Are you ready for some FUN this Lent?
While Lent is usually associated with prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, thanks to our friends at Forward Movement, Lent also has a fun activity you can join along with: LENT MADNESS!
Lent Madness, much like its namesake March Madness, is a bracket-based competition, but instead of college basketball teams, it has thirty-two saints competing for the ultimate prize: the Golden Halo. Forward Movement asks for recommendations ahead of Lent, and from there they make the bracket with thirty-two worthy saints. You can see the current line-up of saints at lentmadness.org.
The brackets include impressive battles between saints like: John Wesley vs. Martin Luther, St. Peter vs. St. Paul, Richard Hooker vs. Thomas Cranmer, and newer saints like Elizabeth Ann Seton vs. Desmond Tutu. From each head-to-head paired matchup, one saint will advance to the next levels: the Saintly Sixteen, the Elate Eight, the Faithful Four, then the final matchup before the Golden Halo is crowned to the one worthiest saint.
How you can play along: grab a bracket (there will be extras on the stage in Hannaford Hall over the next week) or print one out yourself from lentmadness.org and fill out who you think will win. The Calvary Youth and Fearless Tweens have filled out their brackets, and we learned so much about the varied saints on the bracket. The Calvary youth are rooting for Blessed Gerard to win the Golden Halo, but there are many noble contenders this year!
Once Lent begins, go each day to lentmadness.org, and you can read about the saints who are matched up each day. Then cast your online vote for who you think should continue to the next round. After that, return the next day to see if your favorite made it to the next round! The voting continues each day until the final saint is given their Golden Halo.
Lent Madness is a fun way to learn about saints and how they helped shape the world they found themselves in to be a better and more loving world. Their stories are always inspiring and can give us a glimpse into how we might live a more holy Lent and saintly lives. If you’re still looking for a Lenten practice to take up, participating with Lent Madness could be the one for you by reading daily about the day’s saints, pondering their good works in the world, and voting for the one who you think is the most saintly. It’s a lighthearted way to think and learn about the Communion of Saints that came before us, and to ponder how we might be more like Christ by being more like those worthy saints.
This Lent, come join in the Lenten Madness fun! May the best saint win!
