Three Times a Charm: Christmas Celebrated in Israel Thrice by Israel’s Christian Community

Even with a small indigenous Christian community living in the Holy Land, the winter holiday is celebrated more in Jerusalem than in any other place. Christmas comes three times a year in this corner of the world.

And for that you can thank the Armenians in Jerusalem. While Catholic and Protestant Christians celebrate on December 25, and Orthodox Christians on January 6, the Armenians in Jerusalem -- and only in Jerusalem -- celebrate Christmas on January 19, or on the eve, January 18.

History explains this puzzle. According to the St. Andrew Information Network web site, the Gregorian calendar, which has a difference of twelve days, was introduced in 1752. All Christian churches switched to the Gregorian calendar to determine the date of religious feasts except for the Armenian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, the Armenian Orthodox Christians still use the Julian calendar and, therefore, observe Christmas later. Armenians living in Armenia and any where else in the world celebrate on January 6 like other Orthodox religions.

All Christian churches originally celebrated Christmas Eve on January 6. In the fourth century, the Roman Catholic Church designated December 25 as the holiday in order to replace the pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice, while Orthodox churches stuck with January 6.

Confusing? Perhaps. But this doesn't present a problem though for Armenians in Jerusalem who enjoy stretching out their holiday festivities from the 25th of December until the 19th of January.

"The three of them are Christmas for me," said Aida Aintablian, an Armenian Jerusalem resident. "And also two New Years." (The Armenian New Year is January 13.) Aida said her family's main celebration is on Christmas Eve, January 18, but they have a tree in their house from before December 24. 

Traditionally, the Armenian Patriarch, priests and a marching band will make a procession from the Old City of Jerusalem to Bethlehem. The processional continues to Bethlehem's Manger Square, where there is an official reception at the Church of the Nativity. Families will have a holiday meal and also attend a Christmas mass at Saint James, an ancient church rebuilt in the 1200s in Saint James Convent, a religious and residential complex closed to visitors except during church services. The Christmas service takes place at midnight and is a unique event as the church has no electricity. The only light is provided by the colorful oil lamps hanging in the square stone basilica.

All of these dates, however, are regular working days in the Jewish state of Israel, but most Armenians choose to take the day off. Kevork Nalbandian said it is important for him to carry on the tradition for his children and he sets aside his work as a layer on both December 25 and January 18.

"This is (part of) the ethnic background and the roots of our community," he said. "They say you should give your children two things: One, wings to fly and two, roots to remember."

Nalbandian said he and most Armenians in Jerusalem set aside three days each year to commemorate events or celebrations specific to Armenians. In addition to Christmas, they celebrate Easter Sunday and commemorate the Armenian Genocide on April 24.

Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity in 301 AD. And even before that, Armenians have claimed an enduring presence in Jerusalem dating back to 95 BC and a community on Mount Zion since the fourth century. To this day, there is an Armenian Quarter in the Old City with fewer than 2,000 residents.

The Armenians endured persecution and massacres in Turkey in the late 1800s culminating in the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and now have a far-flung diaspora, more widespread than that of the Jews. Armenia itself was under Soviet rule until 1991. While Christmas may be the most drawn out of the Armenian feasts in Jerusalem, more Armenians make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Easter each year than for Christmas.