December was filled with Christmas activity and celebrations. Parish organizations gathered together for annual events \u2013 the ACYOA Juniors and ACYOA Seniors each held a Christmas gift exchange and gathering, and our Women\u2019s Guild held their annual Outreach night, preparing stockings filled with toys and hygiene items for donation to the local food pantry. Our popular St. James Giving Tree program supported My Brother\u2019s Keeper\u2019s Christmas assistance effort. A festive Children's Christmas Party for all ages was held, complete with activities, wrapping stations, and a visit from Santa. On Saturday, December 21, the St. Sahag & St. Mesrob Armenian School presented a Christmas Hantes<\/em> for parents and guests. Students reenacted the Nativity story in Armenian, and sang traditional Armenian Christmas songs. To mark the new year, pomegranates were blessed and distributed to the faithful on December 29th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Church sanctuary was full on December 24th<\/sup> as families and friends gathered for a Western Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. This year's service included a commemoration of the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Deacon and Martyr - a feast which honors the deacons of the Church. During this special Armenian tradition, thirteen St. James deacons lined the bema<\/em> wearing liturgical crowns, typically only worn by priests, as a symbol of martyrdom and their sacrifice. The deacons then chanted 'Park ee Partsoonts<\/em>' (Glory to God in the Highest) from the Morning Service and censed the faithful in unison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On January 5th and 6th, we celebrated the joyous Feast of the Nativity and Baptism of Our Lord. Services began on Sunday evening, with the reading of Scriptures by our St. Sahag & St. Mesrob Armenian School and Sunday School students, followed by the Jrakalooyts Divine Liturgy. A home blessing service and reception followed, hosted by the St. Sahag & St. Mesrob Armenian School teachers and parish volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Monday morning, January 6th, Divine Liturgy was celebrated, followed by the Blessing of Water Service in Remembrance of our Lord's Baptism. Serving as the Godfather of the Cross during the Service was Nathan Kefeyan. Nathan is a lifelong member of St. James, following in the footsteps of his family members. He is the son of John and Tamar Kefeyan, and the grandson of Nick and Gladys Zeytoonian and Takouhi Kefeyan. Nathan grew up in Belmont and he is currently a Junior at Northeastern University studying Economics. He is a Sunday School graduate and also a member of the St. James ACYOA, which he notes has been integral to his social connection to the church community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n View photos of all Christmas events at the links below:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Christmas Eve Candlelight Service<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Blessing of Pomegranates<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Christmas Services - Jan 5-6<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Parish Christmas Events & Activities<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.stjameswatertown.org\/test\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/St-James-Christmas-Eve-2024-59_600.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christ is Born and Revealed among us! Blessed is the Revelation of Christ! \u0554\u0580\u056b\u057d\u057f\u0578\u057d \u056e\u0576\u0561\u0582 \u0565\u0582 \u0575\u0561\u0575\u057f\u0576\u0565\u0581\u0561\u0582: \u0541\u0565\u0566\u056b \u0544\u0565\u0566\u056b \u0574\u0565\u056e \u0531\u0582\u0565\u057f\u056b\u057d: Krisdos dzunav yev haydnetsav! Tsezi Mezi Medz Avedis! December was filled with Christmas activity and celebrations. Parish organizations gathered together for annual events \u2013 the ACYOA Juniors and ACYOA Seniors each held a Christmas gift exchange and gathering, and Continue Reading<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7859,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","cat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameswatertown.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameswatertown.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameswatertown.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameswatertown.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameswatertown.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7858"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameswatertown.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7863,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameswatertown.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7858\/revisions\/7863"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameswatertown.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameswatertown.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameswatertown.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameswatertown.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}