Want to pray the Rosary? There's an app for that

What better way to compliment your $1,500 pair of “Jesus Shoes” than with an eRosary dangling from your wrist? This week, the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (a real thing) launched a new Bluetooth device that’s essentially a “smart rosary” that tracks how often you pray for peace on Earth. The eRosary is worn as a bracelet and activated by making a the sign of a cross. And, because one should be both spiritually and physically fit, it’s also a fitness tracker.

The device is comprised of 10 black gate and hematite rosary beads, while the eRosary’s metal cross is where the device’s “smarts” come in. After activated via cross signage, a user can swipe through the corresponding “Click To Pray eRosary” app and choose to pray a standard rosary, a contemplative rosary, or a thematic rosary. According to Vatican News, “once the prayer begins, the smart rosary shows the user’s progress throughout the different mysteries and keeps track of each rosary completed.” There’s also a visual and audio guide to explain the rosary, should the spirit fail to enlighten you.

Reviews of the eRosary’s app on Google Play and the Apple Store are positive, though a user named tomdoyle1948 seems concerned with the “privacy of prayer” not being respected due to an email sign-up requirement. The eRosary was designed by tech company GadgeTek, a division of Acer, and is priced at $109. It also comes packaged in a fake bible, which seems wrong somehow. The eRosary is currently only on sale through Amazon Italy and Acer’s Italian webstore.

It should also be noted that this isn’t the first time religion has blessed technology, as seen with the Catholic Pokemon Go! spin-off, Follow JC Go!, that time Pope Francis blessed an eScooter, and this video of a preacher speaking in tongues while browsing on his phone.