Keep Looking for the Rose

When I was a seminarian, I learned a song about Khrimian Hayrig (1820–1907), the beloved Catholicos of All Armenians, and his cherished homeland of Vaspuragan:

“Hayrig, Hayrig,

Your beloved Vaspuragan

gave you thorns instead of roses

and filled your heart with sorrow.”

Hayrig replied:

“The thorn of my homeland

is sweeter to me than any rose;

and even among the thorns,

I will keep searching for the red rose.”

For years, those words lived in my heart as a beautiful melody from my seminary days. Then, decades later, I found myself standing in Vaspuragan, before the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Akhtamar Island. In my hand, I held a red rose taken from the altar.

Suddenly, the song became a living prayer.

Khrimian Hayrig had learned to see his homeland with the eyes of love. He knew its sorrows, yet he continued searching for signs of beauty and hope. He refused to let the thorns become the whole story.

Perhaps this is one of the most beautiful lessons of faith: always look for the rose.

Our Lord Himself wore a crown of thorns that pierced His sacred head, yet even that could not overcome His love. And just as the thorns did not have the final word for Him, they did not have it for our people either. Beyond the Cross came the Resurrection. Beyond death came life. Beyond the sealed tomb, hope blossomed again.

Each of us carries a place of thorns within the heart: a memory that still hurts, a prayer that seems unanswered, a relationship that remains broken, or a loss we cannot undo. Faith does not deny these wounds. Faith teaches us to look more deeply for the rose among the thorns.

That rose may take many forms. It may be the strength to begin again, the kindness of a friend, a prayer answered in an unexpected way, a sacred memory that continues to inspire us, or the grace to turn our own pain into hope for someone else.

So friends, keep looking for the rose. Thank God whenever you find it. Protect it. Share its beauty. And if someone beside you is walking through a difficult season, ask God to make you the rose they have been searching for. Your kindness may be the first sign that their desert is beginning to bloom.