Silver anniversary

BEACON PHOTO | JOE GIGLI

25 YEARS  Men dressed in traditional Vietnamese attire carry banners as they process for the start of a Mass to mark the 25th anniversary of the Vietnamese community at St. Cecilia Church in Rockaway Nov. 27. Bishop Serratelli was the main celebrant with several diocesan priests and visiting Vietnamese priests as concelebrants. For story and more photos, see page 14.

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ROCKAWAY  For 25 years, Vietnamese Catholics have been coming together at St. Cecilia Church here to worship. To mark the silver anniversary, Bishop Serratelli came to the Rockaway parish and was principal celebrant of an anniversary Mass Nov. 27. The celebration began with an long outdoor procession to St. Cecilia Church, followed by the liturgy.

The anniversary was celebrated close to the feast of St. Andrew Dung Lac and his companion martyrs of Vietnam, whose feast is observed on Nov. 24. These martyrs were canonized by St. Pope John Paul II in 1988 for the witness they gave to their faith in their homeland. During the 17th to 19th centuries in Vietnam, it is estimated that some 130,000 Catholics suffered martyrdom. The feast honors 117 of those martyrs who were missionaries spreading the faith throughout the country.

The 5 p.m. Mass every Sunday is celebrated in the Vietnamese-vernacular for the Vietnamese families who are parishioners of St. Cecilia’s.