Armenians Celebrate Christmas This Week

Members of the Armenian Apostolic Church will celebrate Christmas on Saturday.

“Armenians say, ‘Happy New Year’ and [then] ‘Merry Christmas,’ ” said Sossi Kevorkian of Glendale.

Armenian Christmas, or “Soorp Dznoont,” celebrates the birth and baptism of Christ, said Father Sipan Mekhsian of the Burbank-based Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America.

“It is a happy occasion,” he said. “It’s a celebration of divine liturgy and a feast day.”

Christmas, one of five major feast days in the Armenian Apostolic Church, is preceded by a week of partial fasting, during which worshipers refrain mainly from eating meat, Mekhsian said.

Celebrating Christmas on Jan. 6 is a tradition older than that of observing it on Dec. 25. The Roman Catholic Church changed the date of the celebration in the 4th century in order to keep people from taking part in pagan festivities, Mekhsian said.

Many Armenians will spend their Christmas Eve, Friday, at church services and then dine with family and friends.

Christmas Day, Saturday, will bring thousands to Mass at Armenian churches in the area.

The holiday Mass includes a ceremony in which water is blessed and given to parishioners. Blessed bread is also distributed for families to eat during their Christmas meals.