All the Universalis apps and programs now have a command called “Contact Us”. This is a good way of getting in touch with us, because it creates an email which automatically contains a lot of useful information – such as which version you are using, what calendar and language settings you have, and what page you are looking at.
How to send a Contact Us message
Posted by universalis on 16 October 2019
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Updating apps and programs
Posted by universalis on 21 February 2018
Depending what Universalis app or program you are using, it may update itself automatically when a new version comes out. Here are all the details, with instructions for manual updating.
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How optional memorials work
Posted by universalis on 2 May 2026
Someone wrote to me the other day, asking:
“Why did the priest use different readings from the ones in Universalis?”
This was not a terribly helpful question because I wasn’t in the church to hear what the priest was reading, and I wasn’t looking at the person’s screen to see what Universalis was displaying. Nevertheless, the email was sent on Friday 1 May 2026, and as I was guessing my way through everything I hadn’t been told, trying to compose a meaningful answer, I thought it would be worth writing it all up for future reference. So here we go.
Example: 1 May 2026
The priest today has a choice. St Joseph the Worker is an optional memorial, which means he can choose the Mass for Friday of the 4th week in Eastertide, or he can choose the Mass for St Joseph the Worker.
Friday of the 4th week in Eastertide
First Reading: Acts 13:26-33.
Gospel: John 14:1-6.
In favour of choosing this is the fact that the readings on weekdays in Eastertide form a sequence: the First Readings are telling the stories of the first steps of the infant Church, while the Gospel is giving the great discourses at the core of St John’s Gospel.
Saint Joseph the Worker
In favour of choosing this is the fact that Saint Joseph the Worker is an important feast closely connected with the social teaching of the Church – which is too little known and too little listened to.
If he chooses St Joseph the Worker, the priest now has a further choice. The Lectionary offers a set of readings for St Joseph the Worker but also says that these should not be used unless pastoral considerations require it.
Deciding to use the readings for St Joseph:
First Reading: Genesis 1:26-2:3 or Colossians 3:14-15,17,23-24.
Gospel: Matthew 13:54-58.
Deciding not to use the readings for St Joseph:
First Reading: Acts 13:26-33.
Gospel: Matthew 13:54-58.
- You may find it strange that if the priest is celebrating St Joseph but doesn’t have a reason to use the special readings for St Joseph, he is still required to use the Gospel from St Matthew and not from St John. This is because on a very few exceptional days in the year, the Gospel is what is called “proper to the feast”, which means it must be used, no matter what. This happens when the saint being celebrated is actually mentioned in that reading: as St Joseph is (implicitly) today. (Very occasionally indeed, the “proper reading” is the First Reading rather than the Gospel.)
All in all, then, there are three conceivable First Readings on Friday 1 May 2026 and two conceivable Gospels.
How to do it in Universalis
First, choose the feast to celebrate
At the top of the Readings at Mass page, the heading will say one of two things:
Friday of the 4th week of Eastertide or Saint Joseph the Worker
or
Saint Joseph the Worker or Friday of the 4th week of Eastertide
In the right-hand margin you will see a menu button. In the mobile apps, this is a stack of red lines; in the Mac and Windows programs, it is a blue arrow. Either way, you can use the menu button to choose between the Friday and the memorial of St Joseph.
Next, choose which readings to use
If you have chosen the Friday, you do not need to do anything.
If you have chosen St Joseph, there will be a heading just above the First Reading which says either “Readings for the memorial” or “Readings for the feria (Friday)”. In the right-hand margin you will see a menu button. You can use the button to choose the set of readings you want.
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BUG CORRECTED for users of iOS 12
Posted by universalis on 2 April 2026
- When we created the latest update to the Universalis app, we tested it on an iOS 12 device, and it worked.
- We sent the update to the App Store.
- Apple accepted it.
- The App Store will install it on your iOS 12 device.
- When you try to open the new version, it does not open.
Apple have now corrected this bug.
How to get the corrected version
- 1. Open the App Store app.
- 2. Search for “Universalis”.
- 3. You should see a “Universalis” entry in the list. If the blue button next to it says “Update”, press it.
- 4. If the blue button next to it says “Open”, do not press it. Tap on “Universalis” instead, and a full-screen description of the Universalis app will appear, with a blue “Update” button. Press “Update”.
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The Epiphany this year
Posted by universalis on 1 January 2026
Some parts of the world celebrate the Epiphany on 6 January. Others celebrate it on a Sunday. This causes a lot of confusion where the readings after the Epiphany are concerned, because which reading you get depends on where you are.
This Universalis page gives a table of the readings for each day in this season, according to both the “6 January” and the “Sunday” calendar. This should help you to un-confuse yourself.
The Universalis apps and programs can all be set to your local calendar, so that you can choose which of the two patterns of readings you want to see.
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BT Internet and daily emails
Posted by universalis on 8 December 2025
Some of you who use BT Internet as their email service provider and use our service to send you daily emails have started to report a problem. You receive a message from us saying that you replied to one of those daily emails and that the service has therefore been stopped. You are puzzled because you did not, sitting in front of your screen, send such a message.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Giving Universalis for Christmas
Posted by universalis on 5 December 2025
At this time of year, we are all thinking of presents we can give, sometimes to people who are far away.
Why not give Universalis?
For older people who perhaps can’t get out much, Universalis can help maintain contact with the prayer life of the universal Church. Or if you have a younger friend, with all the distractions of life around and ahead, Universalis is a solid preparation and continuing foundation for an ‘Apostle for life’. Even for people who never take their noses out of the shiny black rectangles in front of them, they will see through the device for once, into a wider world – indeed, an infinite one.
Universalis lasts for ever and never runs out, so it really is a gift for life.
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Electric Prayer 