Christmas Eve in Stepanakert. Photo by Albert Voskanyan for the Caucasian Knot.

06 January 2018, 19:15

Parishioners of the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrate Christmas and Epiphany

Residents of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have celebrated Christmas today. All the churches have held Holy Liturgies and water consecration ceremonies in honour of the Epiphany.

The night and morning Christmas services were preceded by the Christmas Eve, marked by believers of the Armenian Church in the evening on January 5. Albert Voskanyan, a blogger of the "Caucasian Knot", posted photos from Stepanakert taken on the Christmas Eve.

"All the churches hold 'Chrakalujc' Holy Liturgies. The word 'Chrakalujc' in the Armenian language means 'lighting up candles (lamps)'. This evening, people light candles and lamps in churches and take them home, symbolizing the divine light and the blessing of the church. The candle lighting symbolizes the light of the Bethlehem Star, which pointed to the Magi the road to Child Jesus," Albert Voskanyan has written.

On January 6, believers of the Armenian Church celebrate the feast of Baptism of Christ, which unites Christmas and Epiphany. This is due to the fact that the Armenian Church did not participate in the Chalcedon Council of 451, where they decided to celebrate Christmas and Epiphany separately. Other Christian Churches celebrate Christmas on December 25/January 7, and Epiphany – on January 6/19, the edition named "Bogoslov.ru" explains.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

See earlier reports:

Residents of Southern Russia celebrate Christmas with mass liturgies and festivities, Christmas services held in five Orthodox Churches of Azerbaijan (+video), In Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, believers treat Epiphany as a family holiday.

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