Bishop helps Vietnamese community celebrate Lunar New Year

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney visited St. Cecilia Parish in Rockaway on Jan. 22 to serve as the main celebrant of a Mass with the faith community’s Vietnamese Catholics to commemorate the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. The celebration began with a procession, followed by the liturgy.

The Mass marked the Vietnamese New Year, the Year of the Cat, which took place on Jan. 22 this year and was celebrated in both English and Vietnamese in St. Cecilia’s Church. For the Lunar New Year, Vietnam celebrates the Year of the Cat, while China, South Korea and other East and Southeast Asian countries observe the Year of the Rabbit.

Concelebrating the Mass with Bishop Sweeney were Father Zig Peplowski, St. Cecilia’s pastor; Father Mateusz Darlak, parochial vicar; and visiting Vietnamese priests. The New Year celebration, called Tet, is the most important celebration in the Vietnamese culture. During the Mass, the faithful approached the altar to take a small scroll from a basket that displayed a Scripture verse. Children in attendance received “lucky money,” part of the New Year’s celebrations.

After Mass, the Vietnamese community held a reception in St. Cecilia’s Hayes Hall. There, community members, many wearing traditional dress, and student sisters from Vietnam who attend Assump­tion College for Sisters in Denville, performed traditional dances and songs. They also celebrated Bishop Sweeney’s birthday which took place on Jan. 17.

— Michael Wojcik