Leave Your Intention at the Tone

By: Megan Furtado
Posted In: News

Anyone who visits the Ochre Court chapel may have noticed a book sitting in front of the tabernacle in the back of the room, behind the alter and to the left upon entering. The book has been used through the years for prayer intentions for students and faculty, who wish to remain anonymous, but as an offering for friends, family, and other concerns. In this age of technology, however, things were bound to speed up, and Salve Regina University’s Campus Ministry is offering a new way for students and faculty to submit prayer intentions, and to bind the Salve community together as a spiritual whole – the PRAYer Line.

With the help of telecom office worker Carmel Dietrick, Campus Ministry has established a public extension as part of the main school line, which leads directly to their offices and an answering service. The line, known as the PRAYer Line, is an anonymous way for students and faculty to submit a prayer intention to Campus Ministry. The object is very simple: an individual calls the Line and leaves an anonymous message, say, “Pray for Joe, who has mono.” Father John Codega, Salve Regina University chaplain, checks the messages on a daily basis and records the intentions. These intentions are passed on to several members – students, faculty, and staff – involved in Campus Ministry, who agree to pray for these intentions on a daily basis. The intentions are also remembered at weekly, and sometimes even daily, masses.

“To date, requests have ranged from prayers for parents of students who have been diagnosed with cancer, to friends of community members who need special prayers for illnesses, and a prayer for a young girl who is suffering from MS (multiple sclerosis),” says Fr. Codega, “Some prayer is pretty simple – ‘Please pray for John Smith.’ Others are much more specific.”

As awareness of the PRAYer Line increases and more students become involved, Campus Ministry hopes to create an “email tree” for the prayer line. With the email tree, Campus Ministry will call on its members via email to say prayers for the intentions left on the PRAYer Line, providing quicker access to members and encouraging more members of the Salve community to help one another through the power of prayer.

Leaving a message on the PRAYer Line is simple – from a Salve phone, just dial ext. 7729 (PRAY). If you are interested in becoming a member of the PRAYer Group, lead by Campus Ministry, to pray for those who leave intentions on the PRAYer Line, leave your contact information on the Line for further action.

Father Codega adds, “Our motto could best be described as ‘Prayer Works – give it a try.”