Tucson Bishop Edward Weisenburger and Father Francis Dien Tran recently celebrated the Tet Festival & Vietnamese New Year with the parishioners of Our Lady of La Vang, according to the Diocese of Tucson website. 

Our Lady of La Vang is a mostly Vietnamese parish within the diocese.

It was a meaningful celebration, one Weisenburger was happy to take part in.

“I was blessed to celebrate the Tet Festival and Vietnamese New Year with Our Lady of La Vang parishioners and pastor Fr. Francis Dien Tran! Chúc mừng năm mới,” Weisenburger said in a Facebook post. 

Tran, pastor of Our Lady of La Vang, delivered a speech during the event and Weisenburger participated in many activities, including preparing some sugar cane, feeding the ceremonial dancing dragon some lucky money for the New Year and of course, posing for many photos with parishioners, the Diocese of Tucson said.

Asia Highlights reported the most significant holiday of the year in Vietnam is the Vietnamese New Year, usually referred to as Tet Festival. Tet gets its name from the Vietnamese word Tet Nguyen Dan, which means the feast that occurs on the first morning of the first day of the Vietnamese calendar. Tet also marks the approaching of spring. 

The lunar-based holiday of Tet is typically observed on the same day as the Chinese New Year, Asia Highlights stated. Every year, the date shifts, but it usually occurs between mid-January and late February. Food, music and dragon dancing are all a part of the celebrations of Tet.