Before kicking off the first Rosary Girl Walk at the entrance of the Manhattan Beach Pier the morning of Jan. 17, fitness influencer Melanie Meza gathered the 100 women who’d shown up to welcome those who came alone to find a prayer partner.
“I don’t want anyone to feel alone,” she said at the Saturday morning event. “I want women to feel like they have community, that they belong, and that they’re loved.”
Then the women — all of them from either Los Angeles or Orange counties — made their way north along the Manhattan Beach Strand, passing multimillion-dollar houses with their rosaries in hand. As they worked their way through the Joyful Mysteries, late arrivals kept joining the procession.
What started as a simple prayer and a “75 Hard” challenge for her fitness journey last year evolved into a calling that Meza said she couldn’t ignore. After having fruitful conversations with Catholic women across her social media page and in person, she wanted to step in and help.
Meza maintains a strong social media presence, where she promotes her work as a Catholic fitness coach for women. Through her platform, she encourages women to pursue physical fitness, grow in virtue, and keep Christ at the center of their lives.
As she reflected on how to better serve women, she asked herself, “What do women need?”
Then, she said, the answer came to her heart: “Women need community.”
Following a day of prayer at St. Michael’s Abbey, a Norbertine monastery in the Orange County town of Silverado, Meza, whose fitness-themed Instagram account has nearly 10,000 followers, said she felt inspired to post a rosary walk invitation on social media.
The idea was a success.
“I have been looking for a women's community, especially for my age. I’m 29, almost 30. And the women at my church that I’m close to” are all older or married with grown children, said Marriah Amador, who commuted from Hacienda Heights, where she belongs to St. John Vianney Church.
The appeal shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Men and women are marrying later than previous generations, and in California, the median age for women to get married is now in their 30s, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
When Amador saw the post, she said to herself, “I have to go,” and invited her friend Maria Jose Gomez from Downey.
“I thought this was a good opportunity,” Gomez said. “I love exercising, running,” so at the event, “I get to walk, I get to meet other people, and then I get to pray,” with the bonus of seeing her friend.
Paloma Usquiano, a recent USC graduate who commuted from Downey, said she was also drawn by her search for a Catholic community.
“It was a great way to connect with other women of LA who are Catholics,” because the rosary girl walk is so “different.”
Several women at the walk said the event helped fill a void at many of their parishes: the lack of a young adult group.
For Usquiano, praying the rosary in public was a way to evangelize and also empowering for her own faith. Her friend and USC student Berenice Rodriguez noticed how the public display of faith stirred immediate awe, drawing the attention of beachgoers and residents.
“Today, seeing people’s faces — whether confused, curious, or even just smiling, taking pictures or videos, or praying along [during the walk] gave me hope.”
Although she’s married and attends St. John Chrysostom Church in Inglewood with her husband, the event caught Lorena Navarro’s interest. Trying to find a community for youth is what drew her to the parish when she was younger, and that same desire brought her to the rosary walk.
She heard women praying the rosary in Spanish and English, which eventually led her to connect with women who had attended her childhood parish.
“I think it’s great … we’re using social media to connect with praying women,” she said.
Mayra Avila, who came from South Central LA, was invited by friends who saw Meza’s social media post. She was struck by bystanders who she saw making the sign of the cross as they crossed the procession of women.
“I came here because I felt the need to connect with my faith more,” said Avila, 22. “And a way I get to do that is by meeting other people who share the same passion for a closer relationship with Christ.”
