STAMFORD — When Sharon MacKnight was a young girl growing up in Pawcatuck, Conn., her mother would dress her up in her finest clothes on Sunday morning so she could go to 6 a.m. Mass with her father at St. Michael the Archangel Church. It was the highlight of her week, and years later, the source of many fond memories.
When Sharon made her First Communion, her aunt Marion gave her a statue of Our Lady of Grace, which she still has after 70 years.
“She’s got a few bumps and bruises, but she’s still with me,” Sharon said. “Wherever I’ve lived, from Connecticut to California, she has traveled with me. From the East Coast to the West Coast, and now she’s in my bedroom on my bookcase, watching over me.”
For the past eight years, she has instilled that same love for holy articles in families and young people at St. Mary of Stamford Parish at 566 Elm Street. Each week, as part of her ministry, Sharon sets up a table after Mass and sells rosaries, medals, bracelets, Bibles, spiritual books and statues, many of which she has brought home from pilgrimages to Marian sites such as Fatima and Lourdes and the Holy Land.
She purchases the items with her own money, sells them and donates all the proceeds to the parish, as an act of love and gratitude.
“This is a way of thanking Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary for watching over me in my professional career and my private life,” Sharon says. “I always wanted to be a wife and mommy, but that wasn’t in the plan. The reason I can do this is I have no family, and I’m a saver. My parents, George and Helen, grew up in the Great Depression, and from the time I was a little girl, I learned to save and that’s what I did.”
“Our parish community is blessed to have a parishioner like Sharon MacKnight. She has consistently given of herself for the benefit of our community,” said Fr. Gustavo Falla, pastor. “We thank God for Sharon’s commitment and pray that many will be inspired by her dedication.”
He said that Sharon “gives 100%” to the parish and also in her work at the Bennett Cancer Center in Stamford.
“At St. Mary’s, which is now officially merged with St. Benedict’s, Sharon is not just the religious goods sales lady, but also the photographer, the shopper and the friend.”
After graduating from Stonington High School, Sharon enrolled in Colby Junior College in New London, NH, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree to become a registered medical technologist.
“Over 48 years, I worked in labs at different hospitals, and the reason I am doing what I am doing now is to thank the Lord for guiding me every day of my life because I dealt with people’s lives every day and helped physicians make the right diagnoses for people,” she says.
During her career, she worked at Hartford Hospital, Mercy Hospital in San Diego, and for 42 years at Stamford Hospital, where she was the supervisor of the hematology department.
Sharon is also the church photographer for the St. Mary-St. Benedict parish, where she has been a member for 35 years.
“When I asked Father Falla if I could bring my religious articles in the back of the church, I had no idea what would happen,” she says. “People coming into church have to walk by me. I sell statues, rosary beads and Bibles, and I believe I have helped people increase their faith in the Lord. You just can’t imagine. One Sunday alone, I sold five statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of Lourdes.”
And many of her statues come from pilgrimage sites around the world because Sharon loves to travel and goes often to Portugal, Spain, France and Israel.
“I purchase religious articles wherever I go and donate everything to St. Mary’s,” she said.
She often goes on pilgrimages with Fr. Arthur C. Mollenhauer, J.C.L., the judicial vicar of the Tribunal of the Diocese of Bridgeport, and assists him in arranging the tours.
“One year ago, I was in Lourdes, France and a few days before that in Fatima, Portugal, and then we traveled to Barcelona and visited Our Lady of Monserrat,” she said. Last February they began a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they had to cancel a trip to Oberammergau, Germany, to see the famous Passion Play which has been held every decade since 1634.
Over the years, she has developed a clientele among parishioners, many of whom come back and ask if she can find a particular item for them. Each week, she can have up to 20 customers. In addition, she is responsible for a religious articles display at the parish center with items in a glass case. When people come in during the week, they are able to purchase items through the parish office, which is particularly important since there are no longer any religious stores in the area.
“Sometimes people want something, but don’t have the money yet,” she says, “so I say ‘Take it and give me the money when you can.’ Nobody is going to cheat the Lord. I don’t even write it down because I know when they have the money, they will give it to me. I trust them.”
Spanish Bibles are very popular, along with gifts for First Communion, Confirmation, weddings and birthdays. With Christmas approaching, there will be a selection of nativity scenes and holiday items from the Holy Land.
Very often, little children come up to her table and are mesmerized by the display, especially the statues of the Blessed Mother. They also love the St. Benedict bracelets and rosary beads.
“People often sacrifice to buy things, but it helps the church during the pandemic because collections are down,” she says.
Most importantly, she says, “Religious articles are a way for people to worship Our Lord and honor the Blessed Mother. It encourages them to pray to God, especially during our troubled times.”
