As Thanksgiving Day approaches, so do thoughts of “Black Friday”, the colloquial term for the day after the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Since 1952, this day has been considered the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season, and since at least 2005, “Black Friday” has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year.
Meanwhile, the Saturday after Thanksgiving has been known as “Small Business Saturday” since 2010, and the Monday after Thanksgiving has been known as “Cyber Monday” since 2005.
While secular society’s primary focus seems to be on shopping and commercialism, we often hear the phrase “keep Christ in Christmas” to combat this trend. One way to do this is to give Catholic gifts. The Central Coast of California is home to several Catholic gift shops and stores, and so we here at Central Coast Catholic have compiled this Shopping Guide: Local Catholic Gift Stores.
MONTEREY COUNTY
3080 Rio Road, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA. 93923
- Wednesday & Thursday: 10am – 4pm
- Friday & Saturday: 10am – 5pm
- Sunday: 12:30pm – 5pm
1475 La Salle Avenue, Seaside, CA. 93955
“Good selection of bibles, rosaries, votive candles, and other gifts you might be looking for”.
- Open 30 minutes before and after each Mass.
235 Main Street, Soledad, CA. 93960
“Please visit our giftshop for religious items such as Bibles, rosaries, spiritual books; novenas, gifts, special Sacrament gifts and plenty more!”
- Open on Thursdays, 10am until 5pm.
1 Mission Creek Road, Jolon, CA. 93928
“Mission San Antonio offers a unique shopping experience. We have chosen to meet the challenge of an extremely small budget to purchase stock by expanding our community relationships”.
- Visit website for current hours.
SAN BENITO COUNTY
406 2nd Street, San Juan Bautista, CA. 95045
“The Mission Gift Shop carries a large variety of religious and inspirational goods. Partial List of items carried in the Gift Shop: Rosaries, Jewelry, Crucifixes, Candles, Prayer Cards, Devotional Items, Holy Water and Oil, Garden Statues, Icons, Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, Wedding Items, Nativities, and Religious Arts and Gifts”.
- Open Wednesday through Sunday, 9am until 4pm.
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
Shrine of Saint Joseph, Guardian of the Redeemer
544 W. Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz, CA. 95060
“Guardian of the Redeemer Bookstore and Giftshop specializes in literature and items of devotion relating to Saint Joseph and Saint Joseph Marello, including books in Spanish and Italian. The bookstore serves as the principal outlet for Guardian of the Redeemer Publications. All literature carried is in the spiritual tradition of Saint Marello and in harmony with the authentic teaching and pastoral practice of the Roman Catholic Church”.
- Open daily following the 11am Mass.
138 Walnut Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA. 95060
- Tuesdays through Fridays, 10am until 2pm.
- Saturdays, 10am until 5pm.
- Closed on Sundays and Mondays.
721 Main Street, Watsonville, CA. 95076
“Our new store is open on Sundays from 10am to 1pm. We have Jewelry, Statues, Framed Artwork, Bibles, and Rosaries. The primary goal for the store is to help families have access to affordable religious and spiritual objects. These objects remind of us of the presence of God and of the beauty of our faith. The location of the store is in the old Adoration chapel. Our participants of daily adoration have decided to stay in the Church”.
- Open on Sundays, 10am until 1pm, and 2pm until 2:30pm.
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