October 12, 2020

Knights on Bikes pray rosary across the diocese

REGIONAL
Story and photos by Carolee McGrath

SPRINGFIELD – Members of the Knights on Bikes of Massachusetts spent Sunday morning, Oct. 11, at five different churches across the Diocese of Springfield, praying a decade of the rosary at each parish from Springfield to Stockbridge. The participants, members of various Knights of Columbus councils, began the morning at the 8:30 a.m. Mass at St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church in Springfield.

“It’s October, the month of the rosary. We want to reach out to the community and invite them to say the rosary together,” said Tony Burgos, who belongs to the St. Thomas Aquinas Council 13043. 

“We’re getting closer to Jesus by talking to Mommy and when you talk to Mommy, she makes things happen. This is like the wedding feast at Cana. We talk to mother Mary and she raises our prayers to Jesus and we know they are heard,” explained Burgos, who also is the president of the Knights on Bikes for the Diocese of Springfield.

Father George Zina, the pastor of St. Anthony’s joined the group for the rosary after Mass. Then the Knights and their companions got back on their bikes and traveled to St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Belchertown; St. Mary Parish in Westfield; St. Mary Parish in Lee; and, finally, to the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge. At the Divine Mercy shrine the group prayed the final decade inside the Shrine of the Holy Innocents, which honors all children who have passed away, including those lost to abortion.

“Since we are pro-life, we are always promoting the gift of life,” said Burgos, who was traveling with his wife Mabeline. He added praying at the Shrine of the Holy Innocents allowed the group to “pray with our little angels” remembered there.

Tony and Mabeline Burgos pray the rosary at St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church in Springfield, Sunday, Oct. 12.

October is the Month of the Holy Rosary and Respect Life Month. Both observances are based on Mary’s yes to God, and the intercession of her prayers for the protection of life.

“For the conversion, for hope, for people that really need the Virgin Mary’s intercession, prayer is the number one thing for everything that is happening right now,” said Mabeline Burgos.

“The feast of Our Lady of Fatima is coming up (Oct. 13). She told St. Lucia to pray the rosary every day. It can make a difference in our life, in our families, in the nation, in the world,” she said.

As part of their charitable outreach, the Knights of Columbus have an ultrasound initiative, in which local councils raise 50 percent of the funds, and the supreme or national council matches the funds. The ultrasound machines are then donated to crisis pregnancy centers across the country, including in the Springfield Diocese.

“We have saved a million lives (nationally). That was our goal,” said Bill Wisniewski, the state vice president of Knights on Bikes Massachusetts.

Wisniewski, a father of two young children, said he is hoping to spread awareness about the Knights of Columbus’ ultrasound initiative campaign. He explained how his wife was given a set of options, which included abortion, when she was expecting because she was considered high risk. He said the suggestion still upsets him even though abortion was never an option for the couple. He said if women could be given the chance to see an ultrasound of their babies, they would always choose life.

“The ultrasound initiative is near and dear to my heart,” he said. He said the witness of the Knights of Columbus praying the rosary and their work to protect life is something he hopes will inspire others to pray to Jesus through Mary.

“Mother Mary, she is the queen of the Knights of Columbus.”

A video version of this story will be on an upcoming edition of “Real to Reel” which airs Saturday evenings at 7 p.m. on WWLP-22 NEWS and in the Berkshires Sunday mornings at 5:30 on Albany’s Fox 23, WXXA.