Alessandro DiSanto Inspires Crowd at Young Catholic Professionals Event
The historic Star Barn venue in Elizabethtown was filled on a proverbial dark and stormy night September 4 with more than 120 participants as the South Central PA chapter of Young Catholic Professionals (YCP) hosted Harrisburg native and Bishop McDevitt graduate Alessandro DiSanto.
DiSanto, 32, is one of the three co-founders of the Hallow app, and appeared locally as part of YCP’s Executive Speaker Series. He shared personal and professional insights behind the development of Hallow, the #1 Catholic prayer app in the world with over 20 million downloads, available in eight languages in 150 countries.
Hallow is a prayer and meditation app that combines the peace and stillness of meditation with the spiritual growth of contemplative prayer. It features over 10,000 sessions of audio-guided prayers led by talented people such as Jonathan Roumie, Father Mike Schmitz, Bishop Robert Barron, and Mark Wahlberg. It is the first religious or wellness app in history to reach the #1 spot in the App Store, above every other app across all categories.
Now living in Chicago, DiSanto said the app was launched in 2018 with a simple premise, to help people with the age-old appeal, “Lord, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1). Its content sprung from the spiritual journey of he and his co-founders to bridge the gap between meditation apps like Headspace and the long Catholic tradition of meditation and prayer.
Raised in a large Italian-American family, he is a proud product of Catholic education from kindergarten through college, ultimately graduating summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with degrees in finance and economics. He began his career on Wall Street at Goldman Sachs in New York City before becoming a private equity investor in Chicago.
It was during stress-filled 90-hour work weeks in his finance role that DiSanto first began using Headspace to calm himself and address stress-related health concerns. But in the time of quiet reflection offered by meditation, he kept hearing questions in his head that he had put off for years, mainly “Is this what you really want to do with your life?”
This led to a period of searching for more background on his faith – and on “how to communicate with God through prayer.” He admitted that after 16 years of Catholic education, he had a clear intellectual understanding of his faith but lacked a personal relationship with Jesus that would sustain a healthy prayer life.
Online searches led to YouTube videos filled with “disruptive advertising” and so, together with two college friends with similar motivation, they ultimately decided to quit their jobs and go all-in on developing Hallow, named for the beginning phrase in the Lord’s Prayer. They lived frugally for a time until they attracted venture capital funding and were able to launch.
“We started with offering simple prayers on the app read by priests and other friends we knew,” he explained. “We also include explanations to questions like ‘What is prayer?’ and ‘What is discernment? Our design and content is structured to capture the interest of someone ‘coming off the street’ regardless of where they’re at spiritually.”
DiSanto said that since the launch, “we’ve been incredibly blessed,” and the co-founders are blown away by the stories from users of how the prayer app has changed their lives. He noted the user base was initially 80% Catholic but is now 50-50 Catholic to non-Catholic, which has drawn additional attention to it as a tool of evangelization. In fact, he now works closely with colleges and schools to raise awareness of Hallow to students as a tool for building a prayer life.
A big turning point for growth came when Hallow decided to do a Super Bowl ad during its 2025 telecast that hit one billion people worldwide. The 30-second spot featured Catholic actor Mark Wahlburg Sr., an avid user and investor in Hallow, and Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus in “The Chosen” series. Downloads soared as well as offers to help from other Hollywood celebrities and other Catholics prominent in social media.
Before closing out his remarks, and while a steady rain hit the roof inside the Gothic-Revival barn structure, DiSanto called everyone into one minute of silent prayer, asking “as we enter this space of silence, show us Lord the one thing most necessary to sacrifice for you in our lives.”
During the closing Q&A session, DiSanto was asked the best approach to use with young people – or anyone – unsure about their faith, or about the existence of God.
“We see people overwhelmed by stress, their social media, TikTok – all the noise in the world – and saying “I just can’t find silence.” He said the most attractive thing to offer people is the invitation of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
He noted the epidemic of “depression, suicide and despair” among young people, and said it’s a natural by-product of a world without God and a culture of relativism.
A key response, DiSanto said, is to carve out time for daily prayer and most importantly within that time, for “listening” – not simply one-way appeals to God.
Speaking directly to his audience of young Catholic professionals, he acknowledged the challenge of incorporating faith into work on a daily basis, and said that for him, the solution to gaining more sanctification has been more frequent Confession and fasting, in addition to an active prayer life.
Brian Lynch, PhD, president of the YCP Southcentral PA chapter, closed out the night thanking the Notre Dame Club of Harrisburg, which sponsored the Happy Hour, and the Abel family, owners of the Star Barn, for a discounted usage rate. He urged everyone present to continue to spread the word about YCP chapter events in the Diocese.
Visit Young Catholic Professionals South Central PA Chapter, and learn more about Hallow at Hallow.com.
(Patrick Brennan is a freelance reporter for The Catholic Witness. Photos by Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness.)
By Patrick Brennan, The Catholic Witness
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