On The Road: Nuns' Home
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Twin Cities TV Station KSTP Channel 5
Publishing date: 10-23-2002 1:21 PM
 

Sister Paul and Sal Di Leo

Sal Di Leo, 49, is a family man, businessman and writer. But 40 years ago, his future was very much in doubt.

"My father left in the middle of the night, 1963, left my mother at home with 8 kids in the house, no heat, no electricity, no food," he said.

Di Leo, who was 9 years old at the time, and three other young siblings were placed in a Catholic orphanage near Chicago. It was the beginning of lifelong relationship with the nuns who provided a stable and loving home for the abandoned children.

"This definitely is a reminder of the nuns that took care of me as a kid, and she is obviously representative of holy women," Di Leo said.

The statue of Mary is the first thing to be placed on a beautiful piece of land in northern Minnesota that Di Leo and his family have bought for a very special house.

"Try to create a place for young women who are thinking about becoming nuns, before they go into the convent," Di Leo said. "Where they can get away from the city, where they can get away from the stresses of life. A place in nature where they can pray."

The retreat Di Leo is building is his way of showing his deeply felt gratitude towards the women who took care of him and his siblings.

The unusual project grew out of a memoir he has written that he sells on the Internet as a fundraiser. When it's completed, the house on the lake will be a summer home for Di Leo and his family, and a place of peace for women of the church.

"It's not going to be limited to young women becoming nuns, it will also be open to Catholic sisters who need a rest, a place to go to. And it won't cost them a thing."

"It's just offering our home as a place for them to have their own time."

Di Leo's book is called 'Did I Ever Thank You Sister?' and is available at http://www.salsbook.com. He hopes to start work on St. Francis Lodge next spring, and have it completed by fall.