KINGSTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Once a month at St. Therese's Church in Shavertown, a group of women meet to knit hats, blankets, and shawls similar to the one the church's patron saint wears herself.
"It's turning a hobby, into something that's mindful and being able to provide help and healing to other people," said Prayer Shawl Ministry Director Adriana Stephens.
St. Therese's prayer shawl ministry makes the items for local charities.
"It's miraculous, in a way, because the piece we're working on we've found always finds the right person it's meant to be with."
This time, the shawls went to Candy's Place, a wellness center for cancer patients in Forty Fort that has been open for about two decades.
Candy's Place provides services for both men and women suffering from any type of cancer.
"When you have another group of neighbors that want to come in and generate some good will, especially this time of the year, how could you not feel gratitude toward these ladies and everyone who participated in this?" asked Candy's Place director Lisa Orlandini.
Each item comes with a tag that explains the shawl ministry's mission.
The ladies pray over each item.
"We'd be mindful of that as we are knitting and crocheting and actively knitting our prayers with each stitch into the garment for them," Stephens said.
If you look closely, you'll find even more hidden meanings in the items. Some of them have little details, like flowers.
"St. Therese, in famous pictures and portraits of her, she is wearing a shawl and she was known as 'The Little Flower,' so, that's an extra-special way for us to include our patron into the work that we do," Stephens said.