Laudate—meaning “praise” in Latin—is definitely a praiseworthy first addition to this new collection: The Evangelizer’s Toolbox. I honestly use this app almost daily. It has tons of useful features, all of which we won’t be able to get into in too much detail today, but nevertheless I will try to share my own experience with the app.
Implementing a Daily Prayer Routine
This is definitely the feature I use most and it is mainly for this that I recommend the app. As a daily Mass-goer I try to prepare myself by going over the readings before morning Mass. My morning routine begins by waking up at 5:00am to go for a run. I used to read the Mass readings on my Kindle, but this takes more time and I can’t really do anything else while I’m reading, which means I have to get up even earlier. What’s great about this app is that it provides you with some very great audio features:
- Daily Readings from USCCB: This provides you with a basic reading of the Mass readings for the day exactly as you would hear them at Mass. So even if you can’t go to daily Mass, at least you can feast on the Word of God. The audio for the readings are also available on the USCCB website.
- Pray-As-You-Go Daily Meditation: This meditation takes one of the readings and provides a practical meditation to help you relate the reading to your personal daily life. I have found this to be extremely helpful in my prayer life. The great thing is it is usually on about ten minutes long so you could listen to it on the way to work as well. You can also access this podcast online at Pray-As-You-Go.org.
- Daily Meditation by Pope Benedict XVI: I must admit I have a sweet spot for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. The richness of his theological understanding has definitely been a blessing to me and I’m sure we all have much to gain from his meditations. Each day there is a 3-5 minute meditation from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI presented by Leonardo Defilippis of St. Luke Productions whose voice adds to the already deeply profound words of Benedict. These meditations are also available on the St. Luke Productions website.
- Regnum Christi Daily: Lastly, the Regnum Christi Daily provides yet another audio reflection on the Mass readings which helps you to dive even deeper into God’s word and apply it to your personal life. You can also subscribe to this podcast via iTunes.
Other Features
I won’t get into the other features in as much detail, in part because I don’t use them as much and also because they are pretty self-explanatory.
- Liturgy of the Hours
- Rosary & Divine Mercy Chaplet
- Confession
- Stations of the Cross
- Prayers
- Catechism
- Bible
- Church Documents
All of this and the app is still free. It’s available on Android and iOS so you can use it on your smart phone, iPhone, iPad, tablet, and even Kindle Fire. I highly recommend this app. Check it out an let me know what you think.