Blogger and priest Rev. Timothy Schenck instigated 2010’s Lent Madness and had enough fun that he decided to do it again this year.
For the uninitiated, Lent Madness is like March Madness, only instead of colleges and universities, those in contention for the title Golden Halo (last year’s winner: George Herbert) are plucked out of Holy Women and Holy Men.
Voting for this year’s Lent Madness (bracket) started last Thursday with a possibly soon-to-be-classic matchup: Polycarp vs. Cyprian.
Writes Schenck:
Logistically, here’s how this will work: As each pairing is posted, voting will be open for at least 24 hours so you’ll have plenty of time to get your votes in — and encourage your friends, family members, and even your enemies (whom we’re supposed to love anyway) to participate. Once the voting is closed, the winner moves on and the next pairing will be posted. This will continue until the 32 saints have been whittled down to one (which better happen before Holy Week begins or I’m hosed!)….
While we’ll undoubtedly have some fun with this, I also hope that by the end of Lent you will have learned a few things about a wide cross-section of saints. Some you’ve heard of while others may be new to you. What they all have in common, of course, is a unique and single-minded approach to serving the risen Christ.