Prayer shawls provide comfort to those in need
By Angela Greiner Community Reporter

Members of the local Prayer Shawl Ministry group at the First United Methodist Church Susan Niro and Patt Nelles knit shawls and hats while Dominic Curtis sits on Niro's lap and Jacob Curtis watches.

Hudson - The sound of knitting needles echoed through the hall of the First United Methodist Church in Hudson Feb. 23 as several women gathered in prayer to knit scarves, shawls and hats for loved ones and strangers in need of comfort. The group of 10 to 15 women who meet regularly are part of the church's Prayer Shawl Ministry, which was started locally by parishioners Connie Banfill, Susan Niro and Patt Nelles.

Over the past two years, the women in the group have knitted hundreds of items that have been given to people who are sick, have lost a loved one, are suff ering from depression or are simply in need.

The Prayer Shawl Ministry, according to the website at www.shawlministry.com, is a national movement that was started 10 years ago by two graduates from the Women's Leadership School in Hartford, Conn.; it combines the love of knitting with prayer, and the items created are then shared to bring comfort and solace to those in need.

"I first heard of a prayer shawl on a mission trip where a group of us all knitted a section of a shawl that was given to someone who was sick," Niro said.

The members of the Prayer Shawl Ministry, which meets every other Saturday, began knitting shawls for friends and parishioners who were ill and scarves for Rosie's Place in Boston.

"This is part of our spirituality; it is about giving back," Niro said. "It feels good to complete a shawl and to give it to people."

As word of the ministry's work began to spread, the group grew as knitters from across Metrowest arrived at the church with needles and yarn.

"I believe that they [the knitted creations] give healing energy," Niro said.

Nelles encouraged anyone to join the knitting group.

"We always have extra needles and yarn available for anyone who wants to join," she said. "We will even teach them to knit."

About six months after the group started, Niro's two grandchildren, Dominic, who was 3 months at the time, and Jacob Curtis, 1, were both diagnosed with pleural pulmonary blastoma, a rare form of lung cancer.

The group set to work knitting shawls and prayer hats for the boys. The women did not stop there; they continued knitting and made hats for all of the children in the ward with the two boys.

Dominic and Jacob's mother, Stacey Hartford, kept the boys swaddled in the shawls throughout the year-long treatment, which included lung surgeries and chemotherapy.

"I felt like someone really cared," Hartford said. "All the prayers that went into the shawl went to [them]. I would rock Dominic or Jacob and feel as if the prayers came to him."

With both of the boys now in remission, Hartford attributes their present health to the shawls, which she said they still sleep with every night.

"They really work," Niro said. "[The shawls] gave my daughter such comfort."

For more information about joining the Prayer Shawl Ministry or about receiving a shawl for someone in need, contact the church at 978-562-2932.