My friends Bill and Elizabeth Kimes have teamed up to create visually stunning, doctrinally excellent, beautiful, easy to use APPS and iBooks and make them available through St. Clement ePress.

I met Elizabeth when we were both graduate students eagerly absorbing as much theology as our brains could hold.  Our friendship began over tomes written by the likes of Aquinas, Athanasius, and John Paul II.  The good old University of St. Thomas School of Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary in the diocese of Galveston-Houston gave us both the opportunity to grow our understanding of Scripture, the early Church Fathers, Doctors of the Church, Saints Writings, Catechism, Moral Theology, the documents (many) of the Church including Vatican II and all the social encyclicals, and that is only the surface of the breadth of what we studied there.

In school, there was one student whose NOTES were a work of art.  Those notes were PRETTY, and complete, logically laid out, and a pleasure to use. Other students would beg for copies of those notes. I cannot fault them for that as I too tended to covet her perfectly organized and totally wonderfully designed notes.  Her notes were so complete that occasionally a professor would ask for sets of her notes on their classes, those notes were that good.

The creator of those notes was my fellow student Elizabeth Kimes. Her undergraduate was in graphic design, her masters in theological studies, she spent time discerning a call to religious life, and her greatest desire is to serve God by teaching and sharing the faith, making good orthodox Catholic teaching accessible to every person.

Elizabeth’s equally brilliant husband, Bill Kimes, a systems analyst with a background in computing and software design, is as dedicated to sound Catholic doctrine and service to God as his wife.  Bill, finding himself between jobs, wasted no time taking up the challenge of using his skills to serve God in the ever expanding digital world.

THE TEAM

I’m just going to repeat myself here: Bill and Elizabeth Kimes have teamed up to create visually stunning, doctrinally excellent, beautiful, easy to use APPS and iBooks.

I’m not the first to comment on the excellence of their work as Sarah Reinhard has reviewed their RosaryPlus and Stations of the Cross for the Unborn.

ST. CLEMENT: PATRON

They chose St. Clement of Rome (martyred @ 98 AD) as the patron of their publishing endeavor for many reasons. St. Clement was a 1st Century Christian writer, an Apostolic Father recognized by both East and West, and the Fourth Pope.  St. Clement led the Church during the 1st Century, long before the “two lungs” [Bl. John Paul II] of the Church became estranged. He wrote a Patristic letter (1st Clement) to the Corinthians on the role and authority of priests and bishops in the Church.  He was exiled to hard labor by the Romans, converted his fellow prisoners to Christianity, and was martyred by drowning. Also, there wasn’t another publishing company using his name.  [More on St Clement.]

Their Logo references the story of the death of St. Clement, martyred by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea, and the cross in a circle favored by St. Josemaria Escriva to whom they also have a devotion (we have that in common!).

THE APPS

RosaryPlus is visually stunning, includes scripture, and an easy way to keep track of where you are in your prayers.  This APP includes other prayers as well, each with their own gorgeous visuals.

Stations of the Cross for the Unborn is another excellent app using scripture and traditional art in a format that draws the attention to the prayers and away from distractions.

Novena to Mary, Undoer of Knots is still another offering to aid you in your prayer life. This devotion is quite old and based on a comparison between Eve and Mary. Really cool, at least visit their site and read about it.

Fortnight for Freedom is a free app in support of our work to preserve religious freedom.

iBook: Soon, there will be a beautiful app for Liguori’s incredible book Preparation for Death. This classic is combined with lovely Catholic art and includes music clips and other assists, such as a short bio for nearly every single person mentioned in the book.  Music clips are chosen from what would have been in use at the time to further enhance the experience of doing a retreat with this book in app form.

Sound Doctrine, easy to use, stunning Catholic art, and easy access to your prayers anywhere you have your iphone or ipad.  I cannot find anything not to like!

DEVICES SERVED

At this time, St. Clement ePress apps are for the iPad and iPhone.  If you need a beautiful assist for praying and own one of those devices these apps are well worth the little they cost.

For me, THESE are the apps I want on my first tablet– so I guess my waffling back and forth as to what I want to buy is over because while the team of Bill and Elizabeth are eager to expand formats, not all the marvelous characteristics of these apps translate to the other platforms–yet.  No doubt they will get there.

Dear Lord, Thank You for Catholic apps like those by St. Clement e-Press. Please help all of us to pray with greater diligence for the unity of the Church, the unborn, and for all the new Catholic media efforts to evangelize Catholics into a greater understanding of the Faith You have entrusted to Your Catholic Church. Amen.