“Text Mary” service brings prayer into digital age
Published: November 5, 2005
Roman Catholics seeking heavenly intercession can now text message the Virgin Mary from their mobile phones.
“Text Mary” allows users to send prayers via Short Message Service (SMS), which are then relayed to churches. Priests read the prayers during Mass.
The new service, introduced by local business Naimar Management Inc. under contract to churches, costs 2.5 pesos (5 yen) per prayer.
The service capitalizes on both Filipino’s religious ardor and their zeal for text messaging.
About 100 million SMS messages are sent in the Philippines every day-roughly twice the world average.
Since “Text Mary” started in August, about 300 petitions have been sent each day.
About 80 percent are money-related, said Paolo Reyes, Naimar’s managing director. They include pleas like, “I want to land a job,” “Please give me a strong mind so that I can overcome the difficulties resulting from debts,” and “I want to win at gambling.”
More puzzling for Reyes, 34, is that few of the messages have been about politics. The service was launched in the midst of a scandal involving President Gloria Arroyo.
However, mostly the petitions have been about more personal matters.
“I strongly feel that politics is far from people’s lives,” Reyes said. “I also feel that incidents broadcast on television news are those of a different world.”
“Text Mary” has won the approval of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. Reyes has never received complaints that the new service is imprudent, he said.
Reyes is now planning to expand the service to Filipinos who work overseas.
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