Look in any direction and you’ll see richly illuminated manuscripts, opulent gilded reliquaries, rare textiles, exquisitely carved khatchkars, precious liturgical woodwork, rare printed books—and the artistic pièce de résistance: a sixteen-foot painted map showing the locations of the Armenian churches of historic Armenia before the Genocide.
Held up for display before the crowd of expectant onlookers was an eight-inch silver cross—one unlike any other.
Embedded within its central gemstone was a tiny sliver of wood: a holy relic of the True Cross of Jesus Christ—the cross Jesus carried to Golgotha, and on which he was crucified.
Worshippers visiting New York’s St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral on the evening of September 16 will have a rare opportunity to glimpse an actual relic of the True Cross of Jesus Christ.
As summer drew to a close, the Eastern Diocese sent a gift of more than $18,500 to charities helping vulnerable children in America and Armenia.
New York’s St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral will hold a special service on the evening of Sunday, September 16, to honor the major feast day known as Khatchveratz, or the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
