EXALTATION OF THE CROSS CELEBRATED WITH ARMENIA SERVICE PROJECT PRESENTATION

By David Luhrssen

Milwaukee, WI — On Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, Milwaukee Armenians gathered to celebrate one of the major feast days on the Armenian Church calendar, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The ceremonies at St. John the Baptist Armenian Church, Greenfield, included the Blessing of the Four Corners of the World (Antasdan) and the Blessing of the Basil, commemorating the discovery of the True Cross in a field of basil outside of Jerusalem in the year 326. The basil used this year in the service was grown in the parish’s garden.

St. John’s pastor, Rev. Fr. Guregh Hambardzumyan, addressed the Exaltation of the Cross in his sermon. He said that the feast day is a call to follow Christ by “living a life of love.” The cross is not a sign of defeat, he insisted, but a call to sacrifice. Christ transformed the cross through his Resurrection from an instrument of torture into a sign of victory. The cross is a symbol of great power, Fr. Guregh added, not to be used carelessly, not a burden but a source of strength.

A shish-kabob and pilaf dinner followed, capped with a presentation by a young member of Milwaukee’s Armenian community, Leo Dadian. He spent July 8-28 in Armenia with the Armenia Service Project, a young adult project sponsored by ACYOA. The tall peak of Mount Ararat was hidden by clouds during his stay in the republic, but otherwise, the journey was not a disappointment. His group spent three days in Yerevan, visiting the Mother Armenia statue and touring the Madenataran (book repository) Museum and the solemn Dzidzernagapert Genocide Memorial.

Afterward, they traveled to Etchmiadzin and ventured into the countryside, visiting Khor Virab and other churches and shrines along with a bustling winery and other modern attractions. Some of their discoveries included an ancient astronomical observatory (Carahunge or Zorats Karer) similar to Stonehenge and the ruins of one of the world’s earliest wineries.

One of Leo Dadian’s takeaways from his weeks in Armenia was the importance of St. Mesrob Mashdots, whose discovery of the Armenian alphabet and its role in perpetuating the language is one of the reasons Armenia exists today as a distinct culture.