Before Zahrtahr ( a lady’s name) finished her makeup, the church service finished.

This humorous proverb makes fun of the vanity of “Zahrtar” who takes so long to put on her make-up before going to church that she misses the church service.

A name for church in Armenian is “jahm,” which literally means hour or time. Traditionally, in the Armenian churches the “jahmakeerk” was continually read. This book was a devotional of prayers to be read at specific times during a 24 hour period. Therefore, the Armenians called their church “jahm” that referred to the fact that there were recitations of prayers for every minute of the day.