KCs shepherd Silver Star on its pilgrimage through Iowa
June 23, 2025
The Silver Rose pilgrimage is a rosary-centered event focused on promoting respect for life and honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe. Iowa hosts the Silver Rose for 28 days this summer as it moves from Canada to Mexico.
The Silver Rose which is on a nine-month pilgrimage will be the centerpiece of a special prayer service to express both international unity and dedication to the sanctity of human life. The journey of the silver rose begins each year in March and ends on Dec. 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
During that time, Silver Roses travel from town to town along eight international routes throughout North America. Several of those routes begin in Canada and end in Mexico. The Silver Rose Program began in 1960, when the first rose – a real, live one – was blessed by a bishop in Ontario. The rose then traveled to New York and then to Texas where it was taken across the border into Mexico. To ensure future annual trips, roses crafted in silver were made.
The program remains a significant part of the Knights' faith-based activities. The Silver Rose will be celebrated in 26 locations in Iowa through July 13. The Silver Rose has already appeared in Council Bluffs and Harlan.
In the Des Moines Diocese, the rose and prayer will be at the following:
- June 24 - Osceola
- June 25 - Perry
- June 26 - 28 Des Moines
Get more information at the Iowa Knights of Columbus website.
Iowa Knight of Columbus Tom Pauley, of Council 2074 in Dennison, Iowa, is pictured with a Silver Rose at St. Rose of Lima Church on June 19.