The Lunar New Year Mass

1117 Words5 Pages
Liturgical Expression: The Lunar New Year Mass For Vietnamese Catholics, the Lunar New Year Mass is a very important liturgical event related to very much Vietnamese culture. I would like to describe the Lunar New Year Mass at Vietnamese community at St, Henry Church couple months ago. There was the couplet (parallel sentences) hang at both sides of the crucifixion meaning of God and spring season. People used yellow and red colors to decorate the Altar. The readers, acolytes, and ministers of Cup wore the traditional clothing “4- part dress” during the Mass. Dragon team was ready to dance to welcome the presider up to the Altar. The choir sang the opening song to praise God as the eternal Spring. The presider with three burning incense sticks bowed his head three times in front of the Table. At the same time, people played drums and gongs to create a very cultural and serious atmosphere. Before giving offerings, there was the traditional dance performed by women with national costume “Áo dài” and conical hat ‘Nón lá” and men with 4-part dress “Áo tứ thân” and a plain piece of cloth wrapped around the head “Khăn đống”. The offerings included bread, wine, fruits of Tet “Mâm ngủ qủa”, and traditional cakes “Bánh chưng, bánh téc”. As usual, a big apricot blossom was put in front of the pews with a lot of the gifts of Biblical sentences (the blessings of the spring) hang on it. After the communion, the parishioners took turn to pick one for them as blessings given by God for the whole year. The liturgical expression of this Lunar New Year Mass is very culturally Vietnamese. Firstly, even non-Catholic people, they also compose the parallel sentences for Tet. They usually hang it at both sides of the ancestor’s altar. This is influenced from Chinese Culture, enjoying the nobility of the deep level of “golden words”. Also, people
Open Document