MERRILLVILLE – The Diocese of Gary has seen tremendous growth this past year in those using Hallow, a Christian Catholic prayer app, in their daily life. The diocese has reported a tenfold increase, going from approximately 300 people connected to Hallow to over 3,400.
“That growth reflects a genuine hunger for prayer and formation among our people, as well as the effectiveness of digital tools in supporting our mission of evangelization,” said Father Declan McNicholas, director of missionary discipleship and evangelization.
Since launching the partnership, Catholics across the Diocese of Gary have prayed – 655,316 prayers for a total of 6,676,829 minutes prayed through the app.
“These numbers represent more than just statistics; they reflect hundreds of thousands of personal encounters with Christ through prayer,” Father McNicholas said.
As part of the Emmaus Conference Prayer Challenge, “The Way Back,” the Diocese of Gary invited the faithful in August to pray daily and to support the evangelization efforts of the diocese. Through that initiative, Hallow generously matched donations one-to-one, partnering with the diocese in its shared mission of evangelization and missionary discipleship.
This Advent, the app will feature its annual Pray 25 challenge, titled “Be Still.” Anyone in the diocese can participate through their parish’s Hallow page.
Once an individual has joined a parish, he or she will find the Pray 25: Be Still challenge on the parish page. As part of the diocesan partnership with Hallow, all users, regardless of whether they are on the free or premium version, have full access to this Advent prayer challenge.
Father McNicholas said, “It’s a beautiful way to enter more deeply into prayer and reflection as we prepare for the Christmas season.”
Josh Danis, head of diocesean parish and partnerships for Hallow, explained the two strongest pieces of content that Hallow makes available every year is its Lent and Advent content.
“It’s always a lot of fun, and a great way to get into the season with some popular, recognizable voices,” he said. “It always brings people to both laughter and tears so it’s a neat journey to be a part of.”
This Advent, Chris Pratt and Gwen Stefani will be among those lending their voices on the Hallow app, as well as favorites Father Michael Schmidt and Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT. The content will go through two texts, “The Reed of God” and “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.”
“I think there is no better time than the present to wrestle with questions of ‘The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry,’ especially as we try to meet all of our expectations for our Advent and Christmas obligations. We can often lose sight of the need to slow down, the need to spend time alone and quiet.”
Father McNicholas, who is also director of the lay ecclesial ministry program and associate pastor St. Mary Crown Point, said he remains excited for the next year of the partnership with Hallow, heading into 2026.
“Along with the excellent content we received and developed over the past year, we are now rolling out a spiritual and formational OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) process on the Hallow app,” Father McNicholas explained.
He added it does not replace a parish’s OCIA process or formation, but rather serves as a supplemental tool to strengthen what is already happening at the parish level.
The goal is to help those journeying through OCIA, as well as anyone seeking to grow in faith, learn how to pray and deepen their relationship with God through a guided and accessible platform. It is one more way the diocese helps people encounter Christ through prayer, reflection and formation in daily life.
To join Hallow and start building a habit of prayer: 1) Open the Hallow app. 2) Tap the Community tab at the bottom. 3) Enter your ZIP code and select your parish (if you haven’t already).
Danis said Hallow is working closely with about 10 dioceses across the country. The driving passion behind the partnerships is to help parishes build an “ever richer, ever deeper culture of prayer.” He noted those at Hallow have seen that when the dioceses are sharing what they are making to their parishes, the parishes are often excited about it.
“The Diocese of Gary has just been leaders in innovation in the partnership, the things that we have done together are paving the way for a lot of the other dioceses,” he said.
Editor’s note: A $1-for-a-year diocesan promotion to join Hallow ends on Dec. 1, 2025 and there is currently no renewal option available for that special rate. Anyone who has signed up for the year promotion will have it until the one-year anniversary of their signing up and the renewal will happen at that time.
