Vietnamese welcome Year of the Cat
Local
The Vietnamese Catholic Community welcomed Archbishop Patrick O’Regan to celebrate the Lunar New Year’s Eve Mass recently.
During the Mass the Archbishop blessed the tree of divine word which was decorated with red rolls containing biblical verses.
Members of the congregation, priests and Sisters were later asked to take one of the rolls, with the biblical verse meant to be the guiding thought for their life in the Lunar New Year.
Family dinners and visits to the graves of loved ones are other traditions at Lunar New Year.
“This is part of filial piety in the Vietnamese culture,” said the Community’s chaplain, Mgr Minh-Tam Nguyen.
While for the Chinese 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit, for the Vietnamese it is the Year of the Cat. According to one explanation the cat represents the qualities of vigilance, wittiness, speediness, acuity, intelligence and honesty.
“The Lunar New Year is a time for everyone to look forward with hope and confidence for the good things to come,” Mgr Minh-Tam said.
“Vietnamese Catholics look to God in gratitude for the last year and put hope and trust in him for the new year.”
Jump to next article
