AFTER TROLLING MALLS looking for parking, enduring Black Friday madness and hunting for the latest action figure, Labubu or Squishmallow toy, it is easy to be exhausted by the Christmas shopping season.
DANIELLE TAYABAS, LEFT, BETTY ARNOLD AND VIVIAN GOMEZ SHOWCASE SOME OF THE NEW ITEMS ON DISPLAY AT THE CHRIST CATHEDRAL SHOP, LOCATED NEAR THE ENTRANCE ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF THE RICHARD H. PICKUP CULTURAL CENTER ON THE CHRIST CATHEDRAL CAMPUS. PHOTOS BY ALAN WENDELL/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
However, for those looking for a more leisurely, not to mention reflective, “reason-for-the-season” outing, the Christ Cathedral Shop has your Catholic Christmas gift list covered. The gift shop offers everything from gorgeous locally produced art, hand-crafted statuary and jewelry, to modest Green Scapulars and Blessed Heart badges, to Rosaries (both simple and elegant) and crucifixes. There’s also books — lots of books. The shop caters to those looking for an alternative to a typical consumer-driven holiday experience.
THE MANAGER OF THE CHRIST CATHEDRAL SHOP, STEVE PETERS, CENTER, POSES WITH HIS STAFF: VIVIAN GOMEZ, DANIELLE TAYABAS, BETTY ARNOLD AND MATTHEW ARNOLD.
As a book and gift shop, owner Steve Peters said the Christ Cathedral Shop fulfills two major thrusts of Catholicism: evangelism and education through the books; and devotion and reflection through the artifacts. The attentive staff at the Christ Cathedral Shop is on hand to guide you to the perfect religious gifts for family and friends. Located near the entrance on the first floor of the Richard H. Pickup Cultural Center on the Christ Cathedral campus, the store is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Betty Arnold, Vivian Gomez and Danielle Tayabas are among the staff on hand to help guide you to unique gifts or let you browse at your leisure.
“It’s a one-stop shop,” said Betty Arnold, who has managed the shop since it opened on the Cathedral Campus in 2019. “We get a lot of people looking for gifts. A lot looking for inspiration.”
PAULETTE MASKERINO AND KYLE FARRO PAUSE FOR A PHOTO AS THEY BROWSE ROSARIES AT THE CHRIST CATHEDRAL SHOP.
As Christmas approaches, interest in seasonal gifts is growing. The shop is also seeing a steady stream of visitors from the new $5 million Shroud of Turin museum upstairs.
Visitors to the shop are greeted both by Christmas gifts, such as lighted trees, Nativity scenes and ornaments, as well as museum artifacts, kitchen magnets, t-shirts and original items from Turin, Italy.
Betty Arnold, whose husband, Matthew, is founder of Pro Multis Media, said he created much of the art and souvenir items sold by the museum at the store. Betty Arnold is also an artist whose handmade and decorated scarves are on sale.
The shop features numerous gifts that are one-of-a-kind by talented local artists and artisans and sold only at the store. There are stunning paintings and artwork from talented local iconographers, such as Daniel and Viviana Cervantes, who have been painting original and commissioned religious art for the past decade.
There is also jewelry, some in sterling silver, again locally crafted from various cultures such as Vietnamese and Latino. This jewelry includes beautiful crucifixes and renditions of Our Lady of Guadalupe and replicas of the statue from the Our Lady of La Vang Shrine at Christ Cathedral.
“You won’t find these anywhere else,” Betty Arnold said.
The same is true of some of the wide array of Rosaries at the shop, which Betty Arnold said are the shop’s best sellers because of the variety of events for which they make appropriate gifts, such as baptisms, first communions, confirmations and holidays.
Near the cash register are Rosaries made with onyx, quartz and wood made by Matthew Peters, son of Steve Peters. And then there are the books, which occupy roughly the back half of the store. From the latest best sellers to children’s books, to pope biographies, to Catholic Bibles in English and Spanish, there are about 8,000 titles according to Steve Peters.
“We try to carry something for everybody,” he said. “We want to be clearly Catholic but also have something for everybody.”
The Peters family has been selling Catholic books and merchandise for more than 30 years. The late Tom Peters and his wife, Joanne, who is still active in the business, opened Catholic Books and Gifts in 1994 in Fountain Valley before adding the Christ Cathedral Shop to their roster.
Steve Peters, a long-time parishioner in the diocese, said his mom wrote a letter to Bishop Vann congratulating him on Christ Cathedral and adding as a “by-the-way” that her family would be delighted to run a Catholic gift shop on campus.
Since then, it has been a growing success.
“We’ve grown busier ever since,” said Steve Peters, estimating 10 to 15 percent growth annually.
To Betty Arnold this time of year has a special place in her heart.
“I love Christmas with the trees,” she said, not to mention the Christmas music which the shop held off playing until Black Friday.
As much as the staff enjoys the sales, the interactions with customers are equally valued.
“Everybody comes in joyful,” said Betty Arnold, who enjoys educating and evangelizing with interested shoppers. “They are searching for Christ and meaning, and we can help bring it to them.”
“We’re shepherds,” added Gomez.
Or, as Tayabas put it, “the greatest gifts are spiritual.”