On a crisp Monday afternoon, when the bite of winter cold lingered, 10 people — including two Missionaries of Charity sisters and one novice — made their way through the streets of Chinatown praying two decades of the rosary.

Two people carrying a statue of Mary and a large crucifix led the group up the busy street of Wentworth Avenue and through the outdoor mall along Archer Avenue, with the group praying aloud, rosaries dangling in their hands.

After stopping in Chinatown Square to pray a decade of the sorrowful mysteries, the group continued through a residential area, finishing in the courtyard of the St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish rectory, where they prayed the final rosary prayers before going inside the church for a Holy Hour.

Along the route, shop owners and Chinatown regulars smiled and greeted the group, which has been walking through Chinatown and praying for the community at 4 p.m. every Monday for more than four years.

Except for passing through the outdoor mall and Chinatown Square, the weekly routes are not planned in advance; the walk lasts as long as it takes to pray two full mysteries of the rosary, said Father Francis Li, pastor of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish.

“We just walk wherever the Spirit leads us on the day of,” Li said, adding that often people will join the group along the way.

Despite the busyness of being a pastor, Li tries to make it every week, he said. He looks forward to the walk because it helps him focus his mind and prayer.

“It has become a priority to me because I believe it is really important for my faith,” he said.

The core group has become close, Li noted, and has found benefits that are not always tangible. 

“It’s not like a project, where we see big, visible fruits, but I believe the fruits are more abundant than what we can articulate,” he said. “It is a visible, public witness on the street. For the parish, prayer is important. It is the foundation for evangelization. As Mother Teresa said, ‘Prayer can change us, and we can change the situations in the world.’”

The walk inspires the community because participants are on the streets praying each week without fail, no matter the weather.

“If it’s cold, we are there. If it’s raining, we are still there. If it’s snowing, we are still walking around,” Li said.

Jing Zhang, director of evangelization for the parish, is part of the core group.

A convert to Catholicism, Zhang has a collection of rosaries and rotates them regularly to pray with them and for the people who gave them to her, she said.

St. Teresa of Kolkata dreamed of establishing a mission in China, Zhang said, so praying with the Missionaries of Charity while walking through Chinatown makes her feel like she is praying with Mother Teresa.

“I feel in a way that it is a calling,” Zhang said.

Like Li, she looks forward to the rosary walk every week and watches the clock while she is working in the parish office, waiting for the group to arrive. 

“In the beginning, people in Chinatown were looking at us like we were crazy,” Zhang said. “And now it’s different. When we walk out, they say ‘hi’ and we say ‘hi’ back to them. Sometimes the sisters hand out their rosary to a stranger.”

“We’ve become a part of Chinatown doing the rosary,” she said. “I’m sure Mother Teresa, she’s watching above, and there is hope in Chinatown.”

Maryknoll Father John Cuff, a retired priest who assists at the parish and is fluent in Cantonese, has taken part in every rosary walk from the beginning.

At first, he was not comfortable carrying his rosary so everyone could see it, but that soon changed, he said.

“We’ve never had an insult or a curse since we’ve been doing this,” Cuff said. “And a lot of people, they are smiling at us, or tip their hat.”

Two years ago, he brought Michael Kordelewski, who now carries the crucifix or the statue of Mary.

“I had a stroke. Went to church. Found this. And this is cool,” Kordelewski said. “The Virgin Mary is special to everyone, or should be, so this is fun.”