The month of October has been commemorated as Respect Life Month by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, with Oct. 7 designated as Respect Life Sunday. Holy Hours, life chains, prayer witnesses and other events held throughout the Diocese of Trenton and beyond will offer multiple opportunities for faithful to demonstrate their belief in the sanctity of life from conception to natural death.

Events will include

Sacred Heart Parish, Bay Head, will place a monument dedicated to the memory of the unborn on Respect Life Sunday, Oct. 7. The monument is located at the entrance of the church. Red lapel roses  will be available at the doors of the church after each Mass and prolife banners will be hung on the ramp  and over the front doors of the Church for the month of October.

The Respect Life Committee of St. Raphael-Holy Angels Parish, Hamilton, is hosting its sixth annual Baby Bottle Fundraiser for Good Counsel Homes- South Jersey, Riverside.  A representative will speak at all Masses the weekend of Oct. 13-14. Baby bottles will be available to take home, fill it with spare change or dollars and return it at one of the Masses the weekend of Oct. 20- 21 or Oct. 27-28.  For information about Good Counsel Homes or to make a donation online visit www.GoodCounselHomes.org. 

Life chains slated for Oct. 7 include one in Howell in front of St. Veronica Parish rectory, 4219 U.S. Route 9 at Salem Hill Road, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. Life Chain is an annual event to provide a prayerful, peaceful, non-denominational public witness against abortion and for greater respect for all human life. The National Life Chain  signs will be the only signs permitted for use. For more information, contact Hu or Joan Mador at 732-367-2565 or [email protected].  That day, the Roman Catholic Churches of Toms River – St. Joseph, St. Luke, St. Justin the Martyr and St. Maximilian Kolbe, will participate in the Life Chain to be formed in Toms River on the grass (right-of-way) in front of Ocean County Mall. Participants are asked to use the main entrance on Hooper Avenue and park near but not next to Bahama Breeze.

St. Isidore the Farmer Parish, New Egypt, will hold a “Rosary for Life” Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. in Assumption Church Chapel, located on Evergreen Rd., New Egypt.

The Roman Catholic Churches of Toms River will commemorate the 101st anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady in Fatima Oct. 13 in St. Maximilian Kolbe Church, Berkeley Township. This year’s theme is “As human efforts fail to solve America’s key problems, we turn to God through His holy Mother, asking His urgent help.” Mass will be at 8:30 a.m. followed by the recitation of the Rosary at 9:30. Coffee and light refreshments will follow in the parish hall.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes Parish, Atlantic Highlands, will participate in the Novena for Our Nation and the National Rosary Rally Oct. 7 at the grotto on the campus of St. Agnes Church, 103 Center Ave., Atlantic Highlands. Recitation of the Rosary will take place before the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Miraculous Pilgrim following the 10:45 a.m. Mass.  The Rosary will be said roughly simultaneously in more than 700 locations in the United States that day. Visit rosarycoasttocoast.com and novenaforournation.com for more information. For more information about the gathering in Atlantic Highlands, call 732-673-3362.

As part of the 40 Days for Life Campaign scheduled for Sept. 26 through Nov. 4, parishes across Monmouth County will use public prayer to bring a focus on the Planned Parenthood facility in Shrewsbury at 69 E. Newman Springs Road. Participants cover the location with prayer Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.  for more information, contact 732-610-7437 or [email protected].