Universalis uses the Jerusalem Bible for all the readings in the Liturgy of the Hours. In the English-speaking world which uses the Jerusalem Bible at Mass, this is a consistent and familiar translation. It is less so in the USA, where the New American Bible is used at Mass, and in some other parts of the world which use one or other variant of the RSV at Mass.

We have now reached agreement with the copyright owners and are able to offer the Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition) readings as an add-on to the Liturgy of the Hours in Universalis. This affects the Liturgy of the Hours only: the Mass readings continue to be from the Jerusalem Bible (or, in the USA, the New American Bible).

In the Universalis app on iOS or Android, the RSV is an in-app purchase which costs around £2.99 or $3.99: you will always be told the exact price, and asked if you accept it, before you actually make a purchase.

In the Catholic Calendar app on iOS and Android, and in the Universalis program for Mac and Windows, we are at present including the RSV as part of your registration code. Your app or program will contact our web site a few days after you start using the RSV, purely so that we can keep count of how many registration codes are using the RSV, and so that we can pay the copyright owners accordingly.

The Universalis app from the Mac App Store does not provide the RSV. You need the Universalis program downloaded from our web site and activated with a registration code.

Note: If you are subscribing to the spoken audio recordings of the Liturgy of the Hours, selecting the RSV option does not affect what you hear. The recorded audio always uses the Jerusalem Bible translation.

Buying the RSV on the Universalis app for iOS

Open Universalis and display any of the text pages. Tap in the middle of the screen to make the toolbar appear. In the toolbar, tap on the ⓘ symbol to make the menu appear. In the menu, tap on “Purchases”. You will be shown the available purchases, including the RSV add-on. Read about it, and if you want to go ahead, tap the “Purchase” button and then confirm to the App Store that you want to make the purchase.

When you first buy the RSV, it is automatically selected as your preferred translation. Thereafter you can turn the RSV option off and on in the Settings screen, in the “English readings” entry within the “Liturgy of the Hours” section.

Buying the RSV on the Universalis app for Android

Open Universalis and display any of the text pages. Tap in the middle of the screen to make the toolbar appear. In the toolbar, tap on the cog-wheel symbol on the right to make the Settings screen appear. In the Settings screen, go down to the “Liturgy of the Hours” section and tap on the item labelled “English readings”. A list of available translations will appear. In the list of translations, tap on “Revised Standard Version”. If you have not previously bought the add-on, you will then be taken to the Play Store (for Google Play) or the Amazon Appstore (for Amazon). It will tell you the price of the add-on and ask you if you want to buy it.

Turning the RSV on and off

In the iOS and Android apps, in the Settings screen, under “Liturgy of the Hours”, a switch marked “English readings” controls whether you see the Jerusalem Bible or the RSV.

In the Mac (non-App Store) and Windows programs, the Translations screen has a switch marked “Use Revised Standard Version”. On the Mac, the Translations screen is part of the preferences; on Windows, it is a separate menu command.