From Catholic News Service

British Jesuits launch pod prayers for Lent

By Simon Caldwell - Catholic News Service

LONDON (CNS) -- British Jesuits have launched a high-tech prayer service to put people in touch with God via their iPods.

An initiative to offer commuters daily prayer sessions in MP3 format, as free downloads from the Internet, has proven to be an instant success, according to Jesuit Media Initiatives, which piloted the project called "Pray-As-You-Go" for Lent.

The Jesuits invited people from their parishes and schools in Britain to try the service using the audio files on their iPods, mobile phones or other MP3 players in an attempt to guide them through prayer on their daily journey to work, school or college.

On Ash Wednesday, March 1 -- the first day of the initiative -- 3,300 prayer sessions were downloaded from www.pray-as-you-go.org/ in countries as far away as Australia, Mexico and the United States. In the following eight days, 18,400 more sessions were downloaded, according to a press statement released by the British province of the Jesuits March 10.

Father Peter Scally, director of Jesuit Media Initiatives, said he had received many appreciative e-mails from users.

He said Brooks Thoman of Nipomo, Calif., called the service "awesome, wonderful, inspiring." Patrick Allen of San Jose, Calif., said, "This is the most beautifully produced prayer that I have ever heard. It touches me in ways that I never thought possible."

Audrey Newbury, a commuter from Harrow, a borough outside of London, said, "There is no better way to spend the tube journey home, after all the stresses of the day."

A new prayer session is offered every day, combining music, a short reading from the Scriptures and a few questions for personal reflection in a session of guided prayer that lasts 10-12 minutes.

The site also offers the option of using "Pray-As-You-Go" as a daily podcast with iTunes or other podcasting software, which automates the downloading process and keeps users up to date with the site's latest offering.

Father Scally said, "So many people have been enthused by 'Pray-As-You-Go' that we are left in no doubt that it is addressing a very real need in people's spiritual lives."

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