The following are stories I have collected over the last 20+ years from people to whom I gave a small stone pocket cross. I began recording these stories in 2010 when I came to realize that many of these people have encountered God on a very personal level through these crosses, and usually at a very critical point in their lives. To me, these stories actually prove the existence of God and of Christ and His Holy Spirit. At least this is what many have told me who have these crosses in their pockets.

As we all know, disturbing things can happen to us in life and I as I give out these crosses in an effort to comfort those in trouble, I explain to people how these crosses work in terms similar to what follows.

“At some time or another, we all have a "cross to carry," a burden, a hurt or sickness. But by carrying this little cross in your pocket, you are placing those burdens at the foot of the Cross and thus into the healing hands of Jesus Christ. The pocket cross is not magical, or a good luck charm, but instead it connects you with the only One who can truly heal your hurts. The stone material reminds us of the stone tomb from which He arose from death to life. The cross reminds us of the price He paid “…He was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! (Isaiah 53:5) Keep this cross on your person at all times and let it remind you to pray always for God to come into your life to protect you and to work His miracles. Let Him become the source of all peace and comfort for you.”

A number of years ago I found myself teaching CCD (Sunday school for Catholics) to a group of eighth graders. It was in the Fall of the year as we approached Christmas, and on this one Sunday morning one of my students was particularly unhappy about having to come to class.

About half way through our session he suddenly jumped up from his seat. In a voice that was near shouting he said, “Why do I have to be here? Why? I never see any of this God stuff anywhere. My parents don’t go to church. We don’t pray at home before or after we eat. I never see it on TV, in magazines, books or on my computer. No one I know needs this for their work. My relatives don’t talk about it and I sure don’t talk about this stuff with my friends. And besides that, it’s illegal to use at school! So why do I have to be here!!!?”

Here I was being confronted by an angry 13 year old and all I could do was stand there with my mouth open. But I did have a pocket cross on me and I now clutched it while asking God for His help in how best to answer this young man. However, I did not receive any inspiration at that point. The simple fact is that the truth of his words paralyzed me, and I could not think of anything to say that would effectively counter his objections.

I thought about this in the days that followed as it troubled me greatly. On the following Sunday I decided to try and answer him in an unusual way. When all of the students arrived at class I told them that we would be going over to the church for today’s session. I told them that I prayed all week and asked Jesus Himself  to visit us today. Each one was to sit in a pew and I would give them paper and a pencil. I would put a chair at the foot of the altar and after I lit a candle, Jesus would come and sit there. They could talk with Him silently by writing whatever requests they wanted on the paper. But they were not to put their names on the paper. Half the class started to laugh and complain about how silly this was, but the other half was quietly thinking. They weren’t sure if I really did know Jesus and could ask Him to do this for us.

We got over to the church and I set up the chair while each went to their pew. The one boy who was complaining the previous week sat by himself in the back of the church, in the very last pew. He clearly wanted none of this. I lit the candle and after a short while most everyone started writing. Again, I had my pocket cross in my hand and was just praying that these children might benefit from this exercise.

I had my back to the altar and was watching the class when the boy in the last pew jumped up and pointing to the chair near the altar shouted out, “Look!” The sunlight had come through one of the stain glass windows and created a laser-like shaft of blue light that hit directly dead center on that chair. The kids all rushed forward and stood around the chair but no one said a word. It was really spooky, because that shaft of light did not extend past or through the opening in the back of the chair. It simply stopped right in the center of the chair.

After some time, they quietly went back to their seats and continued to write, but now with much more intensity and focus. The boy in the last pew came up to me and quietly asked for paper and pencil. He sat down now in the first pew, and began to write.

I wish I could share with you what was in those letters. A lot of it was very painful to read. Even at 13 years of age, these kids had to deal with similar pressures and issues that many adults struggle with every day.

Down deep, they all wanted to believe what I was telling them about God. They wanted to believe that the Scriptures are true. But because there is little if any evidence of God’s Word in their daily lives, they are very likely to cast it aside as nonsense. They look to us, the older folks, to see what we believe in and then they act accordingly. That was probably the first time I started to become aware that these pocket crosses are very special. I now know that they can and do connect us with Christ. All we have to do is ask Him to come into our lives.

Story#2 

I teach accounting and financial literacy courses for a major University here in Connecticut. It was the first day of classes for the Spring semester and I was on the first floor of the main building heading toward someone’s office for a meeting.

I suddenly saw a former student coming towards me and when she noticed me she stopped and greeted me very pleasantly. We talked for a short while and then she looked straight at me and asked me to do her a favor. She wanted me to have “good thoughts” about her. She was having difficulty finding a job and she was getting a bit desperate. I told her that I would not have good thoughts about her but instead, I would pray for her. At that comment, she became very animated and admitted to me that prayer was what she really wanted in the first place. That’s when I took out the pocket cross and gave it to her. She could not have been more pleased. She wanted to know all about where the crosses come from and more about their history. But we were running out of time and we parted soon after that.

I continued down the hall and she went in the opposite direction. But when she got to the end of the hallway, she turned and waving her hands, she shouted back to me....  “Professor Ramunni….I love you.” And off she went. It was amazing. Imagine getting a response like that from someone simply because you gave them a gift of a hunk of stone in the shape of the cross.

Story#3 

A 24 year old college student came into my office the other day looking for my signature approving a course he wanted to take. We started talking about his career opportunities and he mentioned that God was the one directing him as to what choices he should make. I was surprised to hear him say that only because at a state run university that kind of reference to spiritual matters is rarely spoken about in public. He went on to tell me that he had custody of his 3 younger sisters by order of a family court in Connecticut last year. I wondered out loud how bad things had to be in his home where a court would take custody from his parents and give it to a 24 year old unemployed sibling. He just rolled his eyes and shook his head at that comment. He then revealed that 18 months earlier he had dedicated his life to Jesus Christ. At that point I handed him a pocket cross and he was beyond ecstatic. We talked about the origin of the crosses and other spiritual matters. But as he stood up to leave and was putting on his coat, he stopped, looked directly at me and asked if he could pray for me before he left. I said yes, and he did. That simple prayer he spoke brought me to tears. You see, we don’t do things like that at this college….at least I’ve never heard of anyone praying over anyone, certainly not involving a student. But that day, I’m proud to say, there was praying going on and it was student initiated.  And I’ll admit it…..I needed that prayer at that very moment.

Story#4

Greg has been a good friend of mine for the last 13 years or so. While his wife Anne was alive the four of us would get together often. But then Anne suddenly contracted cancer and died at the age of 60, Greg became a different person. He was as bitter as they come against God. Greg would often remind me how cruel God could be in taking the best out of our lives. Annie was the light in Greg’s life. She was one of those people that couldn’t do enough for others. And now Greg had to go on without “his Annie.” So I continued to stay in touch with him over the months and years that followed. I kept waiting for the right moment to share a cross story and maybe even give Greg a pocket cross of his own to carry. And then one day it happened. I saw an opening and took it. Greg looked at that cross in his hand for quite a while and without a word he put it in his pocket. Now that was at least a couple of years ago as of this writing. Last week he called to have breakfast with me….he said he had something to tell me. Greg sometimes has his meals at a local restaurant where he lives and over the last few weeks both the regular cook and waitress he knows there were having serious health issues. Greg had that cross in his pocket and he felt moved to give it to the waitress. She was so thrilled with it that she cried and ran into the kitchen showed it to the cook! Well, he comes out of the kitchen and confronts Greg. He was actually offended that Greg didn’t think to give him one! So here I was listening to Greg’s story when he suddenly looks directly at me and asks if I have more crosses. He then said the words I was praying to hear all along…he wanted to give people these crosses so they could come to know the Lord as he knows Him…..Allleluia. Greg now has a pocket full to share with others.

Story#5 

Dave’s been a very good long time friend of mine. He’s a guy always ready to tell you a funny story that happened to him. I had forgotten that at one point many years earlier, I had given him one of the stone pocket crosses I give out to people. I was talking to someone who also knew Dave pretty well and who had himself received a healing from these crosses. Since Dave is in the medical profession, my friend mentioned these crosses to him. Dave then reveals to this person that he gave his cross away to someone who needed it more than he. It turns out that Dave heard about a pregnant lady who was diagnosed with a serious form of brain cancer about 4 months into her pregnancy. As you can imagine, her world was turned upside down. She didn't know what to do and was actually thinking of having an abortion because she knew if she was not around after she gave birth, there would be no one to take care of her baby. Dave gave her his cross. Now, that took place at least 5 years ago, as of this writing. The baby was born healthy and his mother…..is thriving and is with us still. The cancer? What cancer? It went away…………it simply just went away.

Story#6 

I received a call the other day, from a lady I gave a pocket cross to about a year ago. She was concerned about her 15 year old daughter who was having difficulties fitting in at school. So I gave her a cross for her daughter. She called to tell me that once in a while she finds that cross in her daughter’s bed while she is changing the bed sheets. Apparently her daughter takes the cross to bed with her at night. Now listen to this….she also told me that her daughter thinks of that cross as a direct spiritual connection to Jesus. It’s like her personal cell phone connection with Christ. It’s tangible, it’s real and it’s portable. Like her cell, she can take it anywhere and whenever she feels she needs Jesus, all she has to do is simply touch it and connect with Him instantly, and help is on its way.

Who ever thought that a simple little hunk of stone in the shape of a cross could become a 21^st century high tech way to connect with Christ …..simply amazing.