Members of Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Parish’s prayer shawl ministry bring comfort and joy to local and international communities.
Since February 2017, the ministry has helped communities and organizations in the United States and across the world by providing comfort and love through various knit and crochet items.
Judy Brokus, a member of Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Elysburg and co-founder of the prayer shawl ministry, said the ministry shares a tangible way to bring love and comfort to people in both joyful and sorrowful times.
“It is a tangible way of extending some sort of comfort or joy to someone,” Brokus said. “It’s a way to wrap someone in love and prayer so that they know that we are thinking of them and we are with them, whether it is a joyful or a sad occasion, or if it is just a need for someone to feel that comfort and support.”
The ministry has made an impact on their local community by providing various items to different organizations. Brokus said the ministry is never short of groups in need. Each member has an affinity for different projects.
Brokus said, “As a mixed blessing, I guess we are never short of any group that is in need. Somehow one of us becomes involved. One of us here is about the need and we start providing it.”
“The nice thing too is that each woman has their own special thing that they are really committed to. We all work on different things but some of us have a special affinity for one project or another,” Brokus said.
Some of the groups they provide items to include the Oasis Community Recovery Club, Victory House, Birthright of Sunbury, Elysburg Food Pantry, Toys for Tots, Sunset Hospice at Emmanuel Center, Geisinger Medical Center, chemotherapy patients and veterans. The ministry also provides items to their fellow parishioners for baptisms, those in the RCIA program and other occasions.
Rose Valania, a member of the ministry, said two of the newer organizations they partnered with are the Oasis Community Recovery Club and Victory House in Shamokin.
The Oasis Community Recovery Club, in Shamokin, “is an open door and not residential … It is for recovering addicts where they have AA meetings and so on,” Valania said. “But they have expanded their services to help people that need basics. During times when we have extreme cold, they give out blankets to families that need them. So we provided to them many afghans.”
“Also in Shamokin, there is something that is fairly new … called Victory House. It is a residential facility for men that have gone through drug rehab and are back in the community trying to work themselves into community living and getting jobs. Because it is residential, we have also donated bed-size blankets,” Valania said.
“I think the area has such a need for that to encourage people because there is such a drug problem,” Valania said. “So it is good to support those who have started helping and encouraging them in recovery.”
Barb Splitt, another member, said she makes baptismal shawls in hope of bringing babies and parents comfort.
Splitt said, “I make (shawls) for babies for baptisms. And to me it is from my heart. I love babies and it has a special meaning … I just love doing them. I feel comfort for me, and I hope it feels comfortable for the child and the parents.”
The ministry has had an international impact through members’ work with the Water with Blessings program. Brokus said the group has created hundreds of covers for water filtration systems in about 46 developing countries.
Brokus said, “Water with Blessings is a mission in Kentucky. When we all were committed to it, we made over 800 (socks) for water filters … The women in the villages come with these (water filters). There is a glass cylinder inside which is why there is a need for the sock.”
“Last I looked, they send them to 46 different countries throughout the world … and I am still working on that (project),” Brokus said.
The ministry’s impact goes beyond someone receiving an item. The items bring people comfort and are a reminder that they are loved.
Valania said, “You don’t realize how important it is to someone with what they are going through and to think, ‘Here is someone who took the time to do something special.’ They are made with love and people are grateful.”
Mary Major, a member of Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, said, “It is something they can see. When you say you are praying for them, everyone appreciates that, but here is actual proof.”
“I think when you deliver them personally, it gives somebody a chance to talk when they just really need somebody to talk to and listen,” Major said.
Ministry member Missie Dort said, “It is just a very powerful thing to think that your hands can make something that can bring somebody else comfort. It is easy to buy a blanket and donate it … it is a little different to put feelings, work and love into a blanket and hand it to somebody.”
The ministry continues to meet monthly to create tangible signs to wrap people in love.
(Photos by Maria Resuta, a freelance reporter for The Catholic Witness.)
By Maria Resuta, The Catholic Witness
