CHARLOTTE — The Vietnamese Catholic community in Charlotte welcomes all to join them in celebrating one of the most important festivals in Vietnamese culture in early February.
Known as Tet, this traditional Vietnamese celebration commemorates the beginning of the Lunar New Year. Members of the community will gather for two liturgies at St. Joseph Vietnamese Catholic Church, located at 4929 Sandy Porter Road in Charlotte, said Father Tri Truong, pastor.
The first Mass will be held at 11 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 9, and will include a countdown to the beginning of the Lunar New Year at midnight. There will be a second Mass at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, to celebrate the Lunar New Year a second time. Both Masses will feature a celebration with a performance by the parish’s Hidden Dragon Lion Dance Team and firecrackers, part of the traditional celebration of Tet.
Two Masses are necessary to celebrate Tet because each one draws hundreds of people from around the Charlotte area as well as visitors from other parts of North Carolina and out of state, Father Truong noted. The annual Tet Mass at 11 p.m. regularly draws between 700 and 1,000 people.
Father Truong stressed the fact that Lunar New Year celebrations are not pagan traditions, but simply reflect the fact that Asian countries measured years by cycles of the moon in ancient times. “In the Asian tradition they used the lunar calendar until the western calendar was brought to Asia,” he said. “In Vietnamese culture, we still look at the lunar year as the time to celebrate the new year.”
In Vietnamese tradition, 2024 is known as the Year of the Dragon, signifying talent, strength, nobility, luck and success.
Parishioners will receive special red envelopes which contain a dollar bill and a note with a scripture verse as an expression of appreciation and a wish for God’s blessing and prosperity during the New Year.
“I will be offering the same message I give to the people every year, asking God’s blessing for them as they continue their journey into the year with a new and fresh start,” Father Truong said.
— Christina Lee Knauss