Posted on 31 July 2010, 4:35

The Poor Clares of York, who live an almost medieval lifestyle, have allowed a quiet invasion of technology into their convent. They’re getting breaking news and personal prayer requests on a new gadget, the Prayer Companion, seen above. The tiny strip of a screen keeps the sisters in touch without distracting them with poker sites and other web temptations.

They’ve christened it Goldie, after Goldsmiths art college, who designed it for them. We’ll be featuring the Prayer Companion soon on Ship of Fools as a Gadget for God, so this is a preview. Thanks to John Smith for emailing the details, and to Goldsmiths for the photo.

This seems like a sensible compromise. Glad they have both seen the need to adopt new technology and that, at the same time, they remain wiser than many of us in self-limiting their exposure to the soul-sapping Babel which is the world-wide web.