‘It’s a joyful day’

Christmas comes twice a year for parishioners at St. Mary Church Armenian Apostolic Church in Costa Mesa.

An Armenian string quartet played western Christmas tunes like “Oh Tannenbaum,” along with traditional Armenian numbers during a Christmas banquet laden with hummus and baklava at St. Mary on Tuesday.

Most local Armenian families celebrate the western version of Christmas on Dec. 25, but also attend the two-hour, Armenian-language Christmas service each year at St. Mary on Jan. 6, said the Rev. Moushegh Tashjian, who presides over the congregation of about 200.

“On Armenian Christmas you don’t have to worry about presents and driving to the mall,” Tashjian said. “It’s a time to be with friends and family. It’s a joyful day.”

Newport Beach resident Joan Bedrosian is a second-generation American, but her family continues to preserve its Armenian traditions by celebrating Christmas on Jan. 6.

“We celebrate Dec. 25 by giving gifts, but this is the real Christmas for us,” Bedrosian said. “It’s hard to not observe Christmas in December when you live in this culture, but we do both.”

The Roman emperor Constantine decreed Christmas would be observed on Dec. 25 in the 3rd century to coincide with a pagan holiday. Most Greek-speaking churches adopted the practice by the end of the 4th century, but the Armenian church continues to believe Jesus Christ was born and baptized on Jan. 6.

St. Mary has seen a growing number of Armenian families move to Orange County over the past few decades, Tashjian said. The church used to observe Christmas on the first Sunday after Jan. 6, but the demand has grown for a local Armenian Christmas service, he said.

“Families move here when they become successful,” Tashjian said. “Armenians from all over the country want to come here.”

Tashjian estimates Costa Mesa is home to about 150 Armenian families, but St. Mary’s parishioners come from across Orange County to worship at the church.

Orange County is home to a large but spread-out Armenian population and many families whose parents and grandparents came to the United States decades ago continue to observe Armenian traditions.

“It’s like they say, wherever there are two Armenians, you have a church,” said Newport Beach resident Paul Hachigian, who was among the founders of St. Mary in the 1980s. The church hosted its first meeting in Hachigian’s living room.

Hachigian’s Armenian father immigrated to the United States in 1910.

Newport Beach resident Civan Kalfain swells with pride when he sees the pews of St. Mary filled with families with young children on Christmas Day. Kalfain helped to finance the purchase of the St. Mary building on 22nd Street in Costa Mesa some 20 years ago.

“These children are the future of our church,” Kalfain said, gesturing to a group of young girls dancing in their plaid Christmas dresses and patent leather shoes at the banquet. “The best part about Christmas is that we get to celebrate twice a year.”

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].