Arizona Rosary Celebration

Worthy Grand Knight,
For over 41 years Arizona has been blessed to have an annual Rosary celebration. It originated in the Phoenix Diocese and spread six years ago to the Tucson Diocese. Formerly Rosary Sunday, it is now known as the Arizona Rosary Celebration (ARC). Last year, this tradition spread to Yuma and other locales where similar Rosary events were held during the same weekend as the ARC was conducted in Tucson and Phoenix. The ARC is sponsored primarily by the Arizona Knights of Columbus and is the largest continuous annual gathering of Catholics in the state with attendance of nearly 8,000 of the faithful each year.

The success of the ARC relies on Parish Representatives appointed by the pastors. These Parish Representatives are indispensable to help provide timely information about the ARC to the parish and has proven to be an effective means in distributing information to the various ministries within the parish and to parishioners in general.

The Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix and The Most Reverend Gerald F. Kicanas, Bishop of Tucson have sent letters to the pastors asking them to support ARC. Often, the Pastor has a parishioner he would like to be the parish representative. If not, we ask that you meet with your Pastor and offer your council's services to represent the parish on his behalf or to assist whom he has chosen. Many times, the pastors will happily accept the offer for a Knight to be his representative.

For those parishes without a representative, all correspondence concerning ARC will be sent to the Grand Knight of the associated council for distribution within the parish. If a Council or a Knight is asked to represent the parish, we ask that they attend the parish representative meetings organized by the ARC planning committees in Tucson and Phoenix. The ARC website (www.azrosary.com) will be an invaluable tool to the Council and parish representatives. This year the ARC will be held October 21-22, 2017; mark your calendars.

The two celebrations are expensive and are supported solely by donations and advertising in the program book. We ask that every Council consider taking out at least a half page advertisement and encourage the parish to do the same. As Knights we must be pro-active in service, prayer and monetary donations for the event's success.

Thank you for all your support toward ensuring another memorable Arizona Rosary Celebration in honor of Our Blessed Mother under her title of Our Lady of Mercy. If you need more information concerning the ARC, send an e-mail to the ARC executive committee at azrosary@yahoo.com.

Vivat Jesus!
Sean E. Halpain
State Deputy