Benton man writes e-book for praying rosary

Mike Hart is rarely without his Kindle and now he can use it to pray the rosary

Published: June 25, 2011

By Phyllis Hemann
Associate Editor

This is the cover of the e-book "Pray the Rosary Bead by Bead: Formatted to Mimic Rosary Beads" by Mike Hart of Benton.

This is the cover of the e-book "Pray the Rosary Bead by Bead: Formatted to Mimic Rosary Beads" by Mike Hart of Benton.

With the release of his e-book that mimics rosary beads, Mike Hart of Benton hopes he inspires others to use e-readers to pray the rosary.

"There's no reason to limit your ability to pray. This opens a broader window to prayer. I think it's wonderful that people out there are using it. It feels good," he said.

"Pray the Rosary Bead by Bead: Formatted to Mimic Rosary Beads" uses pages for the rosary beads and the four mysteries — joyful, sorrowful, glorious and luminous. It has the biblical verses relating to the mysteries and spiritual quotes.

While it is formatted for the Amazon Kindle, Hart said users of smartphones and other tablets can use it through the free app that Kindle offers.

"As far as the device goes, it opens up more windows and opportunities for people. They can choose content that they want to read again and again," he said.

His brand of choice is the Kindle e-reader, and it's something he said he's rarely without these days.

"I tend to carry mine quite frequently. It's nice to have for those various times when you have to wait. On one device, you can carry everything you want to read. That started me thinking, what other ways would it be possible to pray the rosary," he said.

Since May was the month of Mary, Hart had been praying the rosary daily. He said that once he had the idea, he was programming it the next night

"It's designed with the idea that people carry their Kindle for reading. They might as well have the opportunity to pray the rosary."

It didn't hurt that he has a background in software developing. He currently works in technology for Arkansas Children's Hospital.

While he grew up Catholic, Hart was away from his faith for a time 15 years ago. For about three years, he went to non-denominational churches.

"I wasn't firm in my faith about Catholicism. I had a lack of knowledge about the Church. This was a growth period for me in understanding God and Scripture," he said. "God led me back to the Church through personal revelation. I always missed the Real Presence. There was always a gap there no matter where I went."

Once he returned, he said he wanted to know more about his faith.

"When I did come back, I got involved in studying theology to see why Catholics believed what we did," he said.

Now he's passing on some of what he's learned to others. He teaches PRE classes for high school students and in the RCIA program at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Benton.

The rosary e-book is also catching on. Recently it shot to the first spot on the Amazon Bestsellers Rank for the categories of prayer and Catholicism for e-books.

"I'm not one to paint God into a box and say if you are going to pray the rosary, you can only do it with the beads. Rosary beads are a tool," Hart said. "Anything can be holy. It's not about the beads or the Kindle. It is about God working through anything that God can call to us through and we seek him through."