iMissal Catholic

iMissal Catholic is a paid app that puts the Roman Missal, the daily Mass readings, and a sturdy collection of Catholic prayers on your phone. It has been around since 2009 and carries an Imprimatur — the formal approval of a Catholic bishop that the content is free of doctrinal error.

The app covers the Order of Mass with the full prayers and responses, Mass readings for every day of the liturgical year (downloadable so you do not need a signal at church), audio recordings of the daily readings, a Bible verse of the day, the liturgical calendar with feasts and memorials, and over a hundred Catholic prayers ranging from the Angelus to longer novenas. It also includes a Catholic news feed from a few syndicated sources.

What I appreciate is the Imprimatur and the offline-first design. With cellular coverage spotty inside many churches, having the Order of Mass and the readings already on the device matters. The audio readings are useful for elderly or vision-impaired parishioners who want to follow along during Mass, and for anyone preparing for Sunday by reading the lectionary mid-week.

Good for daily Mass-goers, RCIA students, converts learning the responses, anyone preparing a wedding or funeral Mass who needs the readings ahead of time, and parents who want a clean reference for explaining what is happening at Mass to their kids. Also good for travel — you have a Missal in your pocket in any country.

It is not free. $4.99 is a one-time price, not a subscription, but Universalis and the USCCB website both offer similar daily readings at no cost — so the value here is the Missal text, the audio, and the prayer collection together. The interface looks its age in places; it is being maintained rather than reinvented.

$4.99, by Cantcha, Inc. Available on the App Store: iMissal Catholic. A trustworthy, Church-approved Catholic Missal app worth what it costs.