What can one video do?
Exactly one thousand, nine hundred and twenty-eight people know more about a unique religious community in Ohio than they did before Nov. 14.
That’s the number of times an appealing five-minute video of the Order of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary has been downloaded. The video comes up first when the search terms “priests sisters” are typed in the search box of YouTube.com, probably the most popular video-sharing website on the internet.
“I love the way Fr. Benedict says Mass,” says a young, happy sister in a light blue and white habit. “The way he offers Mass does not at all point to himself. He just steps out of himself and you can tell that he is so much in love with God.”
The video is a series of short interviews and glimpses of the life of this 11-year-old  private association of the faithful in Hopedale, Ohio, 30 minutes from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. The devout tone throughout is enhanced by images of a bell ringing, short interviews of several brothers and sisters, and rosaries clasped by praying hands.
There is a short clip of author Scott Hahn speaking, apparently at the community. And a sister is quoted as saying that her favorite part of the week is the time for corporate work. The video gives an impression of a peaceful and devout community, although I was a little confused as to whether this was a community of women or men. It is for both, and this needs to be explained better. Furthermore, I could not find the name of the community, either on the video or on the explanatory text provided. It would be good to put still shots of the name and then website address at the end of the video, as do most such promotional videos.
The video is one example among religious communities that use YouTube. Some Catholic communities also use a Christian (mostly Protestant) service called GodTube. But what is good about YouTube, besides its greater popularity, is that it is easy to use, with lots of helpful instructions, and online editing functions. Its help menu answers questions about video tips in general, about how to get a video from a camcorder onto YouTube, and how to make a video out of still pictures. (You don’t need a camcorder to produce a nice video with sound.)
This religious video was produced by someone with a username of “104fingers.” He is 39 years old, and judging from other videos he has made (“Baby Likes Tummy Rub”) my guess is that he is a family man who is a friend of the community and who obviously has a good amount of experience making videos. If you can find someone with these skills who can do such a favor, you have come a long way.
Such videos are greatly enhanced with a sound track running throughout. In this video, the background track is soft-playing piano music. You might make a recording of someone in your community playing a hymn on the organ or piano, or the community reciting the Office, or singing. Record it with a hand-held recorder from Radio Shack that costs about $80. Make sure you get the type that allows you to transfer the music to your computer.
It takes some effort, but a picture is worth a thousand words.
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Quote of the day:
“We have noticed that young people seem to want a cause they can commit to.”
– Br. Mark McKeon, Salesian vocation director at World Youth Day, speaking about the order’s 12,000 website hits in the past few weeks. July 20, 2008, Time/CNN News
