A local Knights of Columbus chapter is again inviting area Catholics to participate in a public praying of the rosary in Park Ridge.
The annual Rosary in the Park will take place Oct. 8 at 10 a.m. at Hodges Park, Courtland and Vine avenues.
Held for the last nine years to commemorate the anniversary of the final apparition of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917, the prayer event is hosted by the Knights of Columbus, Maria Council 4836. The council represents St. Paul of the Cross and Mary, Seat of Wisdom parishes in Park Ridge and Our Lady of Hope in Rosemont.
Vincent Ross, a Knights of Columbus member and an organizer of Rosary in the Park, said the group will be praying in response to what they believe is a “growing moral breakdown” in the nation and throughout the world, which has led to “restrictions on our religious beliefs, disdain for life and elimination of God from our society.”
“This October, there will be about 15,000 other groups praying the rosary to Our Lady of Fatima, asking for some assistance, more help in trying to stop this moral decay,” Ross said.
Fliers for the prayer service say the rosary will be prayed to Our Lady of Fatima “to ask for peace, to turn our people back to God and to offer reparation and penance for our sins to prevent the loss of souls.”
Jim Gonzalez, another Knights of Columbus member, said prayers will be said “for a more faithful community.”
“We’re coming together to pray for our culture, our society, our country,” he said.
Catholics believe that in the spring of 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to three children in Fatima, Portugal. Six additional apparitions followed, in which the Virgin Mary is believed to have called upon the crowds that had gathered to pray the rosary.
About 30 people attended last year’s Rosary in the Park, taking turns reciting the prayers of each decade of the rosary.
“We’re praying things get turned around, that people see the light and the grace of God,” Ross said. “All we’re asking is that they obey the Ten Commandments. That’s all we’re saying.”
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune
