An order of Franciscan nuns in Poland have found a newborn baby left in their “Window of Life”, a baby box installed in the outside wall of their convent.
The retrieval of the child, who was healthy, clean, and clothed, marks the 18th baby the religious sisters have taken in since its creation nearly 12 years ago. The Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary in Warsaw, Poland, set up the box so that parents who could not care for their baby could leave it in safe hands.
On discovering the child, the sisters immediately called the emergency services in accordance with a previously agreed protocol. The child, named Zuzia by the nuns, had a note left beside her stating that she was born on 24 August at 3.00 in the morning, the same day she was placed in the baby box.
This “Window of Life” is located at 53 Hoza Street in Warsaw, where the sisters’ convent is located. The box was consecrated on 6 December 2008, by the local Archbishop, Kazimierz Nycz.
The Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary, founded in 1857, is a Polish religious order based on service to God and to the poor. In Poland, the Sisters are active in running nurseries, homeless shelters and rehabilitation centres, and work at hospitals, care homes, and children's homes across the country. The founder of the order, Zygmunt Felinski, was Archbishop of Warsaw between 1862 and 1883, and was canonised by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.
The sisters have a long history of humanitarian work in Warsaw. During the second world war, the Mother Superior of the order, Matylda Getter, was instrumental in saving hundreds of Jewish children and young adults from the holocaust. Working with the Polish underground and parish priests, the sisters found fake birth certificates, homes, hiding places, and jobs for Polish Jews on the run from the German occupation. Getter is estimated to have helped saved between 250 and 550 Jewish children, and to have provided help to hundreds of adults. In 1985 she was named “Righteous Among The Nations” by the holocaust memorial organisation Yad Vashem for her work.
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