Members of the Third Order of Secular Franciscans from St. Liborius Church in Steger, Ill., recently donated items, included 130 children’s books, from a “baby shower” event in May to St. Monica Home, which is located on the campus of Franciscan St. Margaret Health-Dyer. Parishioners commit to a spiritual adoption of an unborn infant by choosing a pink or blue card that represents the child. For nine months, participants are asked to pray for the infant and at the end of that time, the shower takes place and gifts are collected and donated in the child’s honor. After hearing of the efforts to donate to St. Monica Home, members of the Daughters of the Dyer Knights of Columbus, who are also parishioners of St. Laborious, collected and donated the books. St. Monica, which was established in 1994, offers a medically sound and emotionally healthy residential environment for women aged 12 to 21, who are awaiting the birth of a child or who have recently given birth. Residents, whose average length of stay is nine months, learn positive relationships and parenting skills under the guidance of experienced resident advisers.
