Armenian Traditions- Christmas Celebrations











More information:—21-centuries-of-tradition-2011-01-04


12 thoughts on “Armenian Traditions- Christmas Celebrations”

  1. To be clear the Armenian Church celebrates the birth and baptism of Christ on January 6. In the Holy Land the Armenian Church uses the Julian calendar, which currently lags behind the Gregorian calendar by 13 days. That’s why in Bethlehem Armenians have this celebration on January 19.
    According to our calendar Christmas is an 8 day feast (as Easter is a 40 day feast). Thus our Christmas is celebrated from January 6-13. (This Christmas octave acc to Julian calendar Jan 6-13 falls on new calendar Jan 19-26). As time goes on the gap will increase between the calendars.

  2. Hello. Thank you for a great post of Armenian Christmas traditions. Though I am thankful you are writing about our rich culture it would be great if you would please reference where you received your images or inquire permission to post images from the sources you received them from. The photo you posted of my grandma inspecting the choreg came from my personal blog. Please reference, ask permission to use these photos or take them down.

  3. Tamar, the explanation you provide in the third paragraph is generally correct (re: Jan 6 date for the Nativity of Christ). However, the first paragraph (and especially the first sentence) of the article is wrong, and actually contradicts the correct information you provide later. We do not use the Julian calendar, and it has nothing to do with why we celebrate the birth of Christ on Jan. 6.


      1. Tamar, thank you for this blog. Its good to reach out and educate people about our traditions. I would like to reiterate what Armen commented. The Armenian Church’s celebration of the Nativity and Theophany of Christ on January of 6th is independent of questions regarding the Julian Calendar. The Armenian Church has always celebrated Christmas on January 6.

        With regard to your comment, the Armenian Church doesn’t currently use the Julian Calendar outside of the Holy Land. The liturgical calendar of the Church uses the modern revised calendar.

        As I mentioned, the Holy Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem still uses the Julian Calendar, and as such, according to the modern calendar it occurs later in January (

        I know its confusing. Thanks again for your blog.

        God bless and Merry Christmas!

      2. hmmm…. Then the newspapers covering this issue are incorrect.. It was actually what wewere taught when younger as well… how does that explain celebrating till the 13th though?

        Ps: Thank you for you comments!

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