ARMENIANS CELEBRATE BIRTH OF CHRIST WORSHIPPERS ATTEND MANY AREA SERVICES.Byline: Dominic Berbeo Staff Writer As Christmas gifts and other yuletide traditions fade in the minds of some Southlanders, thousands of Armenians in Los Angeles celebrated on Thursday their version of the birth of Christ. In Armenian neighborhoods of Glendale and Van Nuys, worshippers packed churches to celebrate the traditional blessing of the water and exchange of gifts. ``We had more than 2,000 people at today's Christmas service,'' said Stepan Kabadian, the chairman at St. Mary's Armenian Apostolic Church in Glendale. ``The water is blessed and everyone takes home a cup of the holy water holy water, in Christian churches, water blessed to symbolize spiritual cleansing. In Roman Catholic churches there is a bowl (stoup or font) of holy water near the doors, so that the faithful may bless themselves with it on entering. Holy water is a sacramental and is used in formal blessings, including the asperges. symbolizing water used to baptize Christ.'' He said the Armenian Church Armenian Church, autonomous Christian church, sometimes also called the Gregorian Church. Its head, a primate of honor only, is the catholicos of Yejmiadzin, Armenia; Karekin II became catholicos in 1999. His rule is shared by the patriarchs of Jerusalem and Constantinople and by the catholicos of Sis (Cilicia). has been celebrating Christmas in this fashion for about 1,700 years. In Van Nuys, about 1,500 attended Christmas services at St. Peter Armenian Church. As told in the New Testament, the Three Kings Three Kings: see Wise Men of the East., or magi, came from the East to pay homage to the newborn Jesus. They were identified as Melchior Melchior (mĕl`kēôr): see Wise Men of the East., an elderly Persian with a long beard bringing the gift of gold; Caspar Caspar: see Wise Men of the East., a young and beardless Indian offering frankincense frankincense: see incense-tree., a royal fragrance; and Balthasar, a black Arabian bearing the gift of myrrh myrrh (mur) the oleo-gum-resin obtained from species of Commiphora; applied topically in mild inflammations of the oral and pharyngeal mucosa., a bitter gum resin valued for its medicinal purposes. Today, scholars believe the three wise men were probably astrologers from Persia. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) The Rev. Shnork Demirjian, above, speaks to the crowd during Christmas services at St. Peter Armenian Church. Some placed candles for lost loved ones. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer (3) A woman prays during a Three Kings ceremony at St. Peter Armenian Church in Van Nuys on Thursday. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion