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SAINTS ALIVE
By LINDA M. LINONIS
YOUNGSTOWN
Lent Madness has attracted a faithful following to the online activity.
The Rev. Gayle Catinella, rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church, has played about three years. “It’s modeled on March Madness, tongue-in-cheek,” she said of the Internet venture that puts saints, not basketball teams, in brackets. “Every weekday, two saints go up against one another,” she explained. “The website includes biographies of each saint.” It also may include a collect, a prayer, associated with the saint.
Pastor Catinella said the format is the idea of an Episcopal priest. The Rev. Tim Schenck created Lent Madness in 2010 as a way for people to learn about men and women whose lives provide examples and inspiration to Christians. The pastor said she’s preached about Lent Madness and some congregants are participating.
Visit the website, www.lentmadness.org, to subscribe to receive a daily email about that day’s pairing. After you vote, the site provides details on which saint is ahead. “You pick the one you think should advance,” Pastor Catinella said, noting matches sometimes pit two popular saints on purpose.
The rector said the Episcopal Church has a “broad calendar of saints,” but saints included aren’t confined to the Episcopal Church or even “saints” in an official sense. Frederick Douglas is in the brackets this year.
The rector said Lent Madness is meant “to inspire us ... engage us to be more active as we strive for our own saintly lives.” She added that the activity is educational because there are things to be learned about well-known saints along with obscure ones.
The website also includes comments by participants on why they voted the way they did. “Sometimes a certain saint appeals to your spiritual sensibilities,” the pastor observed.
“This is a learning experience, but it’s not heavy,” Pastor Catinella said.
The Rev. Mr. Schenck originated Lent Madness and in 2012, partnered with the Rev. Scott Gunn, executive director of Forward Movement, a ministry of the Episcopal Church. Forward Movement sponsors Lent Madness. On the website, the two are described as “self-appointed Supreme Executive Committee.” They write comments about the saints, and speculate why one wins over another. As the brackets dwindle, the website offers “quotes and quirks” and explores legends.
The two priests noted that they want people to take faith seriously but have fun participating in this Lenten devotion. To that end, the site now has celebrity bloggers, a poster-sized bracket and weekly Monday Madness videos. There also is a Saintly Scorecard, a publication with all 32 first-round biographies, information about how to participate in Lent Madness as a congregation and a vocabulary list to decipher Lent Madness.
Lent Madness began the day after Ash Wednesday and continues to April 1, when the Golden Halo winner is named. Winners and losers so far are: Feb. 19, Brendan the Navigator defeated Gregory the Illuminator; Feb. 20, David Oakerhater defeated Teresa of Avila; Feb. 21, Molly Brant defeated Swithun; Feb. 23, Juan Diego defeated Hadewijch; Feb. 24, Thecla defeated John Keble; Feb. 25, Kamehameha defeated William Laud; and Feb. 26, Cuthbert defeated Bede. The activity is played on weekdays, except for the Saturday of the first week.
“Lent is a time to transform your life through fasting, praying, giving and studying,” Pastor Catinella said. Lent Madness offers an opportunity to learn, pray the saint’s collect and give.
A “Lent Emporium” offers T-shirts, playing cards, bracket posters, drinkware, books by celebrity bloggers and the book from the Order of Julian of Norwich, “Stars in a Dark World,” on saints. Proceeds benefit the Episcopal Church.
Pastor Catinella said reading about the saints, their struggles and accomplishments, is one way “to be inspired and transformed.” By doing so, she said, it will “remove the obstacles between ourselves and God and by removing the obstacles, we can become who were created to be.” She said the “obstacles” are “favorite sins.” Those are things we think we can’t live without, she said, adding it might be a food, material goods, or a behavior such as selfishness and unhealthy practices.
“Lent is a gift of opportunity,” Pastor Catinella said. “It’s a time to figure out what you’ve been called to do ... how to live and use your gifts and talents to God’s honor and glory.”
The rector said she views Lent as a avenue to “deepen your relationship with God and be a faithful witness to what He has offered to us.” It is a time, she said, “to develop and deepen our own holiness.”