Traffic came to a stop in San Francisco as hundreds walked in a Eucharistic procession down McAllister Street toward U.N. Plaza during the Rosary Rally on Oct. 5, part of an increased emphasis on public witness to faith.

“To pray in public is good for the country and good for the soul,” Father Joseph Illo, the rally emcee, said. “How many people will see people praying today and begin to do that themselves?”

The rally began with Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral celebrated by Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone. The archbishop said in his homily that the Gospel reading on Martha and Mary showed the importance of prayer in Christian discipleship.

A life of service that does not involve any connection to Christ will always be incomplete, the archbishop said, “because without being centered in prayer, our service will not look ultimately to the spiritual good of the other. In some way or another our service will be compromised by self-interest.”

At the end of Mass, the archbishop renewed the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s consecration to the Immaculate Heart. Afterward, the eucharistic procession, led by students from Archbishop Riordan High School’s football team, proceeded down Gough and McAllister streets to U.N. Plaza, praying the rosary along the way.

Full story at Catholic San Francisco.