Lent Madness: Clare vs. William Tyndale

The race to the Final Four continues with Clare vs. William Tyndale. Companion of St. Francis vs. Biblical translator. Natural death vs. martyrdom. Patron Saint of Television vs. Bible guy.

In recent action Perpetua made quick work of Vincent of Saragossa 69% to 31%. Click Lent Madness 2011 to view the updated tournament bracket. And stay tuned tomorrow for the last matchup of the Round of the Elate Eight as Thomas Becket battles Constance. Show me some kitsch!

Clare is on display as shown above — well her dead body with a wax mask — at the Basilica di Santa Chiara in Assisi, Italy. I won’t begrudge others’ devotional practices but you have to admit that it’s slightly creepy. Let the woman rest in peace!

Here she is holding a giant monstrance. Accurate? Well, no, but legend has it that when an invading army scaled the walls of her convent she went to the chapel and held up the sacrament to repel them. And it worked.

Clare’s also popular in pop culture since she is the Patron Saint of Television. Why? Because when she was too ill to attend services the liturgy appeared on the wall of her cell. No word on whether it came in High Definition.

Finally, Clare is the Patron Saint of Needleworks. Which is fine since many churchy types like to knit or do needlepoint to stave off boredom at meetings (for the rest of us, this is why God invented the smart phone). This particular figure, however, look more like a 1950s Martian than a nice old woman knitting a pair of socks for her grandchildren.

William Tyndale kitsch is harder to come by. We’ll start with a DVD from the “Reformation Bookstore” titled “The William Tyndale Story.” Here is looking a bit haggard (albeit with a fashionable goatee) running from those who accused him of being a heretic for translating the Bible into English.

Another view of Tyndale from a movie (or a book — it’s hard to tell) called “God’s Outlaw.” I’m not sure why they insist on portraying him as the unabomber but whatever.

Finally, I’m not sure how Tyndale himself would feel about his Bible as an E-book. I assume he’d be delighted. So that’s all I’ve got for Tyndale kitsch. You try to do better.

Vote!

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