Today (6 January) marks the celebration of Armenian Christmas, for which church services were held in Armenia, and among Armenian diaspora communities across the world.
Yesterday, on Armenian Christmas Eve, the Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, delivered a speech congratulating the Armenian people, reciting the Pslams of David, and adding a prayer for the “delivery of Armenia and Artsakh… from all of their troubles”.
The head of the Armenian church, Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, also addressed the people of Armenia in a speech earlier today.
While the majority of Christian countries hold Christmas in December, countries such as Armenia, Russia and Georgia celebrate in January. The dates differ because of the use of separate calendars; while most countries use the Gregorian calendar, many Orthodox churches decided to retain the use of Julian calendar, which differs from the Gregorian one by about 13 days.