How Pax began
It was 1:00 AM, three weeks postpartum, and sleep felt like a distant memory. Earlier that day, my husband and I had gotten into an argument - one of those painful misunderstandings fueled entirely by sheer exhaustion, emotional highs and lows, and the overwhelming weight of caring for a newborn.
When our baby finally drifted off, I went to lay down, but my mind refused to shut off. I was ruminating, spiraling deeper into a funk with every passing minute. Desperate for peace, I prayed. In that moment, I realized I needed something tangible to cling to - a lifeline I could reach right from my bed. I thought to myself, I just wish I could pick up my phone, tap a button that says “sad,” and immediately read Catholic scripture and quotes that meet me right where I am.
I turned to my husband in the dark and said, “I need you to build me an app where I can click on how I’m feeling, and it’ll pull up Catholic quotes and scripture to help pull me out of this funk.”
Without hesitation, he looked at me and said, “Okay, I’ll work on it tomorrow.”
That late-night prayer born out of postpartum exhaustion became the seed for this app. We created it because we’ve been in those quiet, heavy moments where words fail, peace feels far away, and you just need the truth and beauty of Catholic tradition to meet you with a single tap.
Formed in the classroom of Blessed Fulton Sheen
If you look closely at the design of our app, you’ll notice it feels like stepping into a warm, intentional classroom - and that’s by design.
As a former educator turned homeschooling mom of 7 (plus 4 saints in Heaven), I’ve always been inspired by Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Growing up with his teaching, I found myself turning to him time and again throughout my adult life whenever I needed grounded wisdom, spiritual growth, or clarity in my personal life.
When we sat down to design this app, we wanted to recreate that feeling. We designed the experience to feel like entering Blessed Fulton Sheen’s own classroom - a place where he continues to share the richness of the Catholic faith today. Through a blend of sacred Scripture, the Catechism, and deep human reflections on the daily ups and downs of life, every corner of this app is built to teach, comfort, and guide you right where you are.
A major thank you to my hubby, Matt, who’s always willing to jump into my crazy creative space with brilliant ideas - he’s a genius!
I hope you enjoy using this app as much as I do! Always know of our prayers for the entire Pax community - we appreciate you! Hugs! Pax Christi
Why I built Pax
I’ve wanted to build apps ever since the first iPhone came out, but for years it was a someday dream. I’m an engineering manager in automotive software, sixteen years and a few companies in, and that work finally gave me the know-how and the confidence to try it as a hobby. So when Rochelle asked me to build her an app, I told her I’d start on it tomorrow, and I did.
Rochelle is the reason Pax exists. She’s also a big reason my faith is what it is. She may not be a saint yet, but nobody has done more to shape my faith or to push me deeper into it. We have seven children here with us and four more saints in Heaven, and along the way I’ve leaned hard on St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Benedict and St. Maximilian Kolbe.
Pax isn’t the first idea God has dropped on me out of nowhere. Years ago I woke up with an oddly specific thought: start a podcast interviewing people about what they do. With a big family and almost no free time, it sounded crazy. We prayed about it and came away sure I was being called to it. That became Dim Lit Path. It pulled me out of my comfort zone, too: I never wanted to be in front of a camera, and honestly, I’m a bad listener. A show built on listening meant building on my weaknesses.
It led somewhere I didn’t expect. After I interviewed Father Riley O’Shea on Dim Lit Path, Rochelle had an idea of her own: a second podcast in the same style, talking only with priests. We had grown close to Father Riley and Father Brett Ivey back when they were seminarians, and they became godfathers to two of our children. Walking alongside them showed us how much the Church needs young men willing to ask whether God is calling them to the priesthood. Before the Collar gives them a place to hear priests tell what called them. Those are stories we rarely get to hear, and someone out there is looking for them. Dim Lit Path has been quiet for a while; Before the Collar is where that work lives now.
Pax comes from the same place. Every whisper is different when it comes to a vocation, and every person’s trials are different too. My hope is that Pax becomes your go-to when you’re going through something: a place to turn the moment you pick up your phone, where Scripture, the Church’s teaching, the saints and faithful voices of the laity can help guide you through it.
Our promise
Every quote in Pax is checked word for word against a source you can read for yourself: Scripture, the Catechism, and the writings of the saints, the popes and trusted Catholic voices. Nothing is invented, and nothing is included that departs from the teaching of the Church. If a quote ever looks wrong, please tell us.
Please pray for the families who use Pax, and for ours.
Pax is an independent project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Sheen family, his estate, or any organization bearing his name.