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MONTREAL — Despite the biting winter cold of Montreal, the Tzu Chi Montreal Office was filled with warmth and spiritual serenity. On February 1st, the Tzu Chi Foundation hosted its “2025 Year-End Blessing Ceremony” in Montreal, welcoming community members and distinguished guests to gather in gratitude.
Ms. Shu-Jung Chen, Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Montreal, attended the event to show her support. Together with Tzu Chi volunteers and the congregation, they lit heart lamps to pray for purified minds, social harmony, and a disaster-free world in the coming year.
Official Recognition of Taiwan’s Soft Power
In her address, Director General Chen affirmed the dedication and contributions of Tzu Chi volunteers in Canada. She noted that their selfless service not only warms the local community but also demonstrates the “soft power” of love originating from Taiwan. Expressing how deeply moved she was to see everyone praying in unison, she voiced her hope that this power of kindness would continue to spread throughout Montreal.
Red Envelopes: An Heirloom of Love
The ceremony opened with the emcee highlighting the core of the gathering: the “Red Packet of Blessings and Wisdom” (Fuhui Hongbao) from Dharma Master Cheng Yen in Hualien, Taiwan. More than just a New Year’s greeting, these red envelopes are cherished by Tzu Chi members as “family heirlooms,” symbolizing the passing down of wisdom and compassion. The atmosphere was solemn and heartwarming as attendees went on stage to receive these blessings.
Sign Language Performance and Reflecting on the Path
Before the video screening, three Tzu Chi volunteers led the assembly in a sign language performance of the song “Love and Care for All.”
“Love may be invisible, but through our hands, we can convey warmth,” the emcee narrated. Guided by these words, Director General Chen and the distinguished guests extended their hands, mirroring the volunteers’ gestures to express “love” and “care.” The moment felt as if countless lotuses were blooming in the hall, converging individual kindness into a resonance that warmed every heart.
Following this moving performance, the event featured a screening of the 2025 Tzu Chi Grand Chronicle. The video retrospected the global footprint of volunteers providing relief at disaster sites over the past year—a review that moved many in the audience to tears.
Lighting Heart Lamps: A Prayer for 2026
The ceremony culminated in the “Lighting of the Heart Lamps,” the most spiritually profound moment of the event. As the melody of Prayer played and the lights dimmed, the congregation raised their “Lamps of Blessings and Wisdom” to their brows. The individual lights merged into a sea of illumination in the darkness, symbolizing the awakening of wisdom and brightness within everyone’s heart.
The Tzu Chi Montreal Office expressed deep gratitude to the TECO officials and community members for their enthusiastic participation despite the freezing weather. The theme of this year’s blessing was “May We Never Forget the Initial Spirit of the Bamboo Bank; May We Always Remember the Great Vow of the Tzu Chi Path.” It served as a reminder to return to the original spirit of the “Bamboo Bank Era”—accumulating small coins to achieve great good—inviting everyone to cast kindness into the world and let the energy of love ripple out to every corner of the globe.