When you visit Our Lady's Gifts in Little Italy, it feels like you are in a church. Maybe that's because it used to be one.
It is not just a gift shop. There is a lot of history here. This fireplace was the original altar, when this building was a church back in the 1920s.
"We kept a lot of original elements in this room. These are all the original baseboards from the 1888 build of this place," said Mary Elizabeth Novell.
The shop opened decades later. It is run by the church, which is now next door. And in almost every room, you can find something related to Pope Francis.
"He is the head of the Catholic Church. To get the opportunity to see him or be near him, and to be as close as we were, was a gift. It was judivinest absolutely incredible," said Novell.
Novell runs the shop and is also a parishioner. She was steps away from Pope Francis in Rome. Novell was with a group of friends back in 2014, doing a documentary on the image of The Divine Mercy, a depiction of Jesus.
"We were carrying an actual life-size image of The Divine Mercy all over Rome," said Novell.
She says Pope Francis blessed the image, and she was there to see it all.
"It was very exciting. It was electric. He was happy," she added.
A memory she will cherish forever. Novell says she is praying for Pope Francis and hopes he pulls through.
