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Armenian Christmas," as it is popularly called, is a culmination of celebrations of events related to Christ's Incarnation. Theophany or Epiphany (or Astvadz-a-haytnootyoon in Armenian) means "revelation of God," which is the central theme of the Christmas Season in the Armenian Church.
The major events that are celebrated during the Armenian Christmas season are the Nativity of Christ in Bethlehem and His Baptism in the River Jordan. The day of this major feast in the Armenian Church is
January 6th. At the end of the solemn Christmas Divine Liturgy, a ceremony called "Blessing of Water" is held in the Church to commemorate Christ's Baptism.
It is frequently asked as to why Armenians do not celebrate Christmas on December 25th with the rest of the world. Obviously, the exact date of Christ's birth has not been historically established - it is neither recorded in the Gospels. However,
historically, all Christian churches celebrated Christ's birth on January 6th until the fourth century.
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 this pagan practice, the church hierarchy designated December 25th as the official date of Christmas and January 6th as the feast of Epiphany.
However, Armenia was not affected by this change for the reason that there were no such pagan practices in Armenia, on that date, and the fact that the Armenian Church independent from the Roman Church. Remaining faithful to their Church traditions, Armenians continue to celebrate Christmas on January 6th until today.
Source: oriental_orthodoxy@yahoogroups.com
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