The Irish Jesuits are claiming a World Wide Web hit with a site that invites you to let your fingers do the praying.
Almost 300,000 people have visited www.sacredspace.ie since the site was opened on Shrove Tuesday last year, according to the Irish Jesuits. Now, they're gearing up for an anticipated 2,000 visitors a day over the Lenten period.
The Sacred Space Website invites Internet-users to "spend 10 minutes praying as you sit at your computer with the help of onscreen guidance and scripture chosen specially every day".
The director of the Jesuit Communication Centre, Father Alan McGuckian, said even they were surprised by the success of the site.
"We never imagined how well spirituality and this medium fit together. We've found the Internet allows for the kind of silence, focus and presence that are required for prayer," he said.
The site, which had been translated to Spanish and Irish and would soon be available in Portuguese, had drawn reaction from all over the world since it was launched.
"People who like it tend to tell their friends."
The site goes to great lengths to comfort nervous visitors.
"It might seem strange to pray at your computer . . . especially if there are other people around you, or distracting noises; but God is everywhere, all around us, even in the most unlikely situations," Father McGuckian said.
It features tips on how to pray and allows the user to "Pray with the Pope". Devotees can also do a "review of consciousness" online.
The Jesuits have started a drive to promote Sacred Space over Lent. An advertising campaign on Dublin Bus, which started on Monday, will continue until a few days after Ash Wednesday.
In the feedback section of the site, one 82-year-old enthusiast from Philadelphia in the United States, proclaims: "I have replaced the New York Times with Sacred Space and find the change enormously gratifying. In return I ask the Holy Spirit to encourage vocations to the Jesuit order."
Internet: www.jesuit.ie/prayer/ - www.sacredspace.ie
Roddy O'Sullivan is contactable at roddyosullivan@ireland.com
