Thanksgiving Mass as Pray-as-you-go hits 12m downloads

The British Jesuits have used the Feast of St Francis Xavier as an opportunity to say thank you to all those who have supported and contributed to Pray-as-you-go over the past three and a half years.

Bishop John Arnold, Auxiliary in Westminster, was the principal celebrant at a special Mass celebrated at Farm Street Church.  With him on the sanctuary were the British Jesuit Provincial, Very Reverend Michael Holman SJ, who preached; Fr Peter Scally SJ, the Director of Jesuit Media Initiatives which is responsible for developing Pray-as-you-go; Fr Antoine Kerhuel SJ, who is the Jesuit General's Assistant for Western Europe, based in Rome; and Farm Street Parish Priest, Fr William Pearsall SJ.

The Mass of Thanksgiving coincided with the news that the number of downloads had exceeded 12 million since Pray-as-you-go was launched in Lent 2006.

Among the guests was composer Margaret Rizza, whose music is extensively used on Pray-as-you-go.  The liturgy included her setting of the Mass of the Bread of Life, performed by her singers and musicians.  Margaret studied at the Royal College of Music and taught at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London from 1977-1994.  Since 1983 she has dedicated herself to the work of spirituality and to the wider aspect of music in the community, leading many retreats and choral days.

Pray-as-you-go provides daily prayer in MP3 format for people travelling to and from work or at other times in their busy daily schedules.  In its first two years (by March 2008), over five million prayer sessions had been downloaded; a further seven million have been downloaded in the past 18 months.

Click on the link above to read the Provincial's homily.


 Pray-as-you-go