March 19, 2014 at 3:38 p.m.
The saints battle at Saint Augustine's Church for Lent Madness
The saints battle at Saint Augustine's Church for Lent Madness
By Kayla Thomason-
Lent Madness loosely follows the NCAA basketball tournament bracket system. Thirty-two saints are pitted against one another in a single elimanation match as they compete for the Golden Halo.
Parishioners have a sheet with the week's bracket on it and they write down who in each pairing will win. They cast their vote in a box and after Mass they tally up the votes. For each correct saint picked to win, the person earns points. The most points at the end of Lent Madness wins a mug with last year's saint on it, Frances Perkins.
"We play it with the voting going on just in one week so people had to read all those down in one week, and online they are playing every day a pair," Jackie Cody, Senior Warden at Saint Augustine's, said.
Cody brought Lent Madness to St. Augustine's so people could learn about the saints and play without needing Internet access.
Lent Madness was created in 2010 by a priest at the Episcopal Parish of St. John the Evangelist in Hingham, Mass. to find a fun and engaging way to get people to learn about the saints, according to www.lentmadness.org.
Each round of Lent Madness at the church is open for one week, where people vote for their favorite saint. Instead of the NCAA's Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight and Final Four, the saints will vie for spots in the Saintly Sixteen, Elate Eight and Faithful Four. Two will advance to the championship, where the winner will be awarded the Golden Halo.
Last year Saint Augustine's Lent Madness champion was John the Baptist. Online it was Frances Perkins. Saint Augustine's uses the same saints the online contest uses, but because they are doing it indepenently within their church the outcome of the winners can be different.
Those who are participating get a little booklet called "The Saintly Scorecard" and can read about the saints competing in Lent Madness.
The saints aren't just holy figures. They can also be people who had a huge, positive impact on the world. Some of these figures include Martin Luther King, Nicholas Ridley and Harriet Beecher Stowe to name a few.
"You learn from [the saints] and they inspire you. It's not a history lesson, it's an inspiration lesson," Cody said.
Anyone can participate, children included. This year there is only one child, but last year there were three. The number of people playing this year is the same as last year, but there are new participants.
"I think it's a really neat way for people to learn about the great men and women of the church, the people that set an example for us in our own time," Father Dean Einerson, of Saint Augustine's Church, said. "It's fun, it's silly, it's not like Lent but it's really what Lent's all about."
People have been reacting to Lent Madness like they would any other sport. Some people get really competitive and others get serious, but most people just have fun with it.
Einerson said he feels that everyone is learning more about the saints this way than they would have another way.
St. Matthias Episcopal Church in Minoqua picked up Lent Madness last year as well.
Anyone can log on to www.lentmadness.org to learn more about Lent Madness, see who is winning and vote.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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