Electric Prayer

A new edition of the Divine Office

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has announced that a new edition of the Liturgy of the Hours will come into use on Ash Wednesday 2027. The new edition will match more accurately the latest official Latin edition, and features new English translations of many of the texts.

We have been told that we will be allowed to provide this new edition through Universalis. Along with other electronic publishers, we are waiting for the USCCB to finalise the details of this – both technical and commercial. As you can imagine, they are run off their feet at present, preparing all the texts for the printed books.

All this applies to the USA only. The rest of the world is unaffected.

Explaining the Liturgy of the Hours

The explanations of the Liturgy of the Hours in the podcast have continued. People have been asking for a better understanding of how the Hours work, and why, and in the podcast I’ve been talking about this, a little each week. I’ve highlighted these descriptions in the list below.

3 May 2026: … The origins of the Liturgy of the Hours. A detailed walk through Lauds (Morning Prayer).

10 May 2026: … Vespers. How to fit the Hours into your day.

17 May 2026: … Terce, Sext and None.

24 May 2026: … Compline (Night Prayer).

31 May 2026: … The Office of Readings.

The weekly podcasts

Here are the episodes which have come out since the last newsletter. You can listen by clicking on the link. Each episode is around 20 minutes long.

14 June 2026: The Spiritual Reading page in Universalis. Saint Lidwina. Saint Elisha. Two anniversaries: G.K. Chesterton, and the birthday of Universalis. The story of the psalm-prayers in the Liturgy of the Hours.

21 June 2026: Saint John the Baptist. Martyrdom: a duty? Saint Thomas More.

28 June 2026: Why choose Peter? The virtue of simplicity and the vice of prudence. The cemetery under the Vatican. How can we like Paul? What was it like to be him? Saint Thomas. Pier Giorgio Frassati, a saint for the first time.

4 July 2026: Saint Peter To Rot. ‘All human conflict is ultimately theological’. Saint Augustine Zhao Rang and his companions. On respecting the beliefs of others. Saint Maria Goretti.

Many thousands of people listen to the podcast, from all over the world. Sometimes by themselves in the car, sometimes sitting at home with the whole family. If you haven’t listened yet, do. If you have, and you like it, tell all your friends.

• Here is a link to the Podcasts page. You will find all the weekly episodes listed there.
• All the Universalis apps and programs can show an alert in the About Today page whenever a new podcast is ready.
• If you use podcast apps, the links at the bottom of this email let you subscribe.
• If you want to tell your friends, say “Go to the home page at universalis.com and you’ll find a Podcasts button at the top right.”

New podcast episodes come out on Friday or Saturday each week.

Thank you all for using Universalis. If you have trouble or questions, or suggestions, do write to us at universalis@universalis.com or use the Contact Us button in one of the apps. Let us all keep one another in our prayers, as always.