The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrates the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ on January 19. The Christmas celebrations start on the proceeding evening of January 18, when the Patriarch and members of the St. James Brotherhood, along with the local faithful community and the visiting pilgrims, make the ceremonial entry into the Holy Church of the Nativity, the Birthplace of Jesus Christ, with the singing of the Hrashapar.  Through the night of January 18 to the early morning hour of 8:00 a.m., Armenians mark the Nativity of our Lord with uninterrupted prayers, Liturgy and the singing of the hymns of our Church. (Christmas is celebrated later in the Holy Land because its date is calculated based on the Julian, rather than the more modern Gregorian, calendar.)

This year, our Primate, Bishop Bagrat celebrated the Christmas Divine Liturgy, before dawn, in the early hours of the morning on January 19, 2013 on the altar of the Birthplace of Jesus.

Srpazan Galstanian’s Christmas sermon and words of greeting to the Brotherhood can be viewed HERE.