Kelli+Bonner+ARTICLE+for+Publication

Online Rosary [|www.saintceciliarosarycircle.blogspot.com]

Kelli Bonner 239/936-3635 ext 20 kbonner@saintcecilias.net

As a Director of Faith Formation, I am always looking for ways, new or tried-and-true, to enrich the faith lives of the people in our parish and community. Like the teacher who always has students in mind, this “mode” cannot be turned off. When I first thought about using technology in ministry, the first concept that came to mind was increasing prayer time, thus increasing prayer life. The Rosary is such a vital part of a Catholic’s prayer life that it is a logical place to begin. Its structure easily lends itself to digital sharing. It is an idea that stuck, as I have revisited it many, many times.

I wanted to create a space online, where visitors could pray. At first, I thought that would be a Wiki. That idea faded fast, as it doesn’t quite fit structurally and I would have to train the parish on how to use it. I needed something more familiar and simple. I finally decided that a blog would be appropriate in that it would be easily accessible, like a web page, and the content (narration and visuals) could be divided into each set of Mysteries contained in their own pages, or tabs, in the blog.

The final project is a Rosary of visuals and narration, with prayer dedications and petitions, that aims to provide an online place for people to gather in prayer, through time and space. It is my hope that the Rosary will be prayed by our parish’s web site users, including parishioners, seasonal residents, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, small faith communities, and shut-ins.

It’s probably a good idea to get your parish’s Rosary group leader on board to gain access to regular pray-ers to narrate the prayers and share practical advice. You may also find writers who may wish to become involved as contributors in this group so dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary. Solicit permission from your pastor, find out who your webmaster is, and you’re ready to begin.

Here’s the creation process, step-by-step:

Consider the four sets of Mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous, and Glorious) as you assemble a collection of photographs. Decide whether your Rosary will include sites from your campus, surrounding municipalities, the diocese, or famous holy sites across your state, the nation, or abroad. I suggest at least two photographs for each Mystery.
 * Assemble a digital photo library.**

You will need images that lead the faithful to meditate on the following Mysteries:

The Joyful Mysteries are prayed on Mondays and Saturdays. You will need photographs to reflect The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Nativity, The Presentation at the Temple, and The Finding of Jesus in the Temple.

The Luminous Mysteries are prayed on Thursdays. You will need photographs to reflect The Baptism of Jesus, The Wedding of Cana, The Proclamation of the Kingdom, The Transfiguration, and The Institution of the Eucharist.

The Sorrowful Mysteries are prayed on Tuesdays and Fridays. You will need photographs to reflect The Agony of Jesus in the Garden, The Scourging of Jesus at Pillar, The Crowning with Thorns, Jesus Carrying the Cross, and The Crucifixion.

The Glorious Mysteries are prayed on Wednesdays and Sundays. You will need photographs to reflect The Resurrection of Jesus, The Ascension of Jesus, The Descent of Holy Spirit, The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, and The Coronation of Blessed Virgin Mary.

Begin by creating a PowerPoint slide show of each set of Mysteries. Label each show with its Mysteries and each slide with its respective Mystery and photo location. Record the narration. This can easily be done on your cell phone as you or your narrators pray. Record in sections so the audio will be small enough to transfer to your computer (via e-mail) and manipulate into a movie later. Once the PowerPoint files and recordings are complete, merge them. I wanted to create a video with sound, adding the sound was my biggest challenge. After creating the PowerPoint, I attempted to add sound in the free online presentation tool, [|Presentation Tube]. This application, a lot like [|YouTube], will allow you to dub in sound as a PowerPoint scrolls. The challenges that arose were a fan noise that came through and ill formatted visual playback. A blessing of performing this exercise is that Presentation Tube automatically saves each slide, in order, as a jpeg. You will find these in the folder that saves along with the presentation video. Keep the folders of jpegs for later use. Merge your audio and slides by creating a video. I used Microsoft’s [|MovieMaker], which is free to upload from Microsoft’s web site. It uses a drag-and-drop process to sync slides and audio. Simply load your slides as jpegs, then drag in the audio beneath. The editing buttons across the top are clearly marked and offer no nonsense. You may even edit your sound files as you go, within MovieMaker. Save your finished movie projects in both small and large files. You will find later that the blog may have size limitations.
 * Create a video of each Mystery’s Rosary.**

A blog fits the organizational elements of the Rosary. Choose a blog format to accommodate the addition of a page for each of the sets of Mysteries and any other informational tabs you wish to include. [|Blogger] best fits this need, for which you will need to establish a free account through Google. Your notifications to moderate any comments will come to this Gmail account. The “design” tab will become your best friend, as you try out the many templates and gadgets that Blogger makes available. Make use of the hit counter and comments sections. You can set your blog so it will not count yourself as a visitor. Once you have all your tabs and settings in place, enter your general information. Upload the videos you have made to their respective pages. You will find that video on Blogger will not play on Apple devices. A way around this is to upload your videos to [|Vimeo], providing an alternate link beneath each uploaded video. A blessing of Vimeo is that it will record and play back in HD, provided a better quality for viewing. Again, you will need to create an account to use this service. One may upload 500 mb per week for free. Since the movie files you create are large, planning is important as you will need to wait a week between uploads, of which you will have four.
 * Set up your Rosary in a blog.**

Proofread and edit your print work as needed. Visit your blog from many devices to test functionality. Share your blog with your narrators and parish staff to get feedback. Make adjustments accordingly. Share the completed blog with your pastor and request approval for a link on the parish web site.
 * Check your work.**

Once the online Rosary is linked to the parish web site, publicize it. Create flyers using Word and/or Publisher. Distribute at Masses, in the parish office, and/or as a bulletin insert. Submit an announcement to appear in your parish bulletin. E-mail parish staff, faith formation, sacramental preparation, and youth group families, RCIA Team members and participants, adult faith formation and Bible study participants. In all these outreach efforts, provide links to the parish web site (mine is here [|http://www.saintcecilias.com]) and directly to the Rosary blog (which is found here []. This Online Rosary is scheduled to go “live” for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. There is also a parish event which is a “Living Rosary” taking place as well. The Online Rosary will play in the main gathering area of the parish hall, just as it appears on the Internet. Another way to spread the word is to schedule daily posts on the parish Facebook page, reminding Facebookers which Mysteries to pray each day and providing the appropriate links to each day’s prayer tab.
 * Publicize your project.**

With regard to media technology, we are encouraged by the International Society for Technology in Education in their [|National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers]. Among others, the standards encourage us to Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences, to Model Digital Age Work and Learning, to Promote and Model Digital Citizenship, and to Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. These particular standards appeal to me in that they reflect my own goals.
 * For Your Protection.**

With regard to the use of social technology in Church ministry, we have the guiding hand of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In its [|Social Media Guidelines, the USCCB] offers the opportunities and challenges of visibility, community, and accountability. The Internet and social media may be used to effectively increase exposure of ministry. In theory, a tiny ministry movement may get the same exposure as its larger entity. While building community online, this translates into a huge responsibility in providing relevant and appropriate information while responding to the needs of those engaged.

This project requires skill in many different facets of technology (at least ten) as well as in organizing time, resources, and people. It also requires prayer. This project itself is a precious prayer given to us by our Blessed Mother. Throughout completion of this project, I have prayed the Rosary more often than I ever had before—multiple times a day. Because of this process, I’ve learned much about prayer and prayed much about learning. May you do the same.

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