Hundreds of the faithful, mainly Catholics, are expected to take to the street in Coeur d'Alene this weekend.

Clutching strings of rosary beads, they will make their way down Sherman Avenue as they participate in the International Rosary March, an annual event in the Lake City since 1994.

The march will begin at 10:30 a.m. at 23rd Street and proceed to Independence Point.

Jan Karstetter, who helps coordinate the march organized each year by parishioners of Immaculate Conception Church in Post Falls, told The Press that 600 people attended last year's event in Coeur d'Alene.

"October is the month of the Holy Rosary," Karstetter explained.

Men, women and children of all ages are expected to walk Saturday while they recite the prayers of the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a centuries-old devotional practice deeply rooted in Catholicism.

Karstetter said the march's mission is world peace. People around the globe will be marching Saturday, she said.

"We want to do something to combat the way the world is going," Karstetter said.

Many Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared several times to three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal, between May and October 1917. In her message to the children, the Virgin Mary, known as Our Lady of Fatima, told the children that for world peace to occur, Russia must be consecrated simultaneously by the pope and all the world's bishops.

It is believed this consecration, which has never occurred, will lead to the conversion of Russia to the Roman Catholic faith and bring peace to the world.

Anyone can participate in Saturday's March, Karstetter said.

"You don't have to be a Catholic," she said.