Lion dancers perform for Archbishop Henning in the St. James the Greater parish hall following the Mass. Pilot photo/Wes Cipolla
BOSTON -- It was quite the command performance.
Three Technicolor lions, their massive glittery heads covered in fur and festooned in lavish decorative patterns, gilded through the parish hall of St. James the Greater Parish in Boston's Chinatown like flying dragons as cymbals crashed and drums echoed.
The lions "blinked" their long-lashed eyes and "ate" oranges, hongbao (red envelopes symbolizing prosperity), lucky candy, and a cabbage off of tables placed before Archbishop Richard G. Henning. Disembodied hands snaked out of the lions' maws, picked up the food, and "chewed" it before presenting it to the smiling archbishop and excited children in ornate traditional dress. The girls wore red bows in their hair and coats trimmed in fur like the heads of the dancing lions. The lions themselves also received red envelopes from an adoring crowd.
Archbishop Henning came to St. James, the Archdiocese of Boston's Chinese Catholic parish, on Feb. 2 to celebrate Mass and welcome the Lunar New Year. After Mass, he and the parishioners were treated to a lion dance from Chinatown's Woo Ching White Crane Kung Fu troupe. The lions symbolize good fortune in the coming year.
"Okay, head one! Head two! Head three! Follow me!" said troupe leader Adriana Li, followed by young dancers and musicians carrying lion heads as big as they were.
The archbishop was also served a hearty platter of meat, noodles, vegetables, and dumplings, which he said was the most delicious he ever had.
Every year, Father Joseph Zhang, pastor of St. James, invites the archbishop to attend the Chinese New Year celebrations. Usually, the archbishop cannot make it due to other obligations. St. James Pastoral Council Vice Chair Susan Ho said that Archbishop Henning wanted to attend so he can continue learning about the diverse parish communities within the archdiocese.
"He really wanted to be with the people here today," she told The Pilot. "And I got the sense he was really, really happy to be with us."
Feb. 2 was also the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, or Candlemas. Mass began with a candlelit procession through the church. Red lanterns and banners also decorated the space. The current St. James Church building was constructed in 1874 to house the rapidly-growing Irish immigrant population. When the Irish immigrants were supplanted by Chinese immigrants, including Catholics who had received the faith from European missionaries, the parish shifted focus to accommodate them. In 1967, Cardinal Richard Cushing enlisted Father Francis Li of Hong Kong to minister to Chinatown's Catholic community.
"I have to say that you have a treasure," Archbishop Henning said to the hundreds of people in the assembly. "This is a magnificent, beautiful church."
The archbishop received applause when he wished the assembly a happy new year in Chinese. In his homily, he connected the Feast of the Presentation with the Lunar New Year celebration.
"At the beginning of the year, we give thanks to God for the greatest gift of his son, Jesus, our new covenant," he said. "Give thanks to God for the gift of the people who love us, who cherish us, who care for us, who teach us, who guide us, who lead us in the faith. Give thanks for our elders in the beautiful way in which they guide our family."
The New Year celebration is one of the many ways that the Chinese community of St. James combines its Catholic faith with Chinese cultural traditions.
"We want to recall our heritage," Ho said. "And so it's always an honor to have our main shepherd here with us."
Anywhere between 300 and 500 families are parishioners at St. James. Most of them are from the Boston area, but some come as far away as Worcester or New Hampshire. St. James is the only Chinese Catholic parish in New England.
"In China, it's sometimes hard to practice your faith openly like here in America, where we are free to express our faith," Ho said. "But in China, sometimes you get persecuted, sometimes even die for your faith. And for that reason, when people come to America, they are just overjoyed that they can come to a Catholic church and freely express their love for our Lord and the Blessed Mother without fear of having your head chopped off."
Ho was raised in a nonreligious household but came to the faith when she first visited St. James Parish in the late 1990s. She received a warm welcome there that she didn't receive anywhere else.
She said there was a parishioner "who reached out to me with a hand, shaking my hand and just welcoming me," she said. "And I felt like this place really was calling me home."
Boston's Chinese Catholic community is small, but in other parts of the U.S., Ho said, they are "flourishing" due to evangelization efforts.
"Somehow, God is always working through us and with us," she said. "Like this morning, I was worried about some things not working because of the archbishop being here, but for whatever reason, I asked the Holy Spirit to just be there, and I placed my trust in his care. And miraculously, things happened, and everything was working."
Parishioners at St. James speak Mandarin, Cantonese, Fujianese, and Taishanese. Sometimes, there's a language barrier.
"We somehow make it all work together," Ho said. "We are all somehow able to worship together, because after all, we're still of the same Chinese atmosphere. And so that desire to be together, no matter the differences in our language, somehow we make it happen."