What is a Blessing of the Grapes? Guest blogger and comic Lory Tatoulian spent mid-August traveling around Southern California to various picnics associated with this traditional Armenian religious feast day/social event, and she brought her camera.
The ceremonies are held to celebrate a religious feast day, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. But there is also substantial merriment, feasting – and an association with fertility? A bit of the background, from Lory:
August was the time in the eastern world when many harvests bore their first fruit, most notably the grape. And, before expensive fertility treatments came along, the ancient Armenians would make offerings to the fertility Goddess Anahid in hopes of getting pregnant.
Nowadays, the ritual symbolizes the venerated role of St. Mary being the mother of the vine which bore the fruit that came to absolve our sins through communion wine made from the grape. Congregants offer and eat the grapes in hopes of having their prayers and wants fulfilled. Some women believe it will help them conceive, the elderly feel that it can cure arthritis or any physical ailment, and businessmen hope to see their stock portfolios grow. Besides grapes, some people bring in objects and place them at the altar for blessing. It’s not rare to see a doctor bring in a stethoscope or a student place pencils at the altar, in hopes of receiving blessings.
Lory reports that she was not making offerings to any fertility goddess. She preferred to play it safe and stick to what she describes as “kebab, Armenian line dancing, music, backgammon and a lot of grape consumption” during her visits to three local grape-blessing festivals in Glendale, Culver City and San Diego.
But she did bring along her sense of humor. Here she shares a few of her favorites scenes, along with her interpretation.
Photo by Lory Tatoulian
San Diego: The priest conducts the grape blessing service and chants ancient hymns amid the roar of jet skis and motor boats on San Diego's Mission Bay. The 80 boxes of grapes were donated by an Armenian family farm in Fresno.
Photo by Lory Tatoulian
Glendale: The faithful scramble to get their bounty of blessed grapes outside of St. Peter’s Armenian Church. "This is not the produce section at Ralphs, where you can take what you want," one church volunteer admonished. "Only one bag for each person."
