Eastern meditation apps might be all the rage, but when it comes to helping Catholics get the most of out of Lent, sitting in an empty void is not the way to go. If you really want an authentic Lenten experience, America’s number one Catholic prayer app, Hallow, has just what you’re looking for.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, Hallow is a Catholic prayer and meditation app that launched in 2019 and has quickly soared to the #1 Catholic app on the App Stores. Hallow’s #pray40 challenge will keep you busy with over 600 audio-guided prayer and meditation sessions with contents that include a challenge on the lives of the Saints, the Psalms, the Stations of the Cross, and a whole lot more.

“Knowing the importance of prayer, and the difficulty of staying disciplined in it, we set out to create something that would help us all pray every day during Lent,” said co-founder Alex Jones.

“When we were writing #pray40, our goal was that it would help us keep our eyes fixed on Christ: seeing Him in the poor through the Works of Mercy, through the eyes of His mother in the Rosary, through Scripture in Lectio Divina, through the way He works in our own lives, and finally, through His journey to the cross.”

They’ve structured their offerings in a way that gives each week its own unique rhythm. For example, on Mondays and Thursdays they offer meditations on a Work of Mercy that will feature seven different litanies for each work. Tuesday offers meditations on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosaries and Wednesdays provide a meditation on the writing of a saint or a taize chant (the authentic version which has received papal applause). On Fridays, the faithful will reflect on the Stations of the Cross. Saturdays will lead them in the practice of Lectio Divina to reflect on the Gospel reading for Sunday’s Mass.

The final 14 days of Lent will feature the Stations of the Cross Challenge where the faithful will pray and meditate on one station a day, ending on Holy Saturday.

“By keeping our eyes on Jesus throughout Lent, we hope to help people enter into Holy Week and Easter with newfound amazement at who God is and how He calls us to follow Him,” Jones said.

The creation of Hallow is an example of what God can do with a younger generation of faithful Catholics. An engineering graduate from Notre Dame who was raised Catholic, Jones, 26, went through a period of agnosticism that lasted through most of his college career. He credits friends who were well-versed in theology and philosophy for “cracking open the door” of his heart and helping him to move beyond the legends and myths to discover Jesus Christ.

He admits to using Headspace to pray but thought the eastern style of meditation was too focused on himself and not grounded enough in the faith. It was then that he realized the Church has been practicing meditation for thousands of years, which led him to explore Ignatian and other methods or Catholic prayer.

“The first time I tried Lectio Divina it brought tears to my eyes,” Jones told me during an interview last year.

One day in prayer, the idea came to him – if Headspace and Calm can be so successful in teaching eastern meditation techniques to people, why can’t a Christian-based app do the same?

The rest is history.

Alex and his team have created an app that now has tens of thousands of downloads and a 4.9 out of 5.0 rating from users.

If you want to get involved in #pray40, download the Hallow app here.

© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com