Topic: Armenian church in India prepares for Christmas

[biro]

On Thursday, the faithful of the Armenian Holy Church of Nazareth, in Kolkata, India will celebrate Christmas. The parish priest is Fr. Khoren Hovhannisyan.

From the article:

The priest spoke of some salient features of the Christmas service. "The congregation stands instead of sitting on the pews. We fast an entire week starting December 30, the week preceding Christmas," he said. During this period, meat is best avoided and a light meal a day is the order. On January 5, families attend church and celebrate the Christmas Eve Divine Liturgy. The next day is the Feast of the Theophany (the Manifestation of God).

[minasoliman]

Did not even know there were Armenians in India.

[ag_vn]

Happy Nativity to all Armenians who celebrate today!

And this Christmas, mind you, is steeped in tradition and ritual. The Armenian Orthodox Church still reckons its year by the Julian Calendar and celebrates the birth of Christ on January 6 (also known as Old Christmas).

By the way this is not true.

[Monk Vasyl]

Here's a good article (sermon) on why the Armenians celebrate Nativity with Theophany:

ARMENIAN CHRISTMAS
The Ancient Date of the Celebration of the Theophany
January 6th
by Fr. Shnork Souin

http://www.myarmenianchurch.org/dershnork/christmas%20date.asp

[deusveritasest]

It has absolutely nothing to do with the Julian calendar. The date on the civil calendar for Julian December 25 is January 7, not 6! There is further evidence, that being that where the Old Calendar is retained in the Armenian Church (in the Holy Land, Georgia, and Russia), the celebration is on January 19th! The reality is that originally the Nativity of Christ was commemorated on Theophany throughout the East, and the Armenian Church never departed from this practice like everyone else.