HULIQ , SC
Jan 6 2010

Armenian Christmas Is Celebrated On January 6

Every year many Armenians in the Western countries have two Christmas
because according to the church calendar of this tiny south-east
European the Armenian Christmas is celebrated on January 6. Since in
2010 the Christmas falls on a Wednesday, many Armenians who live in
the Diaspora will celebrate the 2010 Christmas on January 10, which
falls Sunday.

The Armenian Christmas eve starts on January 5th. The Christmas day
Mass and the celebrations start in the morning of January 6th. Yet,
the Western Orthodox countries, such as Russia and Greece celebrate
the Orthodox Christmas on January 7, which is the same December 25th
according to the Julian Calendar. The difference between the Gregorian
and Julian calendars currently is 13 days.

On Christmas eve and the morning, Armenians greet each other with
Christmas Greetings. However, Marry Christmas in Armenian is
translated as Qristos tsnav eev haitnetsav, Orhneal e haitnutun@
Qristosee. Which means Christ is born and revealed, Blessed is the
revelation of Christ.

Armenian Christmas is actually the original date for celebrating the
birthday of Jesus. The Roman Catholic church has changed it in the 4th
century. The Armenian church did not have the same reasons that made
the Catholic Church to change the date of Christmas.

Untill the 4th century Christians around the world used January 6 to
celebrate the birth of Jesus. "According to Roman Catholic sources,
the date was changed from January 6th to December 25th in order to
override a pagan feast dedicated to the birth of the Sun which was
celebrated on December 25th. At the time Christians used to continue
their observance of these pagan festivities. In order to undermine and
subdue this pagan practice, the church hierarchy designated December
25th as the official date of Christmas and January 6th as the feast of
Epiphany," according to SAIN.org.

Since the Armenians did not have the problem that the Romans and the
Orthodox had, the Armenian Christmas is celebrated on January 6 since
the 1st century to 2010. Merry Christmas to the Armenians, Russian,
Greek and the Orthodox, Catholics once again and all Christians.

The center of the Armenian Apostolic Church is located in the city of
Etchmiadzin named after the main Cathedral of the Armenian Church.
Holy Etchmiadzin is built in 303 and is like a magnet for millions of
Armenians spread around the world. Each year, during Christmas, the
head of the Armenian Church, currently Katholikos Karekin the 2nd
sends his traditional Christmas message to all the Armenian faithful
around the world.

Written by Armen Hareyan
Reference: armenianchurch.net
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