Parishioners and Knights of Columbus councils across the Archdiocese of Chicago welcomed a silver rose with prayers to Mary during the last week of August, part of the Knights of Columbus international annual Silver Rose pilgrimage.

“It’s to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe and the sanctity of life,” said Bob Novak, past grand knight of Holy Rosary Knights of Columbus Council 4977, which welcomed the rose to St. Theresa Parish, Palatine, Aug. 27. “And, of course, to pray for international unity and cooperation, especially in the Americas.”

Each year, from early March through the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12, silver roses are stewarded by Knights of Columbus councils along routes from Canada to Mexico. Every stop the silver rose makes throughout the pilgrimage is expected to be a rosary-centered occasion for knights, parishioners and community members to pray for respect for life, for the spiritual renewal of every nation and for the advancement of the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The silver roses recall the miracle of the roses done by Our Lady of Guadalupe, who instructed St. Juan Diego to gather the roses that bloomed in December when she appeared to him in 1531. When he spilled the roses out of his cloak in the presence of the bishop, the image of the lady as she appeared to him was found on the cloak.

The pilgrimage program started in 1960 with a single real rose, which made the journey from London, Ontario, to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Monterrey, Mexico.

It was replaced with a silver rose, and then the program expanded, with eight silver roses making the journey along different routes.

Six of them will end their journey in Mexico, said fourth-degree Knight Juan Huerta, who coordinated the pilgrimage as it moved through the Archdiocese of Chicago. Two will finish in the Washington, D.C., area.

The archdiocese usually hosts one of the silver roses as it makes its way through the Chicago area each year, Huerta said.

This year was the first time Holy Rosary Council 4977 and St. Theresa hosted a rose.

The rose came to St. Theresa after similar prayer services at St. Raphael in Old Mill Creek and Santa Maria del Popolo in Mundelein, and it was scheduled to continue to St. Thomas Becket in Mount Prospect, St. John Vianney in Northlake, and Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica, 3121 W. Jackson Blvd.

Novak said he started trying to get the rose to come to Palatine when he was grand knight of his council a couple of years ago.

“I thought it would be something that the parish here would enjoy,” he said.

The prayer service included the glorious mysteries of the rosary, a litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary and a Liturgy of the Word featuring the account of the Annunciation in the Gospel of Luke.

St. Theresa pastor Father Timothy Fairman gave the homily, saying the silver roses remind the faithful of Mary’s presence.

“She is always there, to guide us, to nurture us and to love us, and to show us the way to her son,” Fairman said.

Catholics must look to her, he said, for help in promoting respect for life.

“We have a tremendous responsibility to safeguard the sanctity of life,” Fairman said. “Do we call on the Blessed Mother to help us? Do we call on her son?”