New Britain Herald , CT
Jan 6 2010

Wishing Orthodox Christians a Merry Christmas, today

By JENNIFER ABEL
Staff writer

NEW BRITAIN ‘ The Christmas season isn’t over yet, at least not for
everybody ‘ if you’re a member of an Orthodox church, Dec. 25 was just
another cold winter day, and Christmas doesn’t roll around until
today.

The Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection marked the occasion by
celebrating an Epiphany Eve Candlelight Liturgy last night. The
tradition goes back over 1,700 years.

The Rev. Fr. Kapriel Mouradjian, pastor of the Church of the Holy
Resurrection, said, `Around 325 A.D., in Jerusalem, early Christians
had pre-festal liturgies ‘ festal meaning `before a feast’ ‘ and there
was a candlelight liturgy. In Latin the word is `lucernarium.” The
practice spread to Constantinople about 550 A.D. under the Emperor
Justinian.’

Easter and Christmas, in other words in the Orthodox calendar inspire
two celebrations: one the day of, and a candlelight liturgy the night
before.

The only real difference between an Orthodox Christmas celebration and
Western Christian Christmas celebration is the date it’s observed.

`All Christian churches used to have Christmas Jan. 6,’ said
Mouradjian. `But there was a pagan [Roman] festival called Saturnalia,
after Saturn, which was celebrated Dec. 25. The Church of Rome decided
to do something about that, and changed the date [of Christmas] to
Dec. 25 … the Orthodox churches, Coptic churches, and I think Syrian
churches kept the original date.’

Jan. 6 is also an important date in the Puerto Rican tradition; it’s
not Christmas but it is `Three Kings Day,’ the day the three kings (or
`three wise men’) are said to have visited and given gifts to the
infant Jesus.

Karythia Estrella, a supervisor for the Opportunities
Industrialization Center’s after-school program at Pulaski Middle
School, said that in Puerto Rico, children traditionally did not
receive gifts on Christmas morning but waited until Three Kings Day,
when Jesus got his gifts too.

`In Puerto Rico the whole month of December is a celebration, but we
get the gifts on Jan. 6, not Dec. 25,’ she said. `The tradition is,
the night before you get your box ready ‘ about the size of a shoebox
‘ and put grass in it and put it under your bed. That’s your gift to
the kings. When you wake up in the morning, your gift is in the box.’

The Boys and Girls Club of New Britain will not be holding a formal
Three Kings Day celebration, but program director Jason Gibson said,
`We’ll be passing out goody bags to our members ‘ a small toy, and
some candy.’

Next Sunday, the first Sunday after the Orthodox Christmas, the
Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection will celebrate the birth and
baptism of Jesus with an Epiphany Liturgy and a Service of the
Blessing of the Waters, to mark Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River.

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