Tech Talk: Facebook for the Saints

As Catholics, we are part of the largest family of people the world has ever known. This family does not extend only to the over 1 billion living Catholics today, but also to the Saints and to the holy souls in/going through Purgatory. While we, the Church Militant, may be burdened by the constraints of time, those who have gone before us and are already with God are not. However, it just stinks that the vast majority of the Saints have not been afforded access to modern social communications. Granted, they are in full communion with the entire body of the Church and are fully enraptured within the Beatific Vision but still, it makes one wonder: what if the Saints had Facebook?

One day Dominic de Souza asked himself that very question and has since put together an amazing site called SaintNook. Dominic and a small, but dedicated team are endeavoring to provide the Saints with the kind of social connections platform that we all know and love. Each saint has their own profile page, with a listing of various biographical facts such as their canonization date (if available), their place and date of birth and death (if available), and various works written by them, etc. Like any social platform, each Saint also has friends, groups, and even a timeline to share wisdom with the Church Militant. Simply put, it is THE social network for the Saints.

Of course, staying in communication with all of these Saints and gathering their vital information is not easy. Those constrained by the effects of time only have limited availability to delve into the vast backgrounds of all the Saints and to keep their profiles up to date. After all, the Saints are non-corporeal until the Second Coming, so Dominic’s team has to update everything for them. Luckily, there is a way for a website or individual to “Adopt a Saint” in order to assist with getting their information added and up to date. This could be anything and everything from getting the Saint’s profile up to date, linking to or setting up profiles of friends, or even posting on behalf of the Saint on their timeline.

SaintNook is also beautifully designed and really does feel like the social network the Saints never had. Be sure to check them out, volunteer, and/or donate at http://www.saintnook.com .

What is your reason for not connecting with a Saint?

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