St Clement 

2nd Annual

Lent Saint Madness

Who is your favorite saint?  Do you have a saint you turn to in prayer?  What about the life of a saint that has inspired you?  Did your family turn to a saint when you were a child?  Did you say the chant, "Tony, Tony turn around something is lost and cannot be found." to invoke St. Anthony's help find a precious item?  Maybe your mother or mother-in-law prayed to St. Gerard, the patron of expectant mothers.

        Lent Saint Madness begins with individuals nominating a favorite saint (only one nomination person).  With the nomination, you state the reason you are nominating this saint.  Why?  So, your devotion and/or knowledge can inspire others and provide a basis for voting.  

         This year has a twist.  It will be female saints against male saints.  Extra points will be given as follows:

Franciscan: 5 points

Doctor of the Church: 4 points

Martyr: 3 points

Nomination written cleverly according using the "St. Clement Lent Saint Madness" theme: 2 points

Nomination written with a good personal story: 1 to 3 points (determined by committee)

Once the bracket of 32 saints is posted, voting begins on Ash Wednesday.  Voting will be online through this blog, Facebook, Twitter as well as on paper.  The paper copy of the bracket of 32 saints and voting sheets will be available in the back of church.  Information about the saints will be available online through this blogpost, shared on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and posted in church.  Voting will begin with all 32 saints facing off in pairs leading to the Sweet Sixteen.  Then the real fun begins.  The winners can update their nominations by trying to sway voters to choose their saints.  This can be done in person, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and on this blog.  The next vote leads to the Elite 8 and more invitations to sway voters to select your saint to be in the Final 4.  More words of promotion are encouraged from the 4 winners so that that their nominated saint makes the Championship Round.  Lastly, the final two saints compete for the 2020 Championship Halo and more words of friendly competition are encouraged from the nominees to persuade voters to choose their saint.  The winner will be announced at Mass on Palm Sunday as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

          St. Clement Lent Saint Madness began with a conversation in an airport with another person of faith.  Colleen Gerke and this person were sharing the various types of events that they participate in their faith community.  This person shared about a well-established and popular saint competition through the Episcopal Church.  She even thought there was a Catholic version.  Colleen was not able to find a Catholic version but shared the idea with the St. Clement Faith Formation Team in 2018 and they decided to give it a try during Lent of 2019.  You can see the Episcopalian website here, https://www.lentmadness.org/.