Top 5 Catholic iPhone Apps

Editor's note: Today we're delighted to have Patrick Padley join us for Tech Talk. You can learn more about Patrick and his awesome work at his website. He's also on Twitter (@ppadley). Last week Apple sent out invitations to a media event scheduled for Wednesday September 12th. Apple is, of course, expected to introduce the next-generation iPhone, aka the iPhone 5. In anticipation of this glorious announcement, I’ve compiled a list of the top five best Catholic iPhone apps currently in the App Store

iPieta (Catholic Teaching, Calendar and Prayer) - $2.99

This will be the best $2.99 you ever spend. This app is so packed with so much Catholic awesomeness you won’t know where to begin. How much awesomeness you ask? In addition to being available in Spanish and German, here’s a short preview:

• Daily readings from the Douray-Rheims & Vulgate
• Both the Ordinary (Novus Ordo) and the Extraordinary (or Traditional/Tridentine) Calendars
• Numerous devotions and prayers
• Baltimore Catechism #1 – 3, Papal Encyclicals and Cociliar Documents, plus Fathers of the Church (Erdman’s collection)
• The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas Kempis
• The Rule of Saint Benedict
• Examination of Conscience
• And just for good measure, the Summa Theologica, by St. Thomas Aquinas.

The Catholic Directory - free

This is probably the app I use the most because I’m terrible at remembering mass times. My favorite feature is that you can find churches by using your current location. This is super helpful when traveling, or when your schedule requires you to find another parish to go to mass/confession. The only down side of this app is that it requires parishes or users to help keep the information up-to-date. As an added bonus, they have added the daily readings.

Laudate - free

Similar to iPieta, this is a Catholic mashup app. Laudate has the daily readings plus the saint of the day. It includes the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, multiple podcasts for daily meditation and the New American Bible. My two favorite features are the gospel reflections and the interactive rosary. For those of you who don’t have a Magnificat subscription, these reflections are a wonderful free alternative. True, you will get odd looks when you whip your iPhone out after communion (it happens to me all the time). Just be confident in the fact that you’re not texting or tweeting but rockin’ some deep meditation. For those onlookers, this is a good time to introduce them to the 21st century when mass is over.

iBreviary - free

If there was only one app I could recommend to priests this would be it. iBreviary brings the traditional Catholic prayers/rituals and all of the texts of the Liturgy to your iPhone. Originally conceived by Fr. Paolo Padrini in Italy, this app is available in English, Italian, French, Latin, Spanish and also for the iPad and Android. “What’s that Father? Oh, you forgot all the texts needed to celebrate mass. No worries I have my iPhone.” iBreviary includes:

• Liturgy of the Hours (Roman and Ambrosian Rite)
• Roman and Ambrosian Missal
• Mass readings for the current day (full lectionary)
• Missal and Breviary for the celebrations of the Saints. (also the commons)
• Main prayers of the Catholic tradition
• About Saints Day (short bio and picture)
• The ability to load up to 10 days to use off-line
• Ordinary of the Mass and rituals according to the Vetus Ordo of 1962.

Divine Office – Audio Prayer – Liturgy of the Hours - $19.99

This is the best app for praying the Liturgy of the Hours. When you’re on the go this app gives you an opportunity to participate in the recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours–the public prayer of the Christian community. Made by Surgeworks, it has a beautiful user interface and is very simple to use. It is also available on the iPad, Mac, Android and Kindle Fire. It includes the audio version of the Liturgy of the Hours, scripture readings, psalms and prayers.

Bonus:

Check out the iPhone 5 Rumor Roundup

Don’t see your favorite app on the list?

Share your favorite Catholic iPhone apps in the comments. These are just some of the great Catholic iPhone apps out there.

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Copyright 2012 Patrick Padley