine Sophie Barat.

Enjoy your weekend. We realize that Lent Madness Withdrawal (LMW) is a real thing and we assure you of our...thoughts and prayers. But we'll be back at it first thing Monday morning as Perpetua takes on Cecilia. Go vote!

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