NEW YORK -- Keeping spiritual faith and observing religion in the ancient ways of their ancestors is done with sacred devotion by many people.
So what role can modern day marvel the Internet play in maintaining traditions that in some cases are thousands of years old?
The World Wide Web is abound with places to shop for religious-themed merchandise, whether it be ornaments, gifts for weddings and other special events, whimsical presents, or tools used in ceremonies, according to Reuters.
Doing a search on a site like Yahoo.com or Google.com will unlock a trove of religious-oriented sites for shoppers.
Catholicshopper.com offers more than 6,500 products that include angel nightlights and figurines, holy water fonts, auto visor clips featuring the patron saint of travel St. Christopher, and supplies for churches such as chalices and baptismal oils.
Frank and Lisa Pollicino of Nesconset, New York, run the site out of their Catholic Shopper retail store on Long Island, and have been on the Web since 1996.
One of the most unique and popular products offered at the site is the Inspirational Sport Statue. Actually statuettes measuring from 4-3/4 to 6-1/2 inches tall, the figures depict Jesus Christ engaged in 12 athletic activities including baseball, football, hockey and skiing, with a pair of children.
"The perfect gift for every young Catholic athlete," the Web site says.
"I would say 80 percent of our sales are done through the Web site," Frank Pollicino said. "It's mostly lay people. We don't do a lot of selling to churches directly."
High quality Christian puzzles and games can be found at allblessed.com, including a 500-piece puzzle of the famous painting "The Last Supper", while faithandgrace.com offers products from ties and tote bags to hand-crafted wall crosses and biblical wallpaper borders.





