A new Christian-themed app aims to encourage people to rise up to the challenge of “competing” in the so-called Rosary Olympics in parallel to the Olympic Games occurring at the same time in Paris.
Spearheaded by the Christian-based Hosana network, the <mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><a href="https://shorturl.at/UJiwo">Rosario app</a> </mark>allows participants to engage in the "spiritual endeavour" of what it is calling the Rosary Olympics, which challenges someone with a bit of “competition spirit” to be a "Rosary athlete" and pray the Rosary with increasing intensity throughout the duration of the actual Olympic Games occurring in the French capital from July 26 to August 11.
The endeavour has arguably gained added resonance following the sordid and farcical scenes that marred the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris and shocked many across the world, when a parody of the Last Supper was staged involving drag queens and lascivious content.
“Hozana is not here to take a position on what happened at the Olympics' opening ceremony but rather to remain the digital infrastructure at the service of the Church's vital forces,” Cassandre Verhelst, the head of the Anglophone edition of the Hozana Association that is behind the app and the idea of the Rosary Olympics, tells the <em>Catholic Herald</em>.
Though she notes that the new app is certainly relevant when it comes to engaging with the disturbing fallout from what occurred during the ceremony.
“If there are propositions and initiatives to do novenas of reparation for the sad scenes that occurred during the ceremony, or to pray for the conversion and the souls of those organising the Olympics, then they can be created and shared through our app,” Verhelst says.
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The Rosario app and Rosary Olympics initiative invites users “to channel the same dedication athletes show into our prayer life, honouring the Virgin Mary with each heartfelt prayer”.
It involves a “A Spiritual Training Plan” that "mirrors" the incremental training of an athlete, whereby the user of the app starts with a single decade of the Rosary each day.
As the Olympic Games progress, the prayers will intensify, eventually encompassing the full five decades of the Rosary daily.
The spiritual training plan also involves a coach, the app's creators note: the Virgin Mary.
“Our Blessed Mother encourages us to pray, guiding us closer to God through each prayer,” says the Hozana Association. “The inspiring feats of the athletes remind us to commit ourselves fully to Jesus. By embracing this spiritual challenge, we not only honour the Virgin Mary but also strengthen our faith and dedication. May this journey bring us all closer to Christ."
Hozana is an organisation run by Catholic laypeople with an ecumenical perspective. Its mission, its website states, is to help everyone get closer to Jesus, by creating a wide selection of prayer communities on the Internet. <br><br>The organisation manages the website Hozana.org, which enables anyone to join and create prayer communities with various themes such as intentions, meditations and teachings, while offering prayers and novenas to take part in for all manner of topics ranging from "Peace in the Holy Land" to "Finding a Spouse". The organisation also manages the Hozana App which enables and encourages people to pray among friends.
“Don’t take on this challenge alone," the Hozana Association says of its Rosario app and the Rosary Olympics. "Invite your loved ones to be Rosary athletes together!" <br><br><em>Photo: Screenshot from <a href="https://hozana.org/en/communities/virgin-mary"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">hozana.org</mark></a> showing some of the prayers and novenas offered that are related to the Virgin Mary. </em>
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