Hallow app draws St. Malachy students, families to ‘continue to grow in the faith,’ provoking curiosity and connections

Through the Hallow app’s “Mary on the Mantel” program, the principal of St. Malachy School in Brownsburg, Saundra Kennison, received a Mary doll, advice messages for students and a book last Advent to help students prepare for Christmas. The school partnered with Hallow to offer accounts to students and their families as a means to grow in the faith at school and at home. (Submitted photo)

By Natalie Hoefer

When Jenna Cain received an e-mail from Hallow, Inc., she was already familiar with the company’s Catholic meditation and prayer app, Hallow.

“Several of my friends had talked about how it’s such a resource for learning on the go or praying on the go,” says the middle school religion teacher at St. Malachy School in Brownsburg. “And you don’t have to worry about having a book in front of you or reading text—you just need to listen.”

In light of their positive comments, Cain was excited by the message in the e-mail from Hallow: Would St. Malachy School be interested in partnering to offer solid Catholic content to its students and their families through its “Hallow for School” version?

She discussed the idea with school principal Saundra Kennison, who was quickly sold on the idea.

“Faith formation is the number one reason our school exists,” she says. “We want to partner—especially in this day and age with so many outside influences on kids—in creating that relationship of parent, child and family, teaching our children in the faith and helping them continue to grow in the faith.”

A plan was developed during the 2022-23 school year, teachers received summer training on how to use the app, and the plan was implemented last fall.

‘Learning things we haven’t taught yet’

“It’s the same Hallow app, but it has a section for kids,” Kennison explains.

Through the partnership, each student and their family are given a personal Hallow account that can be accessed via computer or any mobile device with Internet access.

“In my class, we use it as a teaching mechanism with the lives of the saints, different Catholic topics, spiritual topics and for the opening prayer of each of my classes,” says Cain.

“I feel like kids’ eyes need a break from screens. This is a deeper, relaxing way to learn because it’s purely audio.”

Cain builds time into her middle school religion classes for students to use the app. And there’s something for everyone, she says—the daily Mass Gospel reading, homilies, Father Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” and “Catechism in a Year” podcasts, trivia, history, reflections from well-known Catholics, prayers like the rosary, Divine Mercy chaplet, novenas and more.

“I’ve noticed the kids’ confidence in talking about the Bible and the catechism have grown,” says Cain. “Often, I have kids share what they’re listening to. A lot who use the Bible- or Catechism in a Year, they’re learning things we haven’t taught yet, so they’re growing in confidence and connectedness to their faith.”

Kennison used Hallow’s “Mary on the Mantel” program—a Catholic version of “Elf on the Shelf”—in the school during Advent.

“They sent me a kit with a Mary doll,” she explains. “She has a satchel with advice cards. I created a little table with white flowers and a picture frame with her advice for the day that Mary sat by—but she also moved around the school, too. And there was a book that came with it that I read to the K-2 classes.”

‘It draws the whole family into the faith’

At this point, students in kindergarten through fifth grade only use Hallow at home, where “parents log in so they can use the app as a family,” says Kennison.

Which is the other half of the Hallow partnership Cain praises.

“It draws the whole family into the faith experience, and it helps bring out different interests and questions you might have about your faith,” she says. “Even topics we wouldn’t come across otherwise, like the Church’s view on mental health, stress and anxiety, and how different areas of life like athletics can be used to grow deeper in faith.”

The app includes family Mass preparation for the upcoming Sunday’s liturgy.

“I’m hearing families like to use that to get ready for Mass and discuss the readings,” says Cain.

As a mother of seven children ages 1 to 13, she also appreciates using Hallow to pray together as a family.

“My kids’ lives are filled with sports and games and commitments,” Cain says. “Listening to Hallow re-centers everyone on what’s important and creates good conversation.

“When I put it on, especially in the car, it has a calming effect on everyone and quiets them down because they know it’s something important—and it’s a different voice than mine.”

Cain says using the app as a family “provokes questions and curiosity. My younger kids like the bedtime Bible stories. There’s even an examination of conscience for little ones before bed, and soothing bedtime Catholic music.”

Her son, Damien, a seventh-grader at St. Malachy, sees the Hallow for School app as “a good way to teach people more about the faith and connect with the Gospels.”

He likes having time to listen to the app in class and doing daily trivia with his classmates, “which helps us learn more about saints and the history of the Church.”

Damien’s personal favorite section of the app is Father Mike Schmitz’s daily, one-minute homily.

“It inspires a greater meaning of the Gospel for the day,” he says. “A lot of times I can connect it to my daily life. Usually, it’s pretty easy to relate to, and he has really good ideas about how the Gospel connects to our life.”

He also likes listening at home or in the car with his family.

“It helps, especially when it’s loud and crazy. It helps calm everyone done. When we listen to it, it gets really quiet and calm because everyone is focused on what’s being said, not what someone else is doing.”

Kennison calls the Hallow for School app a “one-stop shop for our students and families.

“I’ve been in classes where students are asking such great questions, and that tells me they are hungry and their hearts are open to studying the word.

“And parents are getting to know their faith, too, and use it to help in fulfilling God’s plan for them and their family.” †