Why
do Armenians celebrate Christmas on January 6?
Armenians
do not celebrate Christmas on December 25th with the rest of the
world. The exact date of Christ’s birth
is not recorded in the Gospels and has not been established by any other
source. However, all Christian churches
celebrated Christ’s birth on January 6th until the fourth century
when the date was changed to December 25 by the Roman Empire. Historically, December 25th was a
pagan festival which celebrated the birth of the sun. At that time, many Christians continued to
celebrate pagan holidays and in order to undermine the pagan practice, the
church hierarchy designated December 25th as the official date of
Christ’s birth and January 6th as the feast of the epiphany. However, Armenia was not influenced by this
change and has continued to celebrate Christmas on January 6th like
our oldest Christian ancestors.
The
lasting effects of the Soviet Union on Christmas in Armenia…
Armenians lived under the rule of the atheist Soviet
Union for 69 years. Under Soviet rule,
almost all churches in Armenia were closed, left to deteriorate or used as
schools or other non-religious buildings.
Armenia, the first country in the world to declare itself a Christian
state in the fourth century, was forbidden from observing the birth of Christ. During the Soviet era, the communist government discouraged the
telling of the Christmas story and instituted a tradition of Grandfather Frost
bringing gifts on New Year's Eve. Armenians began to celebrate Christmas and
New Year together on New Year’s Eve.
After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenians slowly
began to reopen the churches and publicly celebrate their religious
holidays. While Armenians are now free
to celebrate their holidays, the 69 years of Soviet rule had a strong influence
on the society. Until now, in most
homes, Christmas and New Year are mixed into one holiday to some extent. The New Year receives the biggest celebration
and emphasis with a big feast and the exchange of gifts. Starting the week before New Year’s Day, the
women begin working into the morning hours to prepare two weeks’ worth of
traditional New Year’s dishes. It is the
Armenian tradition that from January 1-7, all of your friends and family
members must pay a visit to your home and with each visit you must heat up the
food and spread out the same feast for your guests.
On Christmas Eve, January 5, some families go to visit the church
where they are given a small candle lamp which they carry home, symbolizing
that the “Good news” is coming into the world.
Christmas day, on January 6, is celebrated more solemnly than the New
Year with a traditional meal of fish, rice with raisins, wine and special
Armenian sweet bread and some families attend a worship service at the church
on Christmas morning.
On Christmas, Armenians greet each other with the words, “Christos
tsnvets yev hytnetsav” which means, “Christ was born and appeared”. They answer by saying, “Dzez yev mez mets
avedis” which means, “It is great news for you and for us!”
