Some people think that Memorials of saints are either obligatory or optional. This assumption is printed in many books, but it is not completely correct, and causes much confusion. Even more confusion is produced when the publishers of official Ordos make the same mistake.

On days on which the obligatory memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary coincides with the obligatory memorial of some other saint, it remains obligatory to celebrate a memorial, but optional which of the two memorials is to be celebrated. You can find the official decree here.

On 13 June 2026 the Immaculate Heart of Mary coincides with Saint Anthony. Accordingly there are four possible sets of readings at Mass:

• Isaiah 61:9-11 plus Luke 2:41-51 (memorial readings) for the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
• 1 Kings 19:19-21 plus Luke 2:41-51 (ferial readings) for the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
• Isaiah 61:1-3a plus Luke 10:1-9 (memorial readings) for St Anthony.
• 1 Kings 19:19-21 plus Matthew 5:33-37 (ferial readings) for St Anthony.

A similar collision will occur on 5 June 2027, with St Boniface rather than St Anthony.

1. When we created the latest update to the Universalis app, we tested it on an iOS 12 device, and it worked.
2. We sent the update to the App Store.
3. Apple accepted it.
4. The App Store will install it on your iOS 12 device.
5. 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”.

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.

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.

In years B and C of the three-year cycle, the characteristic Gospels of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Sundays of Lent are not read: the Samaritan Woman, the Man Born Blind, and Lazarus.

These Gospels are important, and can and should be read on some other day of those weeks.

The versions of Universalis which have been in the App Store since last week have not been working on the following old Apple devices:

• iPad Air (1st edition)
• iPad Mini 2
• iPad Mini 3
• iPhone 5S
• iPhone 6
• iPod Touch (6th edition).

The affected version of iOS is version 12 (the latest release was 12.5.7). You can check your operating system version by opening the Settings app, selecting ‘General’ and then ‘About’.

This bug was Apple’s fault but we have found a way to avoid it. We created a new update which we sent to Apple and within an hour they had accepted it into the App Store. We are grateful for their promptness.

Catholic Calendar has the same problem: please wait 24 hours, and the update to that should be available as well.

How to get the corrected version

If you sit and do nothing, the App Store will probably update you to the latest, corrected version, but it could take a day or two.

To get the corrected version at once:

1. Open the App Store app.
2. Search for “Universalis”.
3. Tap on the heading of the entry for the Universalis app. A full-page description of the app will appear.
4. At the top of the description is the version number. This should be 3.115.
5. Press the button to download and install the new version.

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new e-book, “Resurrection Is Now”, by Dom Aelred Watkin OSB. This book has long been out of print in physical form and we have had many requests for it as an e-book.

This book, rigorously reasoned but with a keen poetic sensibility, shows how death is not only an end but a beginning, and how to live life as a preparation for death and resurrection.

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We are pleased to announce the publication of a new e-book, “Reading and Reflection”.

This book contains the readings at Mass according to the official lectionary of the Catholic Church, for every day of every year. Each and every reading is accompanied by an accessible and scholarly commentary by Dom Henry Wansbrough OSB.

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