Elate 8: Albert Schweitzer v Joseph Vaz
The Elate Eight round! Here we go with the quarter finals! Download your updated fixture list here and fill in the results! Vote now! Albert Schweitzer v Joseph Vaz Albert Schweitzer Things DO NOT HAPPEN FOR A REASON (unless you are playing a board game that is, and that’s usually because you didn’t roll good […]
Saintly 16: Clare of Assisi v Jackson Kemper
The final showdown of the Saintly Sixteen! Clare of Assisi v Jackson Kemper Clare of Assisi Following her death, the order she founded was renamed in her honour as the Order of Saint Clare, commonly referred to today as the Poor Clares. For a short period, the order was directed by St Francis of Assisi. […]
Saintly 16: Rita v Julian of Norwich
The last but one bout of the Saintly Sixteen Rita v Julian of Norwich Rita Rita is the patron saint of sterility, abuse victims, loneliness, marriage difficulties, parenthood, widows, the sick, bodily ills, and wounds. On the day after her baptism, her family noticed a swarm of white bees flying around her as she slept […]
Saintly 16: William Byrd v Gertrude the Great
Byrdie v Gertie! William Byrd v Gertrude the Great William Byrd Best known for his development of the English madrigal. Byrd wrote extensively for every medium then available except, it seems, the lute. He managed to remain on the payroll of Lincoln Cathedral for ten years after moving to London. In 1923, the tercentenary of Byrd’s […]
Saintly 16: Joseph Vaz v Piran of Cornwall
Showdown 5 in the Saintly Sixteen Joseph Vaz v Piran of Cornwall Joseph Vaz A local legend has it that while Vaz was serving as a parish priest, a few Hindus arrived in the night, asking him to accompany them to administer final sacraments to a sick parishioner. The men had conspired to slay the […]
Saintly 16: Barbara v Cyprian
Barbara v Cyprian Barbara Venerated as one of the 14 Auxiliary Saints (Holy Helpers), Barbara is invoked in thunderstorms and is the patron saint of armourers, artillerymen, architects, mathematicians and miners. Some accounts name the ancient Egyptian city of Heliopolis, others Nicomedia or a town in Tuscany, as the scene of her sufferings. She was baptised by a priest […]
Saintly 16: Kassia v Joseph of Arimathea
The third bout in the Saintly Sixteen round Kassia v Joseph of Arimathea Kassia Many epigrams and gnomic verses are attributed to her, at least 261. The earliest surviving manuscripts of her works are dated centuries after her lifetime. Kassia wrote many hymns which are still used in the Byzantine liturgy to this day. At least twenty-three genuine hymns are […]
Saintly 16: Rose of Lima v Polycarp
The second bout of the second round Saintly 16: Rose of Lima v Polycarp Rose of Lima Rose is the patron saint of embroidery, gardening and cultivation of blooming flowers. She is the first person born in the Americas to be raised to sainthood. Rose is also a co-patroness of the Philippines along with Pudentiana, patroness […]
It’s the first battle of the Saintly Sixteen: Thomas Cranmer v Albert Schweitzer!
Kicking off the Saintly Sixteen round Welcome to the Saintly Sixteen! We have now cut the field of 32 saints in half. 16 remain and one of these inspiring souls will eventually be crowned with the 2024 Golden Halo. We kick things off with Thomas Cranmer facing Albert Schweitzer, with the first spot in the […]
Rafqa of Lebanon v Clare of Assisi
Today it’s two nuns from either side of the Mediterranean Rafqa of Lebanon v Clare of Assisi Rafqa of Lebanon Rafqa Pietra Chobok (29th June 1832 – 23rd March 1914) was a Lebanese Maronite nun who was canonised by Pope John Paul II on 10th June 2001. She is a patron of lost parents and the sick. Rafka was born in […]