The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels was filled to its 3,000-seat capacity Jan. 24 as members and friends of the Asian Catholic community gathered to celebrate the 2004 Chinese New Year Thanksgiving Mass with Cardinal Roger Mahony in a historic liturgical ceremony highlighted by an Ancestral Veneration ritual.

The principal celebrant, San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Wang, said it was an "honor" to preside at the liturgy in L.A.'s "magnificent cathedral on the happy occasion of the celebration of the Chinese New Year --- The Year of the Monkey." By celebrating the Chinese New Year, said the bishop, "we celebrate the Chinese people, their culture and way of life."

Delivering his homily in English, Bishop Wang declared, "Jesus has united us as one body and one spirit…We acknowledge today that God has blessed Chinese people richly…We need to become more aware that we are one body." Bishop Wang also spoke on the importance of appreciating God's gift of eternal life, embracing everyone in love and service and creating new opportunities for inculturation and evangelization.

After Communion, Cardinal Mahony, Our Lady of the Angels Region Auxiliary Bishop Edward Clark, and Bishop Wang participated in an ancestral veneration ritual along with elders from the Chinese community. The ritual featured presentation of incense, flowers, fruit and wine as well as honorary bows to the ancestors shrine which had been carried in as part of the church procession.

At the conclusion of the veneration, Cardinal Mahony delivered New Year greetings in Cantonese and Mandarin. According to Sacred Heart Sister Lucia Tu, one of several Asian religious in attendance, the cardinal achieved a "pretty good accent."

Chinese missionary and Jesuit Father Michel Marcil, who drove down from San Francisco for the Mass, said the event was "historic."

"It's the first time that such solemnity has been given for the Chinese New Year," said Father Marcil, who has been a Chinese missionary for 38 years, including 12 years spent in Taiwan. "I see people today from San Diego, Irvine, different parts of Los Angeles --- it's so meaningful for so many people."

Bishop Wang, who had to literally sprint to the cathedral from the corner of Grand and Temple Streets where he was dropped off 15 minutes late due to a delayed flight, said the Chinese New Year Mass was "wonderful." He posed for pictures after the Mass with several groups of people from different Chinese communities in Southern California.

"The service was beautiful," said Lena Fung, 97, a Chinese Catholic leader who helped start the Chinatown mission in 1941. Back then, she interpreted for the Irish priest assigned to Chinatown and was active in the ministry until 1994. Her daughter, Eleanor Lew, 77, said that she enjoyed the liturgy "very much" and found it helpful since she is trying to learn more about Chinese customs.

First-time cathedral visitor Clifford Chan, 35, who grew up in Chinatown, said having the event at the cathedral was a "great honor." He said both he and his wife, Cynthia, were "really excited" at the prospect of attending the event.

Salesian Father Joseph Cheng, director of St. Bridget Chinese Center in Los Angeles, said the ceremony helped to "restore our traditions" and showed how the church accepts the Chinese Catholic community.