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ANN/GROONG - Armenians celebrate Christ's birth today
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Armenians celebrate Christ's birth today
Observance decrees attending Mass, visiting relatives, eating traditional
foods
Pasadena Star-News
6 Dec 2002
By Helen Gao
Staff Writer
GLENDALE -- As most Americans are taking down their Christmas trees and
decorations, Armenian-Americans are gearing up to celebrate the holiday this
weekend.
For nearly 50,000 Armenians living in the San Fernando Valley area who follow
the Julian calendar, Christmas Day comes today.
Armenian churches are expected to be packed with worshippers, who will
celebrate the holiday with religious services, family gatherings and special
food.
"It's very significant religiously. If (Armenians) go to church twice a year,
they go on Easter and Armenian Christmas Day," said Peter Abajian, executive
director of the Western region office of the Armenian Assembly of America.
St. Mary's Armenian Apostolic Church in Glendale and St. Peter Armenian
Apostolic Church in Van Nuys both expect about 2,000 parishioners to attend
Mass today to receive holy communion and blessing of water to honor the birth
and baptism of Christ.
Unlike the American version of the holiday, which tends to focus on
gift-giving, the occasion for Armenians is deeply spiritual and
family-oriented.
"Christmas revolves around family. It's not commercialized," said the Rev.
Vazken Atmajian of St. Mary's. "We try to keep it away from exchanging gifts
or Santa Claus -- all that, we try to do on New Year's Eve. We want to focus
on Christ's birth, not any other thing."
The Rev. Shnork Demirjian of St. Peter's said the goal of the holiday is the
renewal of faith.
"We greet one another by saying, 'Christ is born and revealed,' " he said.
"The response would be, 'Blessed is the birth and revelation of Christ.'
"After church service, people will visit their relatives to spread the good
news that Jesus was born."
Atmajian and Demirjian said their Christmas sermons will be different this
year in light of the war in Afghanistan and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
They plan to ask their congregation to pray for soldiers and victims of
terrorism.
"There will be emphasis on peace because our nation is at war," Demirjian
said. "There will be prayers for those who have lost their lives in the
attacks in Washington, D.C., and New York."
Linda Stepanyan of Glendale said her family celebrates the holiday with fish
and classic ethnic dishes, such as Armenian pilaf rice, dolma and tabouli.
Dolma is an appetizer made with rice wrapped in grape leaves. Tabouli is made
with parsley, olives and bulgur, a wheat grain.
"We will have red wine. We put inside the wine communion bread that we get
from the church," she said.
For Abajian's family, holiday fare also includes a sweet soup called anoush
abour, a tapioca pudding accented with dried fruits and nuts.
"People eat, drink and have family over," Abajian said. "It's very much like
(American) Christmas Day without the presents."
Another tradition in Stepanyan's family is to visit elders to show respect.
"In the United States, most of the Armenians celebrate the classic Dec. 25
Christmas. We would like to keep Armenian Christmas," she said. "That's why
the family comes together and respects the oldest people."
Worshippers take a sip of the water that's been blessed in church and take
some home to give to the sick, elderly or others who cannot attend church.
In Armenia, business and the government shut down on Jan. 6. In the United
States, most Armenian-Americans, however, still go to work if the holiday
does not fall on a weekend, as it does this year.
Stepan Boyajian of Burbank, who attends St. Mary's, said the holiday falling
on Sunday this year allows many to participate.
"This year, we are lucky because all of us are going to have a chance to go
to church," he said.
Helen Gao can be reached at (818) 713-3636.
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