POV: You’re a Catholic mom striving to teach your children to own their faith beyond Sunday Mass, build good friendships, and develop purposeful habits around technology. You don’t want phones to become their default activity in boredom or procrastination, but rather tools for authentic learning and connection––preferably in ways that foster faith and true fellowship. What’s a mom to do? 

POV: You just lost your job while preparing to renew your lease, and other circumstances in your personal life make this a hard hit. You’re struggling to share what’s going on and ask others for prayers, even though you sorely need them. How do you proceed? 

POV: You’ve recently entered the Catholic Church and are just discovering what all this Saint-hype is about. You used to think that Catholics bypassed God by praying to the Saints, but now you understand that the Saints were real people whose remarkable holiness can help us grow closer to God. You want to befriend a few Saints yourself. Where do you go? 

If any of these scenarios hit home, there’s an app for you.

HelloHalo, created by a Catholic family for other families, showcases the realness of the Saints and helps make faith a rhythm of everyday life. 

A Purposeful Family Project

Family projects are a bit of a way of life for the Wilkes, the developers of HelloHalo. A few months after I met Wes, Nathalia, and their children Jack and Lucy through mutual friends, Nathalia and I connected via phone this summer. We chatted first about home remodels, backyard projects, and ministry involvements before she shared the story behind HelloHalo with me. 

A year and a half ago, when life sent storms their way, the Wilke family waited for a rainbow—and then ran where it led. When Wes, a software engineer, became unemployed during the peak of the AI boom, the family felt called toward work that was clearly faith-based and for the Lord. Of all the projects that followed, HelloHalo became a unique one, born from their prayerful hearts and passion for sharing the Catholic faith. 

What Do Catholics Actually Believe About Saints? 

It all started with a conversation.

While speaking with a Protestant friend, Nathalia was struck by the misconceptions that circulate regarding Catholic belief in the Saints. She felt called to clarify their important, tangible role in Catholic spiritual life. 

“The number one mission of the HelloHalo app is to remind Catholics how close the Saints are to us,” Nathalia shared with me. “The whole point of the app is bringing people closer to their faith and just really showcasing that the Saints are our friends––real and relatable.”

Following that conversation, Nathalia wrote the very first feature for HelloHalo, Saints101, an interactive deep dive into Catholic teaching on the Saints that offers dozens of comprehensive answers to common questions.

The Wilkes were also inspired by some fun videos from their parish children’s ministry based on “screenshots” of text messages from different Saints. They began imagining an app built around a similar interactive concept, so that Catholics could grow closer to the Communion of Saints in Heaven. 

Bringing the Communion of Saints Closer

And so HelloHalo began, centered around a “Chat with a Saint” feature. It offers a delightful conversational way to ask a Saint about anything—their life, patronages, and even for words of encouragement. 

As Nathalia put it, “The Saints are our friends in Heaven, and they want to pray for us the same way the best friend you’re texting wants to pray for you when you’re going through something hard.”

Some of the Saints lived intense lives, but “Chat with a Saint” presents even these in a gentle, family-friendly way. This little space to connect with our heavenly companions—as if they were friends we could message for wisdom and guidance today—offers a genuine encounter with each saintly persona. And importantly, the feature is not AI-generated. Its content is drawn from designated online databases.

HelloHalo is truly a different sort of screentime, less about what you’re doing and more about why you’re doing it, and with whom. You always pray with a Saint, even while praying for others on the community prayer wall, where users can add anonymous intentions in different categories and pray for the needs of others.

It’s an intentional reason to pick up your phone: to sit and pray for someone rather than scroll.

Practical Ways to Pray With HelloHalo

HelloHalo allows you to pray with the family of God and ideally with your earthly family too.

Individual profiles for kids, teens, or adults––with customized wording for prayers based on age group—can be connected on a family dashboard. This allows you to pray together, track spiritual progress, up your prayer warrior status, and earn new badges across devices, time, and space.

But the best way to use HelloHalo as a family is to gather and pray together. Here’s an ideal starter prayer routine:

1. Read the Daily Mass readings. A brief reflection from a Saint is offered before and after the readings, directing your attention to a particular theme or moment in the Scriptures.
2. Look at the “Virtue of the Day” challenge. This offers an easy, tangible action to complete during the day. 
3. Intercede for others. Take a minute to intercede for an intention or two on the community prayer wall. 

The app has you covered at the end of the day too. The Wilkes recommend the “Daily Cross Word” (pun intended due to the puzzle’s shape) or a family novena as part of bedtime prayer.

HelloHalo is stocked with prayers, all text-based, short, and succinct because a simple prayer goes a long way. Its focused layout means you can use the app purposefully and practically to enhance your, and your family’s, prayer life.

Rather than simply adding more screen time, HelloHalo is a resource for your family’s path to sanctity.

A Little Prayer Goes a Long Way Towards Holiness

Whether you’re a busy parent, a seventh grader, a recent convert, or a child of God facing one of life’s many challenges, we could all use a little prayer, and a simple structure around it.

As Nathalia reminded me during our conversation, “Any minute we’re alive is our journey to Sainthood.”

With the prayers of our brothers and sisters on earth and the intercession of the Saints in Heaven, we can greet every moment of growth in sanctity with a willing heart, until we reach the Church Triumphant to receive our own halos in eternity.

To learn more about HelloHalo, visit https://hellohalo.app/. Most features are available in the free version, or your whole family can receive premium access for $24.99/year. If cost is a challenge, there is a scholarship waitlist on the app website. A “parishes” model also allows your church, school, religious education program, or Little Flowers Girls’ Club to jump on board too.