| Most of us can recall people who would refuse to | | | | blessing ceremony as a sign of richness and |
| eat grapes until a priest blessed the fruit. | | | | abundance. |
| There is a day in the year when people buy the | | | | The details concerning Holy Mary’s life as well |
| grapes before going to the church because on | | | | as the story of Assumption have been preserved |
| this special day grapes enter the church as | | | | and passed to us through the Holy and Sacred |
| “forbidden fruit” and leave it blessed. This | | | | Tradition of the Apostolic Church. |
| festival is a mixture of celestial and terrestrial, | | | | Following the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Holy |
| solemnity and familiarity, tradition and modernity. | | | | Virgin remains in Jerusalem, and lives under the |
| In August Armenian Apostolic Church with great | | | | care of St. John the Evangelist. For nearly 12 |
| exultation and sublimity is celebrating the feast | | | | years, St. Mary lives by praying, fasting, and often |
| Assumption of the Virgin Mary -The blessing of | | | | visiting the empty tomb of her beloved Son. |
| grapes. It is forth of five major feasts of the | | | | During one such visit to the tomb, the Archangel |
| Armenian Church Calendar and the most ancient- | | | | Gabriel appears and gives her the news of her |
| dedicated to St. Mary. Each year on the Sunday | | | | imminent assumption to heaven. St. Mary relays |
| closest to the date of August 15, the Armenian | | | | the news to her relatives and all Christians, asking |
| Church celebrates the Feast of the Assumption | | | | them to bury her in the valley of Gethsemane. St. |
| of St. Mary, the Holy Mother of God. | | | | Mary also asks the Apostle John to celebrate a |
| In August, since in pagan times, Armenians have | | | | Divine Liturgy, so she may receive Holy |
| been celebrating Navasard with grandeur (New | | | | Communion one final time. After receiving Holy |
| Year holiday), nowadays the feast of Assumption | | | | Communion, St. Mary returns to her room. As the |
| of Holy Virgin celebrated in the same period has | | | | Apostles prepare to mourn her death, St. John |
| particularly inherited some individual features. In | | | | asks the Mother of God to leave an image of her |
| August grapes ripen and the festivals of Navasard | | | | face on a board of wood. St. Mary takes the |
| have been continued with the blessing of grapes. | | | | board, crosses herself and brings it close to her |
| The first blessed harvest was being sacrificed to | | | | face. Moistening the board with her tears, she |
| Goddess Anahit- patroness of fecundity and | | | | asks God that by means of the board, people |
| maternity. | | | | would be cured from disease. As the Apostles |
| The night before the ceremony pious people | | | | surround St. Mary, an indescribable light appears. |
| abided by their faith come to the church to sing | | | | The Son of God and the angels of heaven appear |
| religious songs and sleep inside the sacred walls. In | | | | in the room. Seeing Christ, St. Mary dies. |
| the early morning with the sunrise they were | | | | St. Bartholomew the Apostle was absent and did |
| getting ready for the celebration- animal sacrifices, | | | | not participate in the burial service of St. Mary. |
| sweets and infinite quantity of fruits accompanied | | | | Upon his return to Jerusalem, he wishes to see |
| by songs, dances and funny games. | | | | St. Mary for the last time. Per his request, the |
| During the grape blessing God is asked for | | | | Apostles open the tomb, yet they do not find the |
| benediction over the grape pits and people enjoy | | | | remains of St. Mary. According to His promise, |
| the fruits of it to be mentally and physically | | | | Jesus Christ had delivered His mother to His |
| healthy and worthy of atonement. | | | | heavenly kingdom. The Apostles give the board |
| God is asked to bless people who bring the grape | | | | of St. Mary to St. Bartholomew for consolation. |
| as well. | | | | According to Moses of Khoren, St. Bartholomew |
| On the Feast of the Assumption of St. Mary, the | | | | brings the board to Armenia. It is kept in the |
| Ceremony of the Blessing of the Grapes is | | | | Province of Andzav, in a location called Darbnots. |
| conducted, and the harvest for the entire year is | | | | Years later, a church is built there in honor of St. |
| blessed on that day. | | | | Mary, and a convent is opened. |
| Grapes do have a certain Christian symbolic | | | | The symbol of this festivity is the idea of |
| significance, but for our ancestors it was a symbol | | | | maternity full of faith, love and hope. |
| of labor and recreation. Through the blessing, | | | | On coming Monday after the blessing of grapes |
| grape got divine significance. Our clergymen had | | | | we commemorate all dead. |
| chosen grape for benediction since Christ blessed | | | | After the ceremony you could experience an |
| the wine made from grapes and gave it to his | | | | unforgettable instants of your lifetime filling up the |
| disciples as a symbol of his vital blood. Thus work, | | | | baskets with grapes and drive to a cellar, where |
| pleasure and worship were all brought together in | | | | you could mix the blessed grapes with those in |
| this ceremony. The same blessed grape would | | | | barrel, see and take part in wine making process |
| become blessed wine, and from that very grape | | | | pressing the grapes in the old fashioned way, bare |
| people preserved a bit for the next year grape | | | | feet. |