Last Friday, the Jamaica Plan (NY) Gazette published an upbeat article on the Daughters of St. Paul, whose motherhouse is located in Jamaica Plain. The Daughters are known for their use of the media in spreading the Catholic faith.

The article, entitled “High-tech nuns living on the edge (of JP),” highlights many of the Daughters’ projects, including their award-winning “Ask a Catholic Nun” page on Facebook, which has 13,745 fans.  

What particularly struck me, however, was the discussion of  the Daughters’ expansion into the world of smartphone apps:

“There is a whole new audience, a whole new space to share with God,” Sister Kathryn said. “People can snatch a few moments here and there to commune with God,” she added, showing off their latest app, “Beginning Contemplative Prayer,” a companion app to Sister Kathryn’s book of the same name.

The app boasts eight 25-minute audio prayers, prayer ideas and a five-week personal plan for growth in contemplative prayer, which includes a different morning, midday, and evening prayer for each week. Sister Kathryn has written several books, mostly self-help books, for Pauline Books, their publishing arm.

Another of their apps features the Rosary being prayed out loud. It has an email function that allows the user to let others know that a prayer has been offered on their behalf.

“We pray while we create these things and we pray for the people who will receive them,” said Sister Patricia, who works on the apps.