Pray the daily offices and follow the Church calendar with four apps.
Laudate includes Mass readings and the Hours. Catholic Calendar provides a preview of those texts, while The Daily Office uses the 2019 Book of Common Prayer and Daily Prayer offers Common Worship and traditional Book of Common Prayer services.
Each app has an Android version and an iPhone version, and Google Play reports no advertising for any of them. Laudate and The Daily Office have no in-app purchases on either store; Catholic Calendar and Daily Prayer charge subscriptions for part of their material, shown as in-app purchases on both stores.
Daily office and lectionary apps
1. Laudate: Mass readings and the Hours
Laudate brings together the daily Mass readings, the Order of Mass, the Liturgy of Hours, the New American Bible, Rosary prayers, chaplets, Stations of the Cross and a saint for each day. It also includes a guide to Confession and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Daily readings are available as podcasts with text to follow, and the Douay-Rheims Bible can be read offline.
Advantages:
- Mass readings and the Hours together.
- Audio readings with text to follow.
- The Catechism and Vatican II documents.
Tip: open the readings the evening before Mass and read the Gospel slowly.
2. Catholic Calendar: the liturgical year
Universalis Publishing’s Catholic Calendar shows the feasts of the General Calendar together with local calendars, and its About Today pages describe the saints being celebrated.
The Android version of Catholic Calendar offers a one-month preview of Mass readings and the Liturgy of the Hours, including the Office of Readings. Continuing with those texts involves a subscription or buying the separate Universalis app. Catholic Calendar is described as working offline.
Advantages:
- Local and general calendars.
- Notes on the saints of the day.
- Works offline, says the Android listing.
Tip: read an About Today entry before starting the day’s prayers.
3. The Daily Office: the 2019 Book of Common Prayer
The Daily Office presents Morning, Midday and Evening Prayer and Compline from the 2019 Book of Common Prayer. Each office appears on a single page with the readings already in place, and Family Prayer gives shorter forms for households with children.
Audio reads each office aloud and highlights the words as it goes, and playback continues on the lock screen. The app also holds a searchable Psalter with thematic groupings, collects, the Great Litany and a calendar showing liturgical colours.
Advantages:
- One page per office.
- Read-aloud audio with word highlighting.
- Family Prayer for children.
Tip: pray Compline before bed and keep the same time each night.
4. Daily Prayer: Anglican services
Daily Prayer, published by Church House Publishing, provides Anglican Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer for each day, using the contemporary Common Worship texts or the Book of Common Prayer in its traditional wording. Services come in full, with NRSV readings, psalms, canticles and seasonal changes.
Online access covers yesterday, today and the month ahead; an annual subscription adds offline use and a year of future services. You can switch form with one tap and change the text size, and feast days follow the Common Worship calendar. On iPhone, an audio player links to the podcast of contemporary Morning and Evening Prayer.
Advantages:
- Contemporary and traditional forms.
- Full services with NRSV readings.
- Podcast audio on iPhone.
Tip: use the switch to compare both forms on the same day.
Final verdict
- Laudate combines Catholic Mass readings, the Hours and many prayers.
- Catholic Calendar follows the liturgical calendar, with a preview of its full texts.
- The Daily Office lays out each 2019 BCP office on one page, with audio.
- Daily Prayer offers Anglican daily prayer in two forms.
Further reading sits behind the opening buttons: BIBLE STUDY gathers online tools, commentaries and study tips; BIBLE APP lists apps for listening to Scripture; GOSPEL MUSIC explains how to choose a Christian music playlist; and BIBLE GAMES presents a Bible quiz app.
Graduated in Portuguese/English Literature from the State University of Ponta Grossa (UEPG), with postgraduate degrees in Art in Education (FAPI) and School Psychopedagogy (FAPI), creator and owner of the website. Successful Writer, has experience writing for blogs in general and works as a writer and editor of the content for Prayer and Faith.