There is a story about a little girl who proudly wore a shiny cross on a chain around her neck. One day she was approached by a man who said to her, “Little girl, don’t you know that the cross Jesus died on wasn’t beautiful like the one you’re wearing? It was an ugly, wooden thing.” To which the girl replied, “Yes, I know. But they told me in Sunday School that whatever Jesus touches, He changes.”

Indeed, He does! It’s never more apparent than in the cross. The cross upon which Jesus died to save us was an instrument designed to give torment to the one who hung upon it. The death of Jesus transformed an ancient instrument of torture into God’s symbol of the salvation. The power of Christ's redeeming, forgiving sacrifice transforms all who are called to believe in Him. For us Armenians, especially, the cross is a symbol of hope and victory. It is no wonder we are called a khachagir, or cross-bearing, nation.

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved it is the power of God".

1 Corinthians 1:18