Prayer Shawl Ministry

By Toni Rausch

The Nativity Prayer Shawl ministry began on a rather sad note. In August of 2007 I was diagnosed with kidney cancer. After intense tests, scans and discussions my urologist/surgeon recommended that the kidney be removed since the cancer was totally contained and my remaining kidney was very strong. Soon after the diagnosis I happened to be in the office of the Rector of an Episcopal church in Alexandria who was an ex-Catholic priest and a very good friend of me and my husband. I noticed a basket full of knitted materials and wondered what they were. He told us his church had a very active prayer shawl ministry. Then he gave me one, and blessed it, to sustain me through my illness and pending surgery.

And so it did. My surgery took place in November 2007 and that prayer shawl accompanied me to the hospital and into the operating room with the concurrence of the entire surgical staff. It sustained me and brought me peace. And the surgery was completely successful. I have been cancer free ever since that time and I still have that original shawl at the foot of our bed.

During that same time period a very good friend, Phil Richard, told us he had been diagnosed with kidney cancer and, in contrast to my diagnosis, his cancer had already spread. I wanted very much to make a prayer shawl for Phil even though I could not knit or crochet very well. I felt called to share this tangible sign of prayer with others. It was about that time that I approached Fr. Martin with the idea that I believed Nativity could support a prayer shawl ministry. He agreed and I began recruiting a core group of women. I found three very dedicated, willing and committed women to form that core group—Flo Grike, Joanne Dezzutti and Michele McDaniel—and we began. We decided that we would have both daytime and nighttime meetings so women could come even if they worked outside the home. We also found that there were women who didn’t want to come to another meeting but wanted to be a part of this ministry. A basket is kept in the outer office were they can put their shawls. We uncovered a latent desire within the parish and found many, many interested women who joined the ministry. And so we began with prayer and dedication to the Holy Spirit that he would grant us a growing ministry as He did on Pentecost.

Our meetings are held in the all purpose room in our church on the third Monday morning of each month as well as the third Wednesday night each month. Attendance ranges from thirty to six women at these meetings. We begin with a gathering prayer: “We come into your presence Lord as we join one another to share our knitting and crocheting, our praying and our stories. We keep in our hearts all of the people who have received our prayer shawls. May they experience the care and concern we each have for them in our hearts. But most of all we pray for your healing love to flow into each of them and make them whole and healthy in body, mind and spirit. Give them your peace and let them know how much you love them. Bless our needles and crochet hooks, our yarn and our hands as they make these shawls. Let us ever be mindful of your compassion and gentleness and instill these virtues in all of us as we meet to do your work. May the recipients of these prayer shawls feel wrapped in Your loving arms as these shawls are put around them. Bless their families and their and care givers who love them so much. Lord we praise You and thank You amen”. We also take a few minutes to pray for those members of our group who need special prayers for someone.

So many very talented ladies are in our group! We have ladies who can make beautiful shawls out of scraps of yarn that have been donated to us. We have ladies who knit in the European style, the South American style with the needles under their arms and the American style. We have a table of Spanish speaking ladies, and ladies of all ages. No men yet but it might catch on. The husbands of the core group have helped us bag and tag the shawls. This is actually a big job and time consuming because we attach a prayer to each shawl and place it in a plastic bag. The prayer card that we attach with ribbon reads,” May this shawl made with love through prayer be a mantel and sign of God’s healing presence. May it strengthen you when you are weary. May it surround you and ease your suffering. May it encircle you with caring when you feel pain. May it comfort you when you feel alone. May it remind you of God’s abiding love. Amen”. We get all of the air out of the bag by sitting on it and zipping it at the same time. We have very little storage space for our shawls and yarn so we have to be creative. All of the prayer cards for our shawls have been made by Joanne Dezzutti and her daughter Janice Carey. In order to keep track of our shawls we use a list that is kept in the church office for all shawls taken out. The secretaries respond to requests for shawls from people that come to the office and there is a list to sign who has requested one and who the shawl is given to. This is kept for purposes of knowing who we should pray for as well as how many have been given out. The shawl boxes are checked on after Mass each morning to see that there are some shawls available. At this writing we have given away more than 800 shawls. The shawls are not for sale but many people want to give a donation. We gladly accept the donations and use them to buy yarn, bags and other needs of the Ministry.

The Prayer Shawl Ministry in our parish could never have begun or flourished in Nativity Parish without the blessing and help of our Pastor Father Dick Martin. Not only did he give us the chance to start the Ministry but he encouraged us in every way. He wanted to have a blessing of the shawls every few months at a Sunday Mass so the people of the parish could see the work of our hands and know that these shawls are available. The shawls are placed on a table in front and to the side of the altar and women from the prayer shawl ministry process in with Father carrying some of the shawls. At least two times a year we have a Prayer Shawl Sunday, when we give out prayer shawls to those in need after each Mass. One of the most beautiful things our parish has done is allow us to have a prayer in the prayers of the faithful at each Mass on Sundays that says, “For all those who have received a prayer shawl we pray to the Lord”. What a blessed time! I also must mention the extraordinary service that one woman named Mary Ward has given to the Ministry. Mary has truly been our Martha. She has been the procurer and keeper of our yarn until she moved to California earlier this year. She had so many talents, mixing and matching yarns, finding beautiful colors and new and interesting patterns. She is sorely missed.

The feedback we have gotten from people who have received our Prayer Shawls has been extraordinary. We really didn’t think that anyone would request to be buried with their prayer shawls but they have. Some shawls have been passed from one person in a family to another. I have received thank you notes from parents of children and from children of parents who write to say how much their fathers have loved their prayer shawls. We know from the stories we are told that the shawls have gone all over the world. The shawls have been sent to soldiers in the war, people in many foreign countries, babies in the NICU, people who make the seriously ill weekend retreats that our diocese sponsors every year at the Dominican retreat house. The need is so great! It is a comfort for the people who give the shawls as well as those who receive them.
May God continue to bless our ministry and our Parish.