Apps Every Catholic Artist Should Know: Part One!
Let’s face it: we all spend more time than we should on our smartphones. As Catholic artists, many of us work at least one job to support ourselves, and at the end of the day, we need the remaining energy to write, sing, draw, record, dance, sculpt, design, etc. - not to spend hours scrolling on Twitter or Instagram. So let’s make the most of our screen time with some of these *mostly free* apps we love, designed specifically for Catholics!
Reimagining the Examen
Released by Loyola Press, Reimagining the Examen is a new way to pray the 500-year-old Jesuit prayer at the beginning or end of your day. While it includes the classic examen, the app also contains examens adapted for various situations in your life, such as “My Past, Present and Future,” “Today’s Surprises,” “A Pending Decision” and even “I’m Drained!” - moods every Catholic artist knows well. If you struggle to pray the examen or other prayers of repetition or form, try one of these variations on the classic. This app is available for Apple and Android.
iBreviary
If you’re the sort of artist who doesn’t live in a monastery - but wish you did - then this is the app for you. The Liturgy of the Hours is an ancient set of prayers and petitions used in religious orders throughout the centuries, and is designed to be said at certain hours of the day. The app also contains blessings for all occasions, saint feast day information, hymns, the missal for Mass, and more; features are offered in Latin, English, Spanish and many more languages. A must-have for liturgy nerds who aren’t afraid to have their phones out at church. Available for Apple and Android.
Laudate
Similar to iBreviary, Laudate offers hundreds of prayers in English and Latin, but for us, the true selling point of the app is its rosary feature. Rosaries on Laudate include an interactive rosary with *clickable beads,* as well as a Divine Mercy chaplet, a rosary in podcast form, the Seven Sorrows rosary, the St. Michael chaplet, a Franciscan Crown rosary and many more. If you think you know the Rosary, Laudate is here to remind you that you’ve barely scratched the surface. Download the app and see what Our Lady wants to say to you today in prayer. Available for Apple and Android.
Universalis
By now, you’ve heard of iBreviary and Laudate - but Universalis is the big cahuna of Catholic apps. It contains the full Catholic calendar, full Mass readings, full Liturgy of the Hours, and a feature that allows you to export events to your Google calendar. For those of us who only remember Holy Days of Obligation when we get reminders on our phone, how cool is that?!
The only downside is that it costs around $12.99, which for many artists might seem a little steep. However - many of the FREE apps also contain ads. If you’d like your electronic prayer life free of the intrudes of capitalism and advertising, you really can’t go wrong with an upgrade to something ad-free. It does cost money to create and maintain these apps, and you’re technically supporting a fellow Catholic artist every time you do.
Next week, I’ll be sharing some apps that Catholic artists use for their creative work. If you have any apps you’d like to see included on that list, please contact us at catholicartistconnection@gmail.com! Also, share other Catholic apps you love with us on our Facebook page. We love hearing from you.
