Lent Madness: Cuthman vs Leoba
No surprise that Chief Seattle has taken his place in the next round of Lent Madness. Poor Botulph, it wasn’t even close.
So another day,, and two wonderful saints that most of us have never heard of until now. God is indeed good.
I can’t add much to the lovely story of St. Cuthman except to say that I discovered he is still well remembered in Steyning Parish Church, a short distance from Worthing in the south of England. He was also remembered in a play called The Boy With the Cart: Cuthman, Saint of Sussex. You can hear a short piece of audio from that play in which Richard Burton reads the story of how Christ the carpenter helped Cuthman build his church.
While Cuthman was a simple and holy man, and very much a local saint, Leoba on the other hand was a wise and learned theologian. If she was alive today, she would doubtless be a respected seminary professor, going to international conferences. It’s always revelatory to realize that, with the constraints of gender in the early centuries of the church, women could be revered and respected voices.
There’s a slight crossover with JS Bach, in that both have connections to Fulda in Germany.
I have predicted Cuthman to get the win here, based largely on the charm of his devotion to his mom, but we’ll see.
You can vote here: https://www.lentmadness.org/2023/03/cuthmann-of-steyning-v-leoba/#more-22228
Blessings this day, MP+
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