In yet ANOTHER close battle in this historic week of Lent Madness thrill-a-minute action, Martin Luther finally put away the feisty Joseph Schereschewsky with a late surge 52% to 48%.

Today it's an intriguing battle between two saints: one ancient, one modern. In fact, Sarah is the most ancient saint ever to make an appearance in Lent Madness while Jägerstätter is about as modern as we get. If nothing else you, valued Lent Madness voter, have a clear choice. The choice itself may not be clear, of course, without some serious discernment, but Sarah and Franz represent quite distinct eras in the realm of faith. To get to this round, Sarah narrowly defeated Elizabeth Ann Seton and Franz upset Joan of Arc.

This is both the penultimate battle of the Saintly Sixteen AND the last matchup of the week. We'll take a deep cleansing breath over the weekend and be right back to it first thing Monday morning with Amelia Bloomer facing Fanny Crosby. Lent Madness rolls on!

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Whew! So far, this has been a week of close battles unparalleled in Lent Madness history. On Monday Mechtild of Magdeburg defeated Odo of Cluny 52% to 48%. On Tuesday Raymond Nonnatus bested Moses the Black 51% to 49%. And yesterday Augustine of Canterbury snuck past Scholastica 51% to 49%.

This heart-pumping saintly action is enough to make you want to do some yoga. Or deep breathing exercises. Or drink some chamomile tea. Something calming! But instead, the battles just keep coming. Today it's the scrappy Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky taking on the heavyweight Martin Luther. Is an upset in the making? Another tight race? Or will a blowout break the string of hotly contested, halo-busting battles?

Note that yesterday's battle was not without controversy. The following was posted by the Supreme Executive Committee:

The SEC noticed an irregular surge of votes for Scholastica around midnight. Well over 6,000 votes were found to be cast irregularly in an attack using bots around the world. We have removed what we believe to be the correct amount of votes, and will continue to monitor this race. One person, one vote. If you break this rule, your votes will be removed and you will be cast off into the outer darkness of Lent Madness.

We are confident in the final result. But remember, Big Lent is watching.

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The Saintly Sixteen continues with an intriguing matchup between two fascinating figures: Florence Nightingale and Henry Beard Delany. To make it this far, Flo bested Anselm of Canterbury while Hank dispatched Aelred of Rievaulx. But really, the choice between Nightingale and Delany is like night and day. Or at least you can't spell "Nightingale" without "night" or Delany without "day." So there's that.

Yesterday in the opening battle of the Saintly Sixteen, Stephen defeated Henry Budd 59% to 41% to become the first saint of Lent Madness 2017 to make the Elate Eight. Could this be the year of the Biblical martyr? Only time...and many more votes to be cast...will tell.

Remember, this is the last vote of the week. So, vote wisely and then consider hibernating for the next 48 hours to deal with the often debilitating effects of Lent Madness Withdrawal. We'll be back first thing Monday morning as the Saintly Sixteen continues with Odo of Cluny taking on Mechtild of Magdeburg.

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OF COURSE we finish up a full week of saintly action by ignoring the cultural phenomenon of St. Patrick's Day. No green beer for us -- we're all purple all the time anyway. No, today in Lent Madness it's Scholastica vs. Macrina the Younger with nary a shamrock in sight! This contest is chock-full of sibling rivalry as Scholastica was St. Benedict of Nursia's twin sister while Macrina had a plethora of saintly siblings. Read on for details...

Yesterday Amelia Bloomer yanked down Phillipp Melanchthon by a wide margin of 74% to 26% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen.

As you prepare for a full 48 hours of saintly voting deprivation, we wanted to point out that you don't have to wait until Monday morning to discover the results of this matchup. After the polls close in 24 hours, simply click on this post and scroll down to see the results. You can also click on the Bracket tab for all the current results.

We'll see you bright and early on Monday for the Battle of the Consonants aka Name-a-Geddon as Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky faces Nikolaus von Zinzendorf. Now go vote!

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Today marks the last matchup of a full week of saintly action! Raymond Nonnatus, a 13th century Spaniard, takes on John of Nepomuk, the 14th century patron saint of Czechoslovakia.

Yesterday, in the closest vote of Lent Madness 2017 to date, Odo of Cluny held off Theodore the Studite 52% to 48%. Odo will advance to the Saintly Sixteen where he'll face Mechtild of Magdeburg.

One point we want to stress before you start pulling levers for Raymond or John. You should know that our fabulous Celebrity Bloggers are kept to strict word counts on their write-ups. Of course so much more could be said about each saint presented in Lent Madness. If you're curious about learning more about a particular holy soul, we encourage you to dive deeper! Often additional information gleaned by participants is shared in the comments sections below each post. Feel free to share tidbits and resources with your fellow Lent Madness pilgrims. In the next round, the Saintly Sixteen, we get into Quirks and Quotes (either by or about said saint). So fear not. The further a saint advances, the more information you'll be given. [Here endeth the Lent Madness lesson].

Those of you who read the comments will be very familiar with Oliver--Nine Years Old. Well, we are pleased to report that Oliver's mom sent us this picture of the boy himself, posing in front of the pictorial bracket he created for his home church, St. John's in Stamford, CT.

We'll see everybody bright and early on Monday morning for the Battle of the Augustines™ as Augustine of Canterbury squares off against Augustine of Hippo.

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Why is this day unique in the annals of Lent Madness 2017? It is the ONLY non-weekday battle of the season. Yes, we're amazing at math. Thus the first Saturday of every season includes the one and only weekend battle of Lent Madness (trust us - we've done the math).

Yesterday Henry Beard Delany romped to a first round victory over Aelred of Rievaulx 78%  to 22%. He'll go on to face the winner of Anselm of Canterbury vs. Florence Nightingale in the Saintly Sixteen.

Enjoy your Sunday devotions on the First Sunday in Lent (make sure to tell everybody at coffee hour just how much you love Lent Madness) and we'll get back to voting first thing Monday Morning as John Wycliffe takes on Moses the Black!

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Here at Lent Madness, we love the color purple. Why? Because it screams penitential fun! Or at least it puts us in the mood, regardless of the season, for everyone's favorite online Lenten devotion. This is why, once again, we're excited to offer you some hot Purple Friday deals.

While people have been queued up for days outside the Lentorium in anticipation of this year's massive Purple Friday sale, you can cut the line by shopping right here on the Lent Madness website. The prices are unbelievable!

Here are some of the bargains on Lent Madness stuff. And check around the Forward Movement site, because there are bargains a-plenty on other stuff too, including Tim's holiday classic Dog in the Manger: Finding God in Christmas Chaos. Some items are discounted up to 50%!

• Golden Halo 2016 Mug - Dietrich Bonhoeffer $11 $7
• Golden Halo 2016 Pint Glass - Dietrich Bonhoeffer $12 $8
• Golden Halo 2015 Mug - Francis of Assisi $11 $7
• Golden Halo 2014 Mug - Charles Wesley $11 $7
• Golden Halo 2013 Mug - Frances Perkins $11 $7
• Silver Halo 2016 Soup Mug - Julian of Norwich $13 $7
• Silver Halo 2015 Pint Glass - Brigid of Kildare $12 $8
• Coffee Mug - Purple $11 $7
• Purple T-Shirts $15 $10

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What a week! With one more battle to go, we will have set the stage for the Faithful Four as the march to the Golden Halo continues. Today, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Columba vie for the final spot as they seek to join Constance, Sojourner Truth, and Julian of Norwich.

To make it to this point, Bonhoeffer defeated Athanasius and Barnabas while Columba got past Kateri Tekakwitha and Meister Eckhart.

Yesterday Julian of Norwich skated past Albert Schweitzer 68% to 32. And in 24 hours, we bid adieu to saintly kitsch. We only encountered a few Kitsch Kranks this year and for that, we're grateful.

The Faithful Four will take place on Monday and Tuesday with the vote for the Golden Halo happening on Spy Wednesday. Onward, Lenten Soldiers!

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There's still one vote to go and a full twenty-four hours before full onset Lent Madness Withdrawal (LMW) sets in! So make this one count as Roch faces Julian of Norwich. Will this battle go to the dogs? Or will all manner of things be well?

To get to this round, Roch defeated Gertrude while Julian snuck past William Wilberforce. The winner will face Albert Schweitzer in the Elate Eight. While yesterday, Sojourner (Nothing but the) Truth slammed the door shut on Frances Joseph Gaudet 67% to 33%.

After a full week of Saintly Sixteen action, we have just two more slots up for grabs in the Elate Eight. Today's battle will decide one of them and on Monday the last matchup of this round will see Dietrich Bonhoeffer take on Barnabas. The field is narrowing as the chase for the coveted Golden Halo continues.

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The Saintly Sixteen continues with Absalom Jones taking on Joseph. In the first round, Jones defeated Matthias by the largest margin of Lent Madness 2016, 82% to 18% while Absalom Jones swept past Christina Rossetti by the second largest margin, 79% to 21%. Will this be a harbinger of a tightly contested race? Only time and your (single) vote will tell.

And, yes, the Supreme Executive Committee already knows this matchup is "not fair." But of course, that's the whole point of Lent Madness -- it's not about who wins, but about how much you learn and are inspired by these incredible holy men and women who have come before us in the faith. We assure you none of these saintly souls care one iota about winning the Golden Halo -- they've already won their crown of righteousness by virtue of their faithfulness. (Well, maybe they care just a little -- it affords them some pretty sweet heavenly street cred). The real "winners?" Everyone who takes the time to read, learn, and be inspired along this Lenten journey.

Yesterday, in the first matchup of the Saintly Sixteen, Constance defeated Helena 69% to 31%. She'll go on to face the winner of Clare vs. Vida Dutton Scudder in the Elate Eight. Today is the last battle of the week but fear not! We'll be back bright and early Monday morning as Methodius takes on Albert Schweitzer in the Lent Dome.

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