Be Still: Hallow’s Pray25 Advent Challenge with Chris Pratt, Jonathan Roumie, Gwen Stefani, & More!

Be Still: Hallow’s Pray25 Advent Challenge with Chris Pratt, Jonathan Roumie, Gwen Stefani, & More!

By Franci Revel Eckensberger, Lead Editor

God is the friend of silence. We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness.
—Mother Teresa

Beautiful, soul-stirring, fits in the palm of your hand, and keeps your mind off the bustle of the season and on God’s presence—Hallow is once again delivering just that, and we’re not the least bit surprised.

Just today, the #1 prayer app launched their Advent Prayer Challenge, Pray25: Be Still.

Taking its name from Psalm 46:10—Be still and know that I am God—this challenge is a call to slow down and surrender to a deeper relationship with Christ and your knowledge of Him during the most hectic time of year. From December 1-25, participants in Hallow’s Advent challenge will stay focused on Christ’s Nativity, Mary’s fiat, and God’s enduring love through a wide variety of audio content.

This is Hallow’s seventh prayer challenge, and beloved names like Jonathan Roumie, Chris Pratt, Sister Miriam, and Gwen Stefani are all returning for the season. According to Hallow’s recent press release, 200,000 people around the world have already joined Pray25, the most prayer challenge participants the app has seen to date.

As with the app’s previous challenges (read more here!), participants have the option of incorporating books into their Advent journey. The first of Pray25’s two books is The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander, hailed as a spiritual classic that invites readers to encounter Mary, Mother of God, as a “deeply human” figure—a “reed” through which God plays his song. It is available from Ave Maria Press in paperback and e-book formats, but also an ornate hardcover edition co-designed with House of Joppa. Word on Fire editor Hailey Stewart has written a free study guide also available for PDF download on Ave Maria Press’ website, providing prayers, reflections, and thoughtful journal questions for each chapter. Each week of Pray25 will begin with reflections on The Reed of God led by Jonathan Roumie of The Chosen fame and Sister Miriam, author and host of the Abiding Together podcast.  

The second book is The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer, which argues that hurry is “the root cause beneath so much of the anger and anxiety of our cultural moment” and is “incompatible with a Christian life of love, joy, and peace.” If that’s not inspiration to slow down next month, what is?

The book is published by Penguin and available on Comer’s website. Lauded actor and producer Chris Pratt will guide participants through this book each Friday during Pray25. 

There’s plenty more in the works, including sessions on stillness with musician Gwen Stefani and Mother Natalia, host of the What God is Not podcast, which take inspiration from the lives of the saints. Participants can expect to dive into imaginative prayer with Fr. John Burns and glean wisdom from Fr. Pierre Toussaint’s homilies every Sunday. Pray25 will also feature a rendition of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” by actor Michael Iskander (House of David), inspiring listeners to “pause, enter into a spirit of longing, and prepare their hearts for the coming of Jesus at Christmas through prayerfully reflecting on the ancient hymn.” The Kids Advent 2025 challenge—”Finding Fiat”—allows even the youngest hearts to find more time for prayer and embrace the lessons of Psalm 46:10.  

We wanted to give folks the space to just Be Still with the Lord this Advent season. To rest, to pray, to sit in silence. So that’s the challenge this year – Be Still. That’s it. 25 days of us just learning from some incredible saints, theologians, authors who have meditated on stillness and resting with the Lord. Can’t wait for you to join us.
—Alex Jones, CEO & Co-founder of Hallow

If you aren’t familiar with Hallow, we recommend it wholeheartedly. The app is inviting, user-friendly, and uncluttered, with a vast collection of recordings: daily Gospels, rosaries, reflections on the saints, devotionals for men, women, and teens, meditations, novenas, examens, playlists, podcasts that lead you through the Bible or the Catechism in one year, Bishop Robert Barron’s Sunday Sermons, Gregorian chant . . . the list goes on. The app is primed for profound spiritual reflection, quick guided prayers for your lunch break, falling asleep peacefully, and everything in between. We are certain that this year’s Advent challenge won’t disappoint.

Join the Paloma & Fig team and Be Still this season!

Visit Hallow’s website to download the #1 prayer app and join Pray25 here. Order your copies of The Reed of God here and The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry here to receive them in time for Advent!

Be on the lookout for our episode of A Resounding Yes! this December with a member of the Hallow team! Listen to our Lenten episode with Taylor Buckley, Hallow’s director of influencer and brand marketing, here.

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Writer and editor Franci Revel Eckensberger holds a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from Cornell University. With years of experience as a copyeditor for academics, fellow writers, and various small businesses, she takes pride in maintaining clarity, consistency, and beauty in each client’s voice. 

Franci finds grace and insight in the Catholic Church’s rich relationship to language and invites that relationship to influence both her literary and editorial work. Saint Cecilia and Catherine of Siena continue to play a vital role in her journey to the faith as an artist. She lives in coastal Delaware with her husband.