Who will win the Golden Halo?

February 24, 2018 9:32 PM

Every year during Lent, Episcopalians and other liturgically minded Christians participate in Lent Madness, which pits saints, martyrs, and other holy people against one another in sometimes brutal mano-a-mano fantasy smackdowns. Past champions include Florence Nightingale (who ultimately vanquished Franz Jägerstätter), Dietrich Bonhoeffer (prevailing in a thrilling faceoff with Julian of Norwich), and perennial favorite Francis of Assisi (in a nail-biter with fighting Irish Brigid of Kildare).

This year, will beloved disciple, apocalyptic prophet, and Gospel author John the Evangelist, an early favorite, overcome a field of strong female contenders such as unstoppable reformer queen Margaret of Scotland, badass nontuplet warrior virgin Quiteria, and formidable community organizer Anna Alexander? (Although any match involving one of the Fab Four sounds like an unfair fight from the outset, in 2013 Frances Perkins astonished everyone by besting Luke the Evangelist.)

posted by filthy_prescriptivist (7 comments total)

I showed this to a friend of mine who works in an Episcopalian church and she said she played last year and there was a hacking scandal because “Christians will cheat”.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:42 AM on February 25, 2018 [2 favorites]

Feels like a tough seeding decision to have Peter vs. Paul so early on. Meanwhile, I'm not sure what conference tournament Charles I won to get the automatic bid, but it's clear he didn't belong. </presbyterian>
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:44 AM on February 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

I love reading about the people I didn't know, like Quinterra. Like a good Episcopalian I take their stories with a grain of salt.
Like in a good story, the cheaters have always been caught and their votes expunged.
posted by SyraCarol at 8:02 AM on February 25, 2018

Was expecting a Christian saint - WWF mashup. Disappointed.
posted by storybored at 8:41 AM on February 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

jcreigh I audibly groaned. You should be ashamed.
posted by Wretch729 at 8:58 AM on February 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

middleclasstool, it happened already this year too, but the illicit votes (from somewhere in Arkansas) were deleted. Apparently, not even the sacred is sacred!
posted by filthy_prescriptivist at 11:15 AM on February 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

This is one of my favorite aspects of Lent. I'm still bummed that Phoebe the Deacon didn't make it out of Round 1.
posted by dancing_angel at 2:41 PM on February 25, 2018