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Do you prefer praying with electronic devices? NO.
Do you find them distracting? YES. I can’t STAND it when people use their smartphones in Adoration. It’s even worse when cell phones ring during Adoration – that scares the living daylights out of me and really ticks me off.
Sorry for being so blunt but it’s the truth.
I am going to be 68 soon. I have a lot of floaters in both eyes, and cataracts forming in both as well. For seniors with vision problems, I believe the Kindle is a Godsend (pardon the pun). I have an expensive and beautiful missal and bible, but the print (allegedly large) is hard to read, they are getting heavy to hold, and I get frustrated trying to read concentrate while trying to look beyond the floaters. E readers can adjust the back lighting, the text size, etc. So, I believe they are a welcome option for the elderly and visually impaired, and should not be looked upon as a distracting to others for being used.
I pray with my smartphone most of the time. After reading this article, I think I will start turning to the standard paper Bible and Divine Office. I hadn’t considered the quietness that is needed for prayer above convenience. We are to be in communion with God, not the next notification that comes across our screen or phone call that might come in. It is like starting a conversation with a loved one, and then ending the conversation when the next distraction comes along. Very rude! We wouldn’t do it to a loved one, why God?
My temperament fortunately allows me to easily ignore oncoming distractions, even if not turned off electronically. That’s not my issue with praying using electronic means as a matter of course. It’s recognizing the quietness that comes with “standard paper,” especially when praying the Divine Office. Go Psalms! 🙂
…he wrote on his blog, which was read on an ipad. I think most people don’t realize that the book, the printed word itself, was once very, very high tech. They were ground breaking and history altering. Books were the iphones of the 15th century. That they are commonplace a few hundred years later makes this fact lost on many people.
If you like “real” books, so be it. Read them. But most everyone who says a Kindle or reading on an iphone is bad, or somehow takes away from the experience, hasn’t really used them. I am personally not distracted by other things when I read on my phone.
I find the Laudate app amazing. Two Bibles, the Catechism, the Missal, hundreds of prayers, virtual rosaries, daily readings, saints of the day, stations of the cross, encyclicals, etc, all at the tip of my finger and all in my front pocket.
I use it everyday and I read more because of it and the Kindle app. And the Kindle app is accessible over multiple devices. Start reading on my phone, pick up my ipad when I get home and it remembers where I was in the latest Scott Hahn book. Amazing. Much easier than lugging 15 pounds worth of books everywhere. This is just new tech and the push back against it is understandable but not really founded on anything except that it’s new.
I fully agree it’s wonderful to have access to so many books all at once via electronic means. There’s nothing like using online resources to hunt down information. Anything meriting further study, of course, I usually print out and work from a printed copy 🙂 Reading printed books is certainly high tech, compared to manuscripts and scrolls, needing quite an adjustment, back in the day. The “great experiment” of reading solely by electronics is being faithfully carried out all over the world. It remains to be see what effect reading via screen will have on the eyes and brain in the long run. Where I can read for hours from a book, I cannot do the same with my computer monitor or handheld. I pay for attempts at long screen time with posture and blurred vision after awhile. More to the point, I don’t find my connection with God is the same electronically as it is with the printed word. Maybe that’s me. To each one’s own. . .
I don’t know about altar missals, but I heard that an electronic lectionary would not be allowed. Something about how it has to be “set aside” for that specific purpose, and since e-readers (and especially tablet computers!) tend to be multipurpose devices, they would be inappropriate. I imagine the same would apply to an altar missal.
Here are some related links!
“Using an iPad at the Gospel”
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=119795
“Is the use of an iPad for Mass readings appropriate?”
http://www.catholiccourier.com/commentary/other-columnists/is-the-use-of-an-ipad-for-mass-readings-appropriate/#sthash.4dhfDPnl.dpuf
“Vatican Consultant Develops Mass App to Let Priests Use iPads at the Altar”
http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/article/2010-06/italian-priest-brings-catholic-mass-ipad
I bought the iRosary app when I was new in the faith because, ironically, it was less distracting that using a paper version of “How to Pray the Rosary.” I didn’t like fumbling back and forth through the pages while I tried to learn the Rosary.
It could be a generational thing, but even when I pray using the iMissal, I am not distracted or tempted in any way to check Facebook or my email. My notifications are always off because I hate getting annoying alerts all throughout the day.
Yeah, I agree with this completely. Having the smartphone or tablet is okay because it allows you access to a whole range of good options- prayer and spiritual reading, but really it is a huge distraction.
That being said, I do use my iPhone to pray the rosary when I am struggling with the prayer. I have a wonderful app with audio that I just turn on and pray with. Also, I have another app, called “Mea Culpa,” that can be used for Confession. I don’t take it into the Confessional with me, but I do use it during the week for my daily examination of conscience and I can keep track of what I need to confess in my confession. Although, I still take time to do an examination in church to listen to the Holy Spirit and see if there is anything else that He says I must confess.
So, all that said, I think there are legitimate uses for smartphones and tablets in the spiritual journey, but they shouldn’t be the first thing we go to. Also, since we’re a Carrington Event from losing all that, it would be best to not rely on it anyway. 😉
Though I appreciate all the downsides to using my iPhone during mass or when praying with a group, I am mature enough to put my device into Airplane Mode during these moments.
I LOVE following the Sunday readings in mass. It keeps me focused on the words and doesn’t allow my mind to wonder. As for praying specific Catholic prayers I need my device to help facilitate these prayers. Over time I am able to memorize them and then I don’t need the iPhone as much (the Rosary for example). I will also use prayer apps when praying for specific things or people. The convenience of having everything available in such a small device has helped me grow in my faith.
Electronic media is here to stay and if the Church desires it’s members to learn more and more about the faith we have to allow these devices into mass and prayer times…as long as they truly are not a distraction.
My opinion is close to autor’s one. I prefer to old fashion praying – standart Bible, regular breviary. But sometimes I want to pray for example breviary but I don’t have it, so then I turn on electronical breviary on my smartphone. It’s sometimes very usefull 😉
There is something unique and (EXTRAordinary) about a good old-fashioned, paper bound book! Electronics certainly have their uses I readily admit. For cultivating a relationship with the Holy Spirit, however, there’s nothing like a precious book of prayers. Nothing short of printed out prayers made into a little booklet will do. Imagine your descendants oohing and ahhhing over a scratched up, beaten up old electronic device with prayers (if it still works) versus a small worn leather (or leather-like) bound book with illustrations and quaint (font) writing. Which do you think you would hold with more reverence?
I appreciate being able to pray the Rosary, Divine Mercy or listen to Bp Fulton Sheen etc while driving. I also use the apps for daily Mass and am not distracted as I have notifications turned off. The wealth of Catholic blogs, prayers, books and articles available, means I am always able to be inspired on the bus, waiting to collect children etc.
I would not be without my iphone!