Electric Prayer

The Liturgy of the Hours, the Mass, and other things.

Twitter

Posted by universalis on 24 October 2011

We’re now providing a Twitter feed of the saint of the day. The user name is @CatholicFeasts and it posts once a day. Each day’s posts appear at 9.30pm the night before, which is early afternoon in the USA and the morning of the day itself in Australia and New Zealand. On days when different locations have different saints, there’ll be one post for each one.

Feel free to follow or recommend the feed, but please don’t reply to it, because it’s an automated feed and there is no-one around to read the replies.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Apple users in New Zealand: calendar synchronization bug

Posted by universalis on 20 October 2011

A user in New Zealand has reported an interesting problem. He uses the Universalis application on his iPhone to create a “Universalis Automatic” event calendar with details of each day’s feast. He then plugs his iPhone into his Mac and synchronizes it, and finds that on his Mac, in iCal, every feast appears one day late.

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Posted in Downloadable Universalis, Technical | Comments Off on Apple users in New Zealand: calendar synchronization bug

Order of Mass on the Mac

Posted by universalis on 8 September 2011

The Mac version of Universalis has been updated to include the Order of Mass. You can download the latest version here.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Order of Mass

Posted by universalis on 4 September 2011

The downloadable version of Universalis for Windows now includes the ability to create an e-book with the Order of Mass. Previously the Order of Mass could be viewed on the screen but not written as an e-book. To get the new features, download and install it again.

In addition, we now have a new Order of Mass page, which lets you view the Order of Mass online. You will also find Kindle and ePub versions of the Order of Mass e-book on that page.

Posted in Downloadable Universalis, e-books, The Universalis site | 7 Comments »

New Windows download available

Posted by universalis on 1 September 2011

The new version of the Universalis program for Windows is now available for download.

It contains the new English translation of the Order of Mass, and various other improvements.

You will notice blue arrows on the right-hand side of some of the pages. These let you choose between various options. For instance:

  • Optional memorials: which saint (if any) you want to celebrate.
  • Invitatory psalm: which hour you want to precede with the Invitatory Psalm.
  • Daytime psalms: whether you want to use the psalms of the day or the complementary psalms.
  • Order of Mass: many options, such as the choice of Penitential Rite, Creed, and Eucharistic Prayer.

For the blind and partially sighted who are using a screen reader, blue arrows do not appear. Instead, all these options are selectable from the menu bar, in the new View menu.

The equivalent iPhone application will be updated soon: it has already been submitted to Apple. The Mac version of Universalis will be updated next week.

NOTE: As of Sunday 4 September, the downloadable program for Windows includes an option to create an e-book for the Order of Mass.

Posted in Downloadable Universalis | 8 Comments »

Palm and Windows Mobile

Posted by universalis on 31 August 2011

We have ceased further development of Universalis for Palm OS and Windows Mobile. These are old systems, and having to cope with their limitations has been holding back the development of Universalis in general.

The final versions of Universalis for these systems are dated 8 August 2011. They will remain available for download in the future but no updates will be issued. For this reason we have made them into free downloads, for Palm OS and for Pocket PC / Windows Mobile. You don’t need to pay, and no registration codes are required.

If you have an old Palm or Windows Mobile device lying unused in a drawer, you might consider installing Universalis on it and donating it to someone who wants to have electronic access to the Liturgy of the Hours but can’t afford a new device.

Posted in Downloadable Universalis | 4 Comments »

Order of Mass coming soon

Posted by universalis on 31 August 2011

We have today received the Imprimatur that allows us to include the Order of Mass in the Universalis downloads.

The new iPhone version of Universalis will be available as a free update from the App Store as soon as Apple have approved it.

We are working on the new Windows and Mac versions and they will be available soon.

For the latest news about Palm and Windows Mobile, please see the next blog post.

Posted in Downloadable Universalis | Comments Off on Order of Mass coming soon

-ise and -ize

Posted by universalis on 8 August 2011

Since Universalis contains text in two languages (plus Greek), it seems worth setting out our house style in detail.

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Posted in The Universalis site, Translating | 3 Comments »

The Annunciation in 2012

Posted by universalis on 15 April 2011

25 March 2012 falls on a Sunday. The Solemnity of the Annunciation is consequently celebrated on the following day, 26 March, just as it was in 2007. This is in accordance with the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, §5:

Because of its special importance, the Sunday celebration gives way only to solemnities or feasts of the Lord. The Sundays of the seasons of Advent, Lent, and Easter, however, take precedence over all solemnities and feasts of the Lord. Solemnities occurring on these Sundays are transferred to the following Monday except in the case of their occurrence on Passion Sunday (Palm Sunday) or on Easter Sunday.

You will find a number of web sites that move the Annunciation to 24 March instead. This is because the Norms were revised relatively recently, and the earlier version of the Norms moved the Annunciation to the previous Saturday instead of the following Monday. Many liturgical books date from before then, and many web sites, including some diocesan ones, reproduce the text of the Norms in their earlier version.

For those who want the Latin text (as included in the Third Edition edition of the Roman Missal, published in 2002), here it is:

Propter suum peculiare momentum, dominica suam cedit celebrationem solummodo sollemnitatibus necnon festis Domini; dominicae vero Adventus, Quadragesimae et Paschae super omnia festa Domini et super omnes sollemnitates praecedentiam habent. Sollemnitates autem in his dominicis occurrentes ad feriam secundam sequentem transferuntur, nisi agatur de occurrentia in Dominica in Palmis aut in Dominica Resurrectionis Domini.

The only exception to these rules is in the case of the Solemnity of St Joseph. The first edition of the Norms moves it to the day before; the second edition moves it to the day after except that if it is not a holy day of obligation, the bishops may move it anywhere outside Lent; the third edition moves it to the day after unless it falls on Palm Sunday itself, in which case it is moved to the day before, but if it is not a holy day of obligation, the bishops may move it anywhere outside Lent.

Posted in Calendars, Liturgy | 7 Comments »

Universalis on the Amazon Kindle

Posted by universalis on 22 January 2011

We’ve recently updated both Universalis for Windows and Universalis for the Mac to make it easier to create e-books for the Amazon Kindle. (The updates are free and you can download them by clicking on the links). I thought this might be a good opportunity to explain how we’re dealing with the Amazon Kindle (and other e-book readers), and why.

  1. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Downloadable Universalis, e-books | 4 Comments »