Silver Rose tours South Florida

By Marlene Quaroni - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | The four motorcyclists roaring into the parking lot at St. Hugh Church in Coconut Grove on a recent Sunday were part of a pilgrimage to bring a Silver Rose, a symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the sanctity of life, to a special prayer service honoring life.

“Thank you to the Knights of Columbus Council 1726 for bringing this beautiful symbol to our church,” said Father Luis Largaespada, St. Hugh’s pastor, during a Mass Aug. 14, 2022, that was part of the prayer service. “Through the miracle of the roses we see the beauty of life. We can’t fool ourselves. We know that life begins at conception. We are fools if we don’t want to do what God told us.”

The Silver Rose is the centerpiece of a nine-month pilgrimage which begins each year in March and ends Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The symbolic rose travels through North America and Canada until it reaches Mexico.

The tradition began in 1960, when the first rose, a real one, was blessed by a bishop in Ontario. It was brought to New York, then to Texas and into Mexico, to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Monterrey, in time for her feast day.

After the original rose deteriorated, a permanent silver rose was created, because silver is one of Mexico’s precious metals. Now, because of the popularity of the symbol, eight silver roses travel unique routes through the U.S. and Canada on their pilgrimage each year.

“We have taken the rose to eleven parishes in the Archdiocese of Miami,” said David Campos, Florida secretary and treasurer of Knights on Bikes. “It has gone from St. Augustine to Orlando to West Palm Beach and now Miami.”

On Aug. 17, the Knights delivered the Rose to Ave Maria Church in the town of Ave Maria, near Naples, handing it over to the Diocese of Venice. The rose will then go from the Diocese of Venice to the Diocese of St. Petersburg and then to the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. From there it will go to churches in Alabama beginning Sept. 4.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski, a motorcyclist, is the worldwide chaplain of Knights on Bikes and has participated in the pilgrimage in the past. Father Enzo Rosario Prendes, archdiocesan chaplain for the Knights of Columbus and parochial vicar at Sts. Peter and Paul in Miami, concelebrated the Mass along with Father Largaespada and Father Paul Pierce, St. Hugh’s parochial vicar.

John Steinbauer, a former Council 1726 Grand Knight, carried an image of Blessed Father Michael McGivney, Knights of Columbus founder, in the Mass procession and Juan Coro, of Knights on Bikes, carried the Silver Rose.

Roses are associated with Our Lady of Guadalupe because of the story of her appearance to St. Juan Diego, a Mexican peasant, in 1513. The local bishop didn’t believe his visions. In order to convince the bishop, the Virgin Mary told Juan Diego to gather some roses, even though it was winter and the ground was frozen. She placed the roses in his cloak and when he opened it to show the bishop, her image was visible on the cloak. The bishop was convinced.

Respect Life Ministry members led the recitation of a rosary before the Mass, and Father Largaespada led a final consecration of the Silver Rose to conclude the prayer service. Afterward, the four Knights on Bikes roared off on three Harley-Davidsons and one Indian motorcycle, taking their pilgrimage to another archdiocesan church.

Miami Knights of Columbus Council 1726 is one of 17,000 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 two million members put their faith into action through a range of charitable causes, including financial contributions and hands-on service.