On January 6, the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates Christmas, the feast of the Nativity and Epiphany of Jesus Christ, which is the commemoration of the Nativity and Baptism of Jesus. The two epiphanies established through the Nativity and Baptism of Christ are celebrated together in the Armenian Apostolic Church on January 6—and under the common name of “Annunciation” or “Theophany.”

On the morning of January 6, a Divine Liturgy is served at the Armenian Apostolic Church, after which the rite of Blessing of Water is performed. According to tradition, lowering the cross into the water symbolizes Jesus’ entry into the Jordan River. The presiding priest blesses the water with the cross, then with the Holy Myron—the sacred anointing oil of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the faithful take some of that water home as a blessing and healing medicine for the sick. Then, the priest visits the homes of the faithful to announce the Nativity of Jesus Christ.

This is where the rite of Blessing of the Houses originated. Why does the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrate Christmas on January 6? It is often asked why the Armenian Apostolic Church does not celebrate Christmas on December 25, like other churches. It is known that there is no exact information about the date of Christ's birth, nor is it written about in the Gospel. It should be noted, however, that all Christian churches celebrated the birth of Christ on January 6 until the fourth century.

According to Roman Catholic sources, Christmas was moved from January 6 to December 25 in order to ignore the pagan worship of the sun god, which was held on December 25. At that time, Christians continued to observe their pagan celebrations, and in order to eliminate these customs, the Roman Catholic Church moved the date of Christ's birth to December 25, and January 6 remained as the day of the Epiphany (336 AD).

The initiative of the Roman Catholic Church to celebrate Christmas on December 25 first spread to the West, then to the East. Already in the 5th and 6th centuries, almost all the churches celebrated the Nativity of Christ on December 25—on January 7, according to the old calendar. For Armenians, however, this change was meaningless, since there were no such pagan customs in Armenia at that time. Thus, remaining faithful to tradition, the Armenian Apostolic Church continues to celebrate Christmas on January 6 to this day.

It should be noted, however, that the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrates Christmas on January 6 according to the old calendar, which corresponds to January 19 according to the new calendar, according to the armenianchurch.org website.