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Local Knights of Columbus Councils Sponsor the Silver Rose in Honor of Life and Our Lady of Guadalupe

Vero Beach, Florida – A silver rose on a nine-month pilgrimage will be the centerpiece of a special prayer service at St. Helen Catholic Church, 2085 Tallahassee Ave in Vero Beach, Florida, on Wednesday, August 23rd at 6:00pm. A reception featuring authentic Mexican foods provided by the Spanish Ministry will follow in the parish hall.
The Silver Rose is sponsored by the four Knights of Columbus councils attached to the parishes of Holy Cross, St. Helen, St. John of the Cross, and St. Sebastian. This annual celebration commemorates the appearance of the Blessed Virgin to the Mexican peasant Juan Diego in 1531, and it expresses both international unity and dedication to the sanctity of human life.
The Silver Rose Program began in 1960, when the first rose – a real, live one – was blessed by a bishop in Ontario, Canada. Its journey now begins each year in March and ends on December 12th, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The rose coming to Vero Beach is but one of eight Silver Roses that travel on routes from town to town throughout North America beginning in Canada and ending in Mexico.
In 2001, when Carl Anderson, Past Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, expanded the Silver Rose Program, he commented: “Through [the Silver Rose Program] we honor not only Our Lady of Guadalupe and express the unity of the [Knights of Columbus], but we also reaffirm the Order’s dedication to the sanctity of human life. It is to the Blessed Mother that we turn in prayer as we work to end the Culture of Death that grips our society. As we think in terms of ‘One Life, One Rose,’ it is most appropriate that we turn to Our Lady of Guadalupe, who made known her will through Juan Diego and the miracle of the roses.”
Everyone in the community is invited to join us at this bi-lingual ceremony to pray for a civilization of love and culture of life in our own country and throughout the world. Upon arrival, the Silver Rose will be carried into St. Helen Church in a procession led by a Knights of Columbus Honor Guard and our pastor, Fr. Matthew DeGance, accompanied by singers from the church's English and Spanish choirs. The service will conclude outdoors at the Grotto of Our Lady of Guadalupe where attendees are welcome to venerate the Silver Rose at the statue of Our Lady and to receive a red rose.
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Council 5629, Mother of Perpetual Help in Vero Beach, Florida, is one of 17,000 Knights of Columbus councils that make up the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in 1882 to assist working-class and immigrant Catholics in the United States, today the approximately two million members of the Knights put their faith into action through a broad range of charitable causes locally, nationally and internationally, through financial contributions and hands-on service.
Contact: Sir Knight Michael Glatz, Our Mother of Perpetual Help Council
Phone: 772-538-1811
Email: chefmichael@coffeehouse1420.com