In Monterey Park, nearly a week after a mass shooting at a dance hall left 11 people dead, reassurance and recovery were still elusive for many. But the burst of heartbreaking violence inspired days of prayer, an outpouring of support and the rituals of faith that have endured, in some cases, for centuries.

On Friday afternoon, the rhythmic, methodical chanting of seven gold-and-orange-clad Buddhist monks echoed outside the Star Ballroom Dance Studio.

Some onlookers added their voices, others — hands folded in prayer —  solemnly lost themselves, enveloped in the swirl of sound.

Hours later, just one block away from the dance center, about 125 people attended as L.A. Archbishop Jose H. Gomez presided over a special Mass at Saint Stephen Martyr Catholic Church.

Like many rituals, religious and otherwise, the event was meant “to unite the community of faith … to offer prayers for those impacted by the tragic event,” according to a statement from the archdiocese.

Archbishop Jose H. Gomez attended a vigil for the 11 lives lost in the shooting at Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park during a special Mass at St. Stephen Martyr Catholic Church in Monterey Park on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

And, whether a ceremony is faith-based or non-religious, experts say any community-based rituals are an important part of helping a community like Monterey Park regain a sense of safety, a collective feeling control. From Catholic Masses to Buddhist traditions to chaplains flown in from other states, the San Gabriel Valley, this week, felt loved and began, hopefully, to feel whole again.

Friday evening, at the Mass, Montebello resident Dion Castro said it simply:

“I came here to show my support for my brothers and sisters.”

Earlier, at the gates of Star Ballroom, where flowers and candles were placed to help ease anguish, Master Abbot Thich Vien Ly from Dieu Phap Temple in San Gabriel took to a microphone. He addressed about 100 people who gathered.

In front of a Buddha seated near a bowl of fruit and one of burning incense, Vien Ly began. His voice louder than the others. His incantation strong, his resolve unwavering.

The other monks joined.

Beaded bracelets and wooden percussion instruments gently marked the time. The monks chanted slowly, methodically. Their incantations, punctured by the strong smell of incense, creating a calm and offering a space for a salve.

For nearly 45 minutes, they chanted.

The purpose of the chanting, said monk An Tri is to purify the area that is “fraught with so much violence and pain.”

Eventually, onlookers were given incense and invited to add sticks to the bowl.

As the ceremony drew to a close, a small group and the monks moved toward the back door of the studio. With the yellow crime scene tape as backdrop, they chanted anew, casting out the bad, and as Tri said, giving room — where atrocities once unfurled — for the “spirit to be reborn.”

As the monks filed out, Tina Tai broke down crying. Her friend Mymy Nhan was killed in the shooting.

Star Ballroom Dance Studio owner Maria Liang, who lost a partner in the shooting, came over to console Tai.

After a buddhist ceremony at Star Ballroom Dance Studio for those killed in the Monterey Park mass shooting owner Maria Liang comforts on Friday, January 27, 2023 Tina Tai as she cries for her friend Mymy Nhan, who was killed. Liang’s partner was killed and her brother was wounded in the shooting. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

“When we gather,” said Tri, “we chant and say the mantras, we were trying to bring the spirit of peace and rest.”

But will Asian Americans and San Gabriel Valley residents feel safe enough in their neighborhoods to gather again? To feel the joy of a Lunar New Year that was thwarted on Jan. 21 when 42 rounds from that gunman’s weapon ended the lives of 11 and injured nine others?

The rituals and memorials are important, say experts, to aid the community’s healing. A 2004 study on mental health response to mass violence by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notes “community building and empowerment are essential for regaining control and fostering community survivorship.”

Monterey Park is on its way to taking back control, but it will take much time.

At least five vigils were held this week as well as myriad other tributes and moments for prayer and silent reflection at other events. And such organizations as the Buddhist monks have come to help.

On Wednesday, for example, a steady trickle of mourners and well-wishers paid their respects at the memorial just outside the gate to the Star Ballroom.

Off to the side, a group of chaplains in blue-collared shirts waited to talk to anyone who needed a sympathetic ear. They were part of the Billy Graham Crisis Response Team, a group of chaplains employed by the Southern Baptist preacher’s Evangelistic Association.

The team deploys to hard-hit areas of the U.S. — natural disasters, or in the case of Monterey Park, a man-made one.

The chaplains, who declined to speak at the scene, camped out at the parking lot of the ballroom all day Wednesday.

One young man who lingered at the memorials later spoke to two chaplains. When another woman came to them, they all locked their arms around her in a circle, and they all prayed together.

Some of the chaplains at the scene said they had just flown in from hurricane-ravaged parts of Florida to be there.

“Pray for the community and law enforcement officials as they process this heart-wrenching tragedy,” the group wrote of the Monterey Park shooting on its website.

Monterey Park City Councilwoman Yvonne Yiu attends a buddhist service on Friday, January 27, 2023 with monks from the Wong Tai-Sen Center for the 11 killed in the Monterey Park mass shooting at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

And, the hurt is happening far afield from the San Gabriel Valley, as residents throughout the Los Angeles area come to terms with more than three dozen mass shootings in the U.S. this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Some of that community healing began as early as last Sunday morning, even as a priest broke the news to parishioners at an early Mass.

When Father Juan Jose Ochoa at Christ the King Roman Catholic Church in Hollywood celebrated mass last Sunday morning, many at the service hadn’t yet heard about the Monterey Park incident.

“So as we are gathered this morning as people at faith, we pray for the victims, for their families, for all the first responders, for all the people involved in this,” Ochoa said at the service. “And I also said, we as Christians, we also pray for the perpetrator.”

Forgiveness, a cornerstone of the Catholic faith, was already in play — before the gunman was even identified. And, another treatise of the Catholic religion, its name meaning “all embracing,” Ochoa prayed for everyone, but especially for the 10 — at the time — who officials already knew perished.

Ochoa said they prayed for the church, for government leaders, for immigrants. But last Sunday he quickly added the victims of the shooting and their family members to the long list.

Emily Wu Truong, of Arcadia, makes a heart out of wilting rose pedals on Friday, January 27, 2023 for the victims of the Monterey Park mass shooting at Star Ballroom Dance Studio. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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“I think at the beginning of Mass, and then by including a special prayer during the time when we do intercessions, I would say that people found some consolation with the shooting,” Ochoa said.

When he was at a prayer group Tuesday evening, attendees expressed fear in light of the shooting, Ochoa said.

“You don’t know when it can happen,” Ochoa said. “You’re just called to have a cultural celebration. You can just go shopping or you can just be walking on the streets, and that’s the end of your life.”

Ochoa, who lost his mother in a car crash when he was just 14, said when there is sudden tragedy, like the shooting in Monterey Park, what’s important isn’t really the words that are said. It’s about simply being present.

“I don’t remember much of what people told me,” Ochoa said, “But I do remember who was there with me and for me through those difficult times.”

Staff writer Josh Cain contributed to this report.