A candlelight Divine Liturgy was served in all churches in Armenia on the Feast of the Holy Nativity and Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
According to the Armenian Apostolic Church, the week preceding the Feast of the Holy Nativity and Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ – December 30-January 5 – is fasting period and people eat food of exceptionally vegetable origin.
The period of fast comes to end in the evening of January 5 when a candlelight Divine Liturgy is celebrated and the great tiding of Jesus’ birth is proclaimed to the faithful. People greet each other saying, “Christ is Born and Revealed! Blessed is the Revelation of Christ.”
The celebration of the Feast of the Holy Nativity and Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ starts on the evening of January 5 as the church day changes at 17:00 p.m., after the evening service. So the celebration of the feast starts in the evening of January 5 and continues on January 6.
In the evening of January 5 candlelight Divine Liturgy is celebrated in all Armenian churches. Thecandlelight Divine Liturgy is celebrated only twice during the year – on the eve of the Feast of the Holy Nativity and Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ and on the eve of the Feast of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In the evening of that day people take to their homes candles lit in the church symbolizing the divine light and the blessing of the Church. Lighting candles symbolizes also the light of Bethlehem star leading the magi from the east to the Baby Jesus.
On January 6, following the Divine Liturgy, the Armenian Church also offers a special Blessing of the Waters Service to celebrate the Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan. The wonder-working water blessed by means of cross and Holy Chrism is distributed to the faithful for spiritual and bodily healing.
Among the ceremonies related to the feast is the Blessing of the Home Service. After the Feast of Holy Nativity and Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Feast of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ people invite clergy to their homes and offices to receive the life-giving tiding and divine blessing. Blessing of the Home Service is performed also when the peace of home is disturbed and the presence of evil forces is felt.
January 7, as well as all the days following the major church feasts are memorial days (or days of Remembrance of the dead). On January 7 (and all memorial days) a special Repose of Souls Service is offered in memory of the dead after which people go the graveyards to pay visit to their relatives’ tombs.
The ceremonies related to the Feast of the Holy Nativity and Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ are concluded on January 13, the Feast of Naming of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
