St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish celebrates Lunar New Year on Feb. 15, 2026, at the St. Therese Chinese Church worship site in Chinatown. This year’s celebration began outside the church with the lighting of firecrackers. Once inside, parishioners and guests enjoyed symbolic moments before Mass including a lion dance in the church aisles and St. Therese Chinese Catholic School students performing liturgical dances. Choirs sang in English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Indonesian. Following Communion, participants took part in in a rite recognizing their ancestors. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Students from the school listen to the firecrackers go off outside in front of church to start the celebration. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish celebrates Lunar New Year on Feb. 15, 2026, at the St. Therese Chinese Church worship site in Chinatown. This year’s celebration began outside the church with the lighting of firecrackers. Once inside, parishioners and guests enjoyed symbolic moments before Mass including a lion dance in the church aisles and St. Therese Chinese Catholic School students performing liturgical dances. Choirs sang in English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Indonesian. Following Communion, participants took part in in a rite recognizing their ancestors. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Children smile during the lion dance before Mass. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Father Francis Li, pastor, presents a red envelope to the lion dancer. During the new year, red envelopes are exchanged and usually contain money. The parish put a prayer card inside its envelopes. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Charlotte Mellor holds onto her dad, Jacob, while looking at the stained-glass windows in the church. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
A server carries incense in the opening procession. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Parishioners read the intentions in different languages during Mass. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Li accepts the gifts from a family during Mass. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
St. Therese Chinese School students carry banners while they escorted their families to bring up the gifts during Mass. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Priests celebrated the Eucharist Prayer with Li. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
A seminarian prays during Mass. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Father John Cuff, resident priest, distributes Communion. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Charlotte Mellor waits for a blessing during Communion. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Members of the Indonesian choir sing following Communion. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Members of the Mandarin choir sing following Communion. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Members of the children’s choir sing following Communion. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Li places a gift of oranges on the table during the ancestral veneration rites ceremony. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
A parishioner rings a bowl bell during the solemn bows at the end of the ancestral veneration rites. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Cuff passes out red envelopes to members of the parish following Mass. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
