Can the internet help you to pray? Last Sunday at St Chrysostom’s we started ‘Second Cup’ – a series of occasional meetings after Mass open to all and on topics of interest to our Christian lives. About 14 of us met for a quarter of an hour and talked about “praying electronically” – or using the internet as a source of prayer.
We talked about iBreviary, Sacred Space and Common Worship – please see below for links. We discussed how they can help us in our prayer lives.
We spent a little time considering the pros and cons of using the internet – familiarity, and distraction, among them. But as one person remarked most of these apply to whatever we use to help us to pray.
We wondered a little about the wordiness of the sites, and it was suggested that folk could always prune back – so perhaps say one or two of the set psalms. Quality of prayer over quantity! It was also noted that some sites are interactive, which can alleviate the feeling of being alone at prayer.
iBreviary, and Common Worship provide traditional texts to pray with, they also have apps for mobile use. Sacred Space allows for more space and experimentation in prayer, and there is an app for it too.
To encourage us during August we are inviting all who wish to pray Vespers at 5pm using iBreviary. We’re putting up a list for people to volunteer for a day or for as many days as they wish. That way we will know our offering of prayer by St Chrysostom’s at 5pm is still being offered – albeit at a distance, in August. And – very kindly – someone, who is already quite busy – has offered already to join every day in August at 5pm. How kind!
Here are the links: iBreviary , Sacred Space, and Common Worship New App
And for those who are fond of the rosary click here.
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