The Silver Rose, a program of the Knights of Columbus honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe, is returning to Delaware in October. It will be visiting parishes in all three counties in the state over a three-week period beginning Oct. 16.
Every March, silver roses are stewarded by Knights of Columbus councils along routes from Canada to Mexico. Each stop along the pilgrimage is a rosary-centered occasion for Knights, parishioners and members of the community to pray for the respect of life, the spiritual renewal of each person, and for the advancement of the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe, according to the Delaware State Council of the Knights.
The Silver Rose begins its journey each year and travels from town to town along eight routes. Most end in Mexico on Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, but one ends in Washington, D.C., and another at the Knights of Columbus headquarters in New Haven, Conn.
There are still open dates to have the Silver Rose stop at churches in the Diocese of Wilmington. Any parish interested in hosting should contact Felix Spitelle at fspitelle@yahoo.com. The open dates are Oct. 17, 20, 26, 27, 28, and 31, and Nov. 1.
The schedule is as follows:
Oct. 16, 3 p.m.: St. Anthony of Padua, 901 N. Dupont St., Wilmington
Oct. 18, 6 p.m.: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, 345 Bear-Christiana Road
Oct. 19, 7 p.m.: St. Helena, 602 Philadelphia Pike, Wilmington
Oct. 21, 9 a.m.: Immaculate Heart of Mary.Shipley and Weldin roads, Wilmington
Oct. 22, 6:15 p.m.: Holy Family, 15 Gender Road, Newark
Oct. 23, 11 a.m.: Holy Child, 2500 Naamans Road, Wilmington
Oct. 23, 2 p.m.: St. Patrick, 15th and King streets, Wilmington
Oct. 24, 6 p.m.: St. Elizabeth, 809 S. Broom St., Wilmington
Oct. 25, 6 p.m.: St. Mary of the Assumption, 7200 Lancaster Pike, Hockessin
Oct. 29, 3:30 p.m.: Holy Rosary, 3200 Philadelphia Pike, Claymont
Oct. 30, 1 p.m.: Holy Cross, 631 S. State St., Dover (Spanish)
Nov. 2, 6 p.m.: Our Lady of Lourdes, 528 E. Stein Hwy., Seaford
Nov. 3, 8:30 a.m.: St. Edmond’s, 403 King Charles Ave., Rehoboth Beach
Nov. 4, 8 a.m.: St. Jude, 152 Tulip Drive, Lewes
Nov. 5, 8:30 a.m.: St. Ann, 691 Garfield Pkwy., Bethany Beach
The first rose, in 1960, was a live one, blessed by a bishop in Ontario, Canada. It traveled to New York and Texas, where it was taken into Mexico. Its journey ended on Dec. 12 at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Monterrey.
The Silver Rose program was expanded in 2001. At that time, Carl Anderson, then the supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus, said it reaffirmed the organization’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,” Anderson said. “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.”
