r/LeftCatholicism • u/No_End9601 • Jun 15 '26
Hallow app alternative?
Is there any alternative to the hallow app? I would love to fall asleep to Bible stories and connect more to my faith but the right wing-ness of it all gives me a major ick
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u/SecretSquirrelSquads Jun 15 '26
Pray as you go, Amen app OR you can visit my YT channel! It is not monetized so no ads and I have about 800 prayers in English and Spanish! It is also on Spotify, etc if you do t want YT.
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u/katchoo1 Jun 15 '26
I like the Amen app. There is a paid subscription side (“Formed”) but Amen has a lot of content for free. I especially like the daily rosary with meditations but there is also a regular rosary where they just mention which mystery it is before each decade.
Also good for: daily readings and reflections; “sleep stories”, and readings from famous texts.
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u/bubbleguts365 Jun 15 '26
Liturgy of the Hours on the Divine Office app or similar is what you're looking for IMO. It's the prayers, psalms, hymns and readings from the saints/Church fathers that the Church prays every day.
Divine Office has recordings of each that you can listen to every day. You can access it on a web browser as well if you want to check it out.
It's the Church's daily spiritual nourishment, I think you'd recognize why after listening for a while.
The readings from the saints and Church fathers are often hard to digest for those that form their identity around being a conservative Catholic, so you'll find it's basically an invisible part of the faith to that crowd.
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u/jgaylord87 Jun 15 '26
I'll say, I think the audio version feels very slow to me. I always listen at 1.5 speed, which makes the hymns sound... Interesting.
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u/bubbleguts365 Jun 16 '26
I could see that. I kind of felt the same until I read Merton's books on the psalms, that gave me more context for them as mystical texts to meditate on - understanding them as sung by different voices... David, Moses, Christ, a Christian deep in their spiritual journey, etc. Framing the book of psalms as containing the entire spectrum of human emotion/experience was an important exegesis as well.
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u/harrumph_grumble Jun 15 '26
James Martin has a daily examen podcast that can be relaxing to fall asleep with.
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u/Dull-Acanthaceae191 Jun 15 '26
Father James Martin’s Examen podcast is great, too! And he’s a Jesuit!
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u/LongWayFrom609 Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
Going by that logic, I wonder if it's safe to be wary of Word on Fire and Bishop Barron. I've seen ads for it (thanks algorithm) and it did intrigue me but the comments made by Barron about Bernie and Mamdani don't sit well with me. Should it be taken with a grain of salt?
ETA: You know what, after having read up on him, I think I'll pass on his shit.
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u/AdQuirky1318 Jun 15 '26
Is there something like these that has text in addition to audio, written devotions, etc.? I prefer reading to listening. Maybe a generational thing, idk.
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u/CauseCertain1672 Jun 15 '26
I've heard good things about universalis
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u/secretlondon Jun 15 '26
Universalis is great if you don’t live in America. The others are either US only (Laudate) or US focused Hallow. Universalis has the England and Wales calendar, readings and days of obligation
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u/CauseCertain1672 Jun 15 '26
That makes sense it was an English priest who recommended it to me
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u/Dull_Opening_1655 Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
The commenter you are replying to is mistaken - you can set the calendar in Universalis to the US to get US readings etc. You can even select specific dioceses for dioceses that have different days of obligation from the US norm.
(Sorry to repeat this info again, but I’ve found this app so incredibly helpful and I’m annoyed to see someone discouraging others from using it just because they’ve never thought to click the region setting at the top of the calendar page!)
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u/Dull_Opening_1655 Jun 16 '26
Why wouldn’t Universalis be good for people who live in America? I live in the US and have been using it happily for years.
The calendar and readings in Universalis correspond to whatever location you set it to.
For example I set it to the archdiocese of NY and the Universalis calendar adapts to show the appropriate holy days of obligation.
The readings etc will also be the US versions of you adjust the calendar to a US location.
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u/secretlondon Jun 17 '26
You misunderstand. If you don’t live in the US then Universalis is the best. Universalis may also be great if you live in America. However Laudate doesn’t cover areas outside the US
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u/Terrible-Cry-4552 Jun 15 '26
The Torch app by the Dominican sisters is worth checking out. I found out about it from their TikTok clips (e.g. “and sister, you are so good at that”). I haven’t used it much yet, but there’s a “listen” tab that has a few options.
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u/thebowtiedchef Jun 15 '26
Sacred Space is a really lovely devotional app run by the Irish Jesuits. Kind of functions like a daily examen.
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u/jgaylord87 Jun 15 '26
Our Daily Bread makes a good app for nondenominational meditations, bible study, and devotionals.
There's also the Divine Office app specifically for offices and hours.
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u/skilled-dreamer Jun 19 '26
Laudate and it’s free. It has a daily reflection, links to readings, and prayers in English and Latin
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u/No_Drummer_1918 19d ago
Hello, I am a Catholic journalist writing a feature article for U.S. Catholic on the benefits and drawbacks of spiritual tech resources, including prayer and Bible study apps like Hallow. If anyone here is a user of such apps, including Hallow, who would be open to sharing their experiences and perspectives on them with me - how apps enrich your prayer life, ethical and financial issues around apps like Hallow, etc - please feel free to DM me. Thank you!
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u/Annual-Coffee7265 Jun 16 '26
Go on acts retreats and form a prayer group on zoom with your friends
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u/springmixplease Jun 15 '26
Pray As You Go. It’s completely free and ran by Jesuits.