New Internet Service Delivers Online Blessing To Christians — For $10

Mr. Said Salem, a spokesman for Modefine Ltd., a Cyprus-based company which recently launched the service, said the $10 per prayer fee "covers system costs, not the prayer, which is free."

Oh.

Here's yesterday's Associated Press story by Ben Hubbard about the new new thing in prayer.

Blessing by Internet less expensive than pilgrimage

Dressed in his embroidered robes, Rev. Andreas Elime [top] steps from the altar of St. Gabriel's Church and into the view of the web cams on the church's marble pillars.

His voice fills the empty 250-year-old sanctuary with a Greek Orthodox hymn, while a computer on a nearby pew transmits personal blessings to three Americans thousands of kilometres away.

Christian pilgrims have long travelled to the boyhood town of Jesus Christ to seek blessings. Now the Internet can save them the trip.

A service launched by Modefine Ltd., a Cyprus company, enables worshippers to log on and watch as a priest utters a prayer for them.

"This takes things to a new level," said James Martin, a Jesuit priest and associate editor of the Roman Catholic magazine America, who has watched religious trends develop on the Internet.

Martin said in a telephone interview that the technology also gives believers a new way to carry out an old practice: asking others to pray for them in sacred places.

"Going to Israel is quite expensive," said Martin. "So for people who can't afford it but can afford their monthly (Internet) bill, this is one way to do it."

Since opening on May 1, the site has fielded hundreds of requests, 70 per cent from Americans but also from Hong Kong, India, Mexico and Australia, said Said Salem, Modefine's Holy Land representative.

Martin's only concern was the fee — US$10 per prayer. Salem said it covers system costs, not the prayer, which is free.

"If you come from Jerusalem to get the priest to pay for you, you don't expect the priest to pay for the taxi," Salem said. "We are the taxi." He said he hoped the service would eventually raise funds for the Nazareth Christian Community.

After the opening hymn, Elime prays for mercy, health, peace, forgiveness and salvation. He does services in English, Greek, Arabic and Russian, he said, depending on the the request. He reads the first names on that day's list, lighting a candle for each. A short benediction closes the service, which lasts about four minutes.

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The legend accompanying the photo up top reads, "Greek Orthodox priest Andreas Elime prays near a laptop computer in the Basilica of the Anunciation in the northern Israeli town of Nazareth. Christians can save themselves a trip to Jesus' boyhood home with an Internet service that lets worshipers watch online as a priest utters a prayer for them."

I wish I had better computer skills so I could wander around Second Life to see what's available in the way of prayers and whatnot.

As it is now, my avatar just kind of stands there in his default T-shirt and jeans, looking stupid.

You sure that's your avatar, joe?