By Christina Leslie | Staff Writer

What can you buy that person in your life that seems to have almost everything?

Rather than succumb to fast-talking pitchmen with their endless list of as-seen-on-television trinkets, local Catholics can explore a more positive, liturgical-based alternative. A number of parish-based religious article stores within the Diocese of Trenton offer a spiritual exchange of ideas with staff and a wide selection of inventory designed to enlighten and reflect the faith of its users.

St. Joseph Parish’s aptly-named “Carpenter Shop” has been located in the Toms River parish’s rebuilt church since the late 1980s and is open daily and Sunday mornings. “We’ve been here ever since the new church was built,” stated long-time volunteer Josephine Poli. Turning her gaze to the shop’s many wares, she reported that Bibles, CDs of religious music, Rosaries, statues, baptismal items and medals all vied for shelf, wall and counter space in the small shop. “It’s jam packed,” she concluded.

Poli noted that the store was a valuable asset to the parish and its surrounding neighborhood. “We’re the only ones in town now, other shops have closed,” she said. Parishioners visited the conveniently located shop Sunday mornings after Mass, “but people come from all over during the week. We do a lot of special orders,” Poli continued, noting some customers preferred icons of favorite saints.

The volunteer claimed the peaceful, Christ-centered atmosphere extended to its customers who might extend a kind word or linger for a chat. “Oh, people are 100 percent nicer than in secular stores,” Poli maintained.

St. John Parish, Lakehurst, has supported their “Wings and a Prayer” shop for about two decades. Victor Bala recalled setting up tables in the rear of the church to display wares, then packing them up at the end of each weekend. Today, the shop occupies a more permanent space inside the Ocean county church.

The small shop’s inventory is diverse yet centered around a single goal: to make it easier to display and celebrate the Christian faith. Sacramental items, visor clip medals, large and small statues, Rosaries, prayer books and wall plaques are for sale to visitors.

Bala noted, “There are not many [religious article] stores in the area, and churches are picking up the slack.”

“Wings and a Prayer,” open every other weekend after Masses, fulfills a vital purpose for both its visitors and workers, Bala stated. “It’s good for parishioners, because it reinforces Catholic beliefs,” he said. “Working in the store strengthens my faith, the principles of what we stand for. That’s what it’s all about.”

An opportune visit to their store from a local pastor enabled Maria and Dick Incremona to continue their ministry after Hurricane Sandy. Angelus Media Distribution Group had suffered damage in the superstorm, and road repairs left customers struggling to reach their Long Branch location.

“We were ready to close; the shop was inaccessible with road closings,” remembered Maria Incremona. Her husband Dick continued, “This has been our ministry for 15 years, but our lease was coming up. Father [John T.] Folchetti said, ‘You should be in Lincroft. Let me show you what I have downstairs.’ He has been extremely supportive.”

The St. Leo the Great pastor showed the couple space in the newly renovated parish center and invited Angelus to take up residence. “It’s a beautiful set-up,” Father Folchetti noted. “It runs the length of the parish center.”

The Incremonas operate the store weekdays and Saturdays, offering knowledgeable advice to their customers who hail from St. Leo’s and surrounding parishes. They stressed the importance of purchasing such items from a religious-based vendor. “People come in here after they are displeased by products purchased online from secular sites,” Maria Incremona stated. “You need to see the items like books and crosses, they are not accurate online.”

Father Folchetti, too, is pleased by the store’s presence in his parish. “Dick and Maria provide a real Catholic service, they are not interested in tchotchkes,” he stressed. “They have statues, vestments, books, Bibles, a complete array of products. It is a ministry, a reminder of God’s holy presence.”

A bit further south, a religious article shop in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, fills the needs of both visitors and neighborhood Catholics. Milady Gonzalez explained the mission of the shop open Sundays following Masses which has grown from its roots as a series of tables in the Cathedral narthex to a permanent location in the cafeteria.

“It is important, an evangelization, so [visitors] learn about the Lord,” Gonzalez said. “I will open it during special occasions like during retreats, or call [the cathedral] and I’ll meet [them]. Sometimes people might need to read books or the Bible, or see a DVD.”  The Catholic believes neighborhood Latinos especially benefit from the inventory and expertise found in the Trenton store.

“They might end up going to botanicas which show images of Mary or the Sacred Heart or St. Michael in the window, as a way to entice folks, but there are some bad things in there,” Gonzalez noted. “That’s another reason we have this. It gets people closer to God, it’s a way to praise him, thank the Lord.”