As the more than one billion Catholics around the world embark on the annual period of sacrifice in the Lenten season, actor Jonathan Roumie, who portrayed Jesus in the critically-acclaimed television show ‘The Chosen’ and features as the primary voice for the Hallow prayer app, shared what the 40-day ritual means to him.
For context, Ash Wednesday kicked off Lent for 2026 on February 18th as observing Christians began 40 days of reflection and personal sacrifice. The practice dates back millenia to remind Christians of the period of fasting endured by Jesus in the desert. While the church ultimately settled on 40 days, earlier practices ranged from 36 to 42 days.
The typical application of ash on the forehead symbolizes both death and repentance. Genesis 2:7 states that “”And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Common now to give up something desirable as a form of self-sacrifice, Roumie shared that he uses the time for “meditation, peace and reflection.” He explained that the overwhelming “noise” of modern-day living made it that much more important to look both inward and up toward the Heavens.
“I think every year the noise in the culture, the global noise, just seems to get louder and louder and louder. So as we mark these next 40 ish days leading up to Easter, Lent becomes a time for just meditation and peace and reflection,” he remarked in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Roumie also cited the aforementioned Hallow app that features him as the reader for daily prayer. “The 40-Day prayer challenge is essentially the epitome of what it means to take time for yourself to return to this time of meditation and prayerfulness with God. The theme of this prayer challenge that we’re doing on how this year is called the return, particularly it’s, what does it mean to return to the Father? How do we find our way back to the Lord during these 40 days?” he added.
Roumie has long represented the app and been a voice for Christianity. In 2024, an airing of a powerful ad during the Super Bowl featured both him and fellow devotee Mark Wahlberg, another prominent Catholic voice in Hollywood.
“As background,” wrote the Christian Tribune after its initial airing, “Hallow is a daily prayer app about which Wahlberg has spoken before. It provides users with a daily, customized prayer routine and enables connections with friends and family so that people can share their faith journey with those close to them. Though based on the Catholic faith, it can be used by Christians of any denomination.”
“In the ad for the app, in which Wahlberg appeared alongside actor Jonathan Roumie, known for his portrayal of Jesus in “The Chosen,” Wahlberg led a prayer as the ad panned over shots of scenarios like a family praying at dinner and soldiers, presumably deployed overseas, prayed. In his prayer, Wahlberg said, ‘God, we take this moment, just to give you thanks.’ He added, ‘Join us in prayer this Lent on Hallow. Stay prayed up,’” the Tribune continued.