St. Olaf parishioners are crocheting prayer shawls through their new ministry. Courtesy photoBOUNTIFUL — A new ministry at St. Olaf Parish in Bountiful has the goal of spreading comfort, encouragement and accompaniment through handcrafted goods. The Prayer Shawl and Craft Ministry, created by Caprice Nielsen, meets monthly on Sundays at the parish.
Nielsen is a member of the Ladies of Charity of Northern Utah, an international organization that serves people in need.
“My chapter’s main focus has been running the Center of Hope Food Pantry and Thrift Store in North Salt Lake for many years, but our members have been wanting to expand our mission,” Nielsen said about starting the prayer shawl ministry. “One member brought up the idea of making prayer shawls at a meeting, and it piqued my interest as I am an avid crocheter.” 
Nielsen started researching prayer shawl ministries across the country, and “I was deeply moved by the impact that they have had on people,” she said. “I decided I would start making prayer shawls, and I invited the other members in my group [the Ladies of Charity] to help me.”
Then, last December, she took a trip that opened an unexpected door for the ministry.
“While I was on my trip I made my first two shawls,” she said. “About a week after I came back from my trip, a dear friend of mine had a seizure while at Mass, resulting in her not being able to drive. I gifted her the one of the shawls and was deeply moved by the impact it had on her. She told me that the shawl has been a huge source of comfort while she navigated this new chapter in her life.” 
A couple of weeks later, Nielsen read in the parish bulletin that a young family had lost their baby. 
“I did not know the family, but decided to gift the mother a shawl,” she said. 
Nielsen packed the shawl and gave it to the St. Olaf Parish secretary, Melissa Martinez, to give to the family.
“Melissa looked at the prayer shawl, and she told me that the colors in the shawl (purple, gray and white) were the colors of her baby’s nursery and that everyone at the funeral was asked to wear those colors,” Nielsen said. “I truly feel as though the Holy Spirit worked through me to get this shawl into the hands of the mother who is in a deep state of grief and loss.” 
That incident also sparked a light because Martinez asked how other women could get involved. 
“My plan initially was to keep the prayer shawl group within the Ladies of Charity, but with Melissa’s help we put a call in our bulletin for other members of the St. Olaf’s Parish to get involved,” Nielsen said. “I would like to emphasize that this has remained a Ladies of Charity ministry and is directly supported by the organization.” 
The prayer shawl is a Catholic tradition of comfort and grace, according to the ministry explanation. “In the Roman Catholic tradition, the use of sacramentals – holy objects set apart for spiritual benefit – is a beautiful way to draw closer to God,” it reads. “One such modern sacramental, embraced by many Catholic parishes and ministries, is the prayer shawl. Often handmade and given during times of need, a prayer shawl is a physical sign of prayerful support, healing, and the presence of Christ.”
For her parish, Nielsen has created a name request list for the shawls, which now has included a person with cancer and a family who recently lost a daughter, among others.
“All name requests for shawls that I have received are put on a prayer list that I email out to all of my crafters weekly so we can pray for those in need,” she said. “Those who have received the shawls still remain on the prayer list.”
Her goal is to get a shawl into the hands of every single person in the community who is in need of spiritual comfort and support, she said. “That could be someone experiencing a major medical diagnosis, the loss of a loved one, or any major life event. You do not have to be Catholic to receive a shawl, nor do you have to be Catholic to join our ministry. I would love to have a network of crafters across the diocese who can all work together to spread spiritual comfort.”
Each shawl takes anywhere from eight to 40 hours to create. 
“When someone receives one, it is a reminder that someone cares about them, loves them and is praying for them,” she said. “I encourage all of my crafters to pray while they are creating their shawls as well, and to place uplifting intentions onto their shawls. And I encourage anyone reading this to pray for us, to give us the motivation and strength to continue on with our work.”
Cindy Hansen, one of the ministry members, said that she loves being able to put her faith into action through her crafting abilities.
“When I was younger, my grandmother tried teaching me how to crochet, often showing me how to crochet one of her latest projects she thought would be easy enough for me to do. However, since her passing many years ago, I really didn’t have any interest in continuing to crochet, up until recently,” Hansen said, adding that she didn’t know where to start until she read about the new Prayer Shawl & Crochet Ministry in the parish bulletin.
“I knew I had to become part of it, despite not being well experienced in crocheting,” she said. “What initially started as me wanting to pick up crocheting as a way to somehow carry on my grandmother’s legacy has now turned into me wanting to crochet for a purpose.” 
Hansen recalled that when she lost both of her parents, a couple of parishioners reached out to her and offered an act of kindness, “which help lift me up while I was grieving. Through this ministry,   my hope is to be able to do the same for someone else, to help lift them up while they are facing whatever hardship they are experiencing in their lives.”
Anyone interested in becoming involved in the Prayer Shawl and Craft Ministry can contact Nielsen at 941-928-6073 or [email protected]. 
“We are teaching women how to crochet so they can help us in our ministry, and have received many donations of yarn, sympathy cards and gift bags,” she said. “I also have women who are donating other crafts they make, including pocket quilts and pocket hearts. Although prayer shawls are the main focus, we will accept any donation of handmade crafts that can help uplift those in need.”
Monetary donations are always helpful as well, “and will help ensure we can continue to spread love, comfort and hope to all those who are in need,” she added.