An Armenian-American family performed a lamb sacrifice for an ailing relative — but they’re questioning their faith after he was killed five days later in a spectacular rollover crash.

Relatives performed a matagh, or ritual offering, on Oct. 25 for 20-year-old Richard Pananian, who had been battling serious health issues but had overcome them, reported the Los Angeles Times.

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Armenian Christians have conducted matagh offerings since the days of St. Gregory to thank God for saving a life, asking for good health or to plead for peace for deceased loved ones.

Pananian’s family hoped the lamb sacrifice would protect the Burbank man — but instead he was hurled against a freeway sign less than a week later in a crash just north of Los Angeles.

Police said Pananian was driving to a new job at Glendale Collision Center about 7 a.m. Friday on Interstate 5 when he crashed into the rear of a pickup truck, and his Ford Fiesta overturned — launching him from the vehicle into the Colorado Street freeway sign.

Authorities received several calls shortly before the crash about a reckless driver believed to be Pananian, who police said was not wearing a seat belt.

Emergency crews used a ladder to remove his body from the freeway sign during rush hour traffic.

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Pananian’s death has shaken some of his family member’s faith.

“I myself have lost my faith and question the act of God if he exists,” wrote a cousin in an online fundraiser page set up by the family to pay for funeral expenses.

Armen Kardashian explained that the family had performed a traditional matagh for his “beloved cousin” less than a week before his death to thank God for sparing his life from illness, but the offering apparently failed to remind Pananian to wear a seat belt.

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“I find it ironic that 5 days after this offering to God, not only did God choose to take this young mans life, but decided to make such a spectacle out of it,” Kardashian said. “If God works in mysterious ways his way remains a mystery to me and has crushed this family as a whole.”

Watch this video report posted online by KABC-TV: