Netherlands: app with Missal readings and Liturgy of the Hours in Dutch

Catholics in the Netherlands will now be able to follow the Mass readings in Dutch on a mobile app. Developed by a small group of volunteers from the Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam, the app added texts from the Missal to those of the so-called “Liturgy of the Hours”. The idea came from Bishop Jozef Punt who realised that both the Breviary and the Missal “are not easy to handle for permanent deacons and lay faithful”. “The Second Vatican Council”, however, “recommended that the laity should also pray the Divine Office (or parts of it)”, the Diocese explained in a statement on its website. The positive experience with the Liturgy of the Hours app, which allowed many people to pray in that way, has prompted developers to expand the offer to include the Missal readings. “This has become even more urgent since liturgical texts are often revised”. At present, there is a website https://www.tiltenberg.org/missaal/ and a 1.0 version of the “Missal” app that is still being developed but can already be used. Other texts will be added in the future (Vigil Masses for Solemnities, optional readings for the celebration of Saints, for the deceased, and texts specific to the celebration of Flemish Saints). The app also allows people to print the texts or download them as a Word document, and to submit reports, which means the app “can be continuously improved with the help of users”.
Valentina Bombelli