Readings at Mass

The readings at Mass have been recorded specially for Universalis.

What is included

The First Reading, Second Reading (where present), and Gospel for Mass of every day of every year.

The translation used is the Jerusalem Bible, the official liturgical version in many parts of the English-speaking world.

Live highlighting

As with all the audio in Universalis, each line is highlighted as it is spoken. Here is a short sample. Press the Play button, listen, and watch.

The souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God,

no torment shall ever touch them.

In the eyes of the unwise, they did appear to die,

their going looked like a disaster,

their leaving us, like annihilation;

but they are in peace.

No Internet connection needed

You don’t need an Internet connection while you are listening.

Obviously the very first time you listen, you do need to be connected so that the app can download the audio files. When you press the Play button it will download the audio you need for listening, immediately. In the background it will start to download all the audio you will ever need. Once this process has been completed, you won’t ever need an Internet connection again.

Variable speed

The recordings are spoken at a steady reflective pace, such as is used when these passages are read out in church. However, if you prefer a slower speed or a faster one, the app allows you to adjust the speed of playback to suit your preference.

A monthly or yearly subscription

You can subscribe for £1.99 per month ($1.99 or €2.49) or £18.49 per year ($19.99 or €21.49). The App Store will tell you the exact amount before you confirm the subscription. You can cancel your subscription at any time. You can listen to a free sample before you buy.

How to listen

In the Universalis app, go to the Readings at Mass page.
You will see a Play button at the bottom left-hand corner. Press it.

If you have already subscribed, the voice will start to play at once and the display will highlight the words as it goes, so that you can follow the text as it is read.

The free sample

If you haven’t yet started a subscription, the Play button will make a menu pop up. Press “Listen to free sample” in the menu.

You will hear your chosen Hour for a fixed date – usually the date chosen for you will be Christmas Day. You can listen, and decide if you really want to subscribe.

How to subscribe

If you haven’t yet started a subscription, the Play button will make a menu pop up. Press “Find out more” in the menu.

A screen will appear giving details of the recording, and also the price of the subscription. If you want to buy, press the “Subscription” button and the App Store will handle your subscription. Apple will then charge you monthly or yearly – whichever you have chosen – until you tell them to stop.

In most cases your subscription will be free for a certain period (a week or a month) before Apple start to charge you. The App Store will tell you if this is the case. You can treat it as an additional free trial.

Already subscribed?

The app relies on the App Store to tell it what subscriptions you have. Very occasionally, the App Store fails to do this and the app doesn’t know that you have renewed your subscription. The Play menu will make a menu pop up. Press “Already subscribed” and the app will contact the App Store to verify that you still have a subscription.

How to cancel a subscription

We hope you won’t want to! But if you do want to, it’s easy. Go to this page and you will find the instructions you need.

Multiple devices

If you have more than one iOS device (iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch), you won’t have to subscribe twice. Whatever is subscribed to on one device becomes available on all the other devices that share the same Apple ID: this is Apple’s rule. But we have no way of arranging to share the audio between iOS and Android.