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Ascension: Catholic Bible
“The gold-standard Catholic Bible app, and the true home of Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz.”
Ascension's app is the home of the phenomenon that reintroduced a generation to daily Scripture: Fr. Mike Schmitz's Bible in a Year. Built around the Great Adventure Catholic Bible (using the RSV-2CE translation) and its color-coded Bible Timeline learning system, the app pairs the full Catholic canon with more than a thousand Q&A resources, 80-plus study plans from teachers like Fr. Mike and Dr. Edward Sri, and the record-setting Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year podcast series. A 4.9-star average across more than 87,000 ratings tells you how deeply it resonates.
What sets it apart is how completely Catholic it is. Beyond Scripture, you get a full audio Rosary with multiple recorded voices in English and Latin, daily Mass readings with reflections, Saint of the Day entries tied to the liturgical calendar, and prayer experiences including novenas and lectio divina. Fr. Mike's warm narration and commentary anchor the whole thing, and much of it, including the Bible text, the daily Mass readings, the full Rosary, and most podcasts, is free. A premium subscription (about $8.99 a month or $59.99 a year) unlocks the deeper study library.
The honest framing is that this is a single-tradition app, and proudly so. If you are Protestant or want a wide shelf of translations to compare, this is not built for you, and the translation choice is fixed rather than a library. But judged as what it is, the flagship Catholic Bible and study companion, it is outstanding: cohesive, beautifully produced, and unrivaled for a Catholic reader who wants Scripture, catechesis, and prayer in one place.
Is it right for you?
Catholic readers who want Scripture, the Catechism, prayer, and Fr. Mike's Bible in a Year in one app.
You are Protestant or want a broad library of translations to compare side by side.
What’s inside
How it compares
Best in row
Apps marked “tested” show their hands-on score out of 100. The other numbers are editorial ratings out of 10.
Common questions
Yes. Ascension's app is the official home of Fr. Mike Schmitz's Bible in a Year, along with the companion Catechism in a Year series.
The Great Adventure Catholic Bible, which uses the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition (RSV-2CE), paired with the Bible Timeline learning system.
Much of it is, including the Bible text, Catechism, daily Mass readings, the full Rosary, and most podcasts. A premium subscription unlocks the deeper study library.
About $8.99 per month or $59.99 per year in the U.S., which unlocks the fuller catalog of study plans and resources.
It is designed specifically for the Catholic tradition, with the Catholic canon, Rosary, Mass readings, and saints. Protestant readers will likely prefer a broader Bible app.
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