Blessing the grape

The grape season is open as of yesterday. Today is the day for blessing the grape. Today is the day dedicated to St. Mary, generally known as the Feast of Virgin Mary, (Meryem Ana Yortusu in Turkish), in Anatolia, it is also the day to celebrate the start of the grape season. The feast is celebrated by many churches on Aug. 15, while the Armenian Church celebrates it on the Sunday closest to Aug. 15.

The Feast of the Virgin Mary is a religious celebration. As the mother of Jesus Christ, St. Mary is one of the most important people in the Bible, but her importance in Anatolian culture is not confined to Christian communities only. St. Mary, respectfully called Meryem Ana (Mother Mary), is mentioned in the Quran even more often than in the Bible and is considered the most important woman ever lived in the history of mankind. The St. Mary House (Meryem Ana Evi) in Selçuk, Kuşadası is not only frequented by tourists but also by locals to pay respect in the hope of her miracles. The date Aug. 15 marks the day of the passing of the Virgin Mary to eternity, her ascend to the sky, in other words, her body taken to heaven, and also the blessing of grapes.

The consecration of grapes is an important tradition, and the overwhelming majority of the Armenian community abstains from eating grapes until the grapes are consecrated in church. Grape eaten before that date does not lead to sin, nor does the Church speaks of such a sanction, but it is a long-going tradition that is identified with Anatolian Armenian identity, unique to itself. It is not only the Armenians that abstain from grapes before a certain date. For Anatolian Greeks, today is the second most important feast day after Easter, called Koimisi tis Tehotokou, joyously celebrated at the Panaghia, Virgin Mary church in Büyükada, aka Prinkipo. However, for the Greeks, the first taste of the grape was a week before, on Aug. 6, Hristos Day, the day when Greeks bless the grape. In the old days, the church on Hristos Hill at Burgazada was always crowded with visitors, priests and bellboys would walk up to the hill with donkeys loaded with baskets of grapes to be blessed and distributed at church.

Though abstaining from grapes is not enforced by religion, it has its logic when one thinks of viticulture. Grape only starts to become fully mature by mid-August, and only reaches its sugar content to be turned into anything from grape molasses to wine. The grape has always been of pivotal importance in Anatolian economy and sustenance. It is not only important as fruit or wine, but the fruit itself is a source of winter provision providing sweetness in the form of dried sultanas and dark grapes of all kinds, as molasses, or fruit leather, or dried grape juice-based sweet meats and nibbles. Every single grape berry is turned into either a drink in the form of wine, rakı and şıra or a food item boosted with energy and power. During the cold winter months, grape molasses is an alternative sugar source, and especially in the past, when sugar was not available, it was the only source o energy besides honey. The same is true for dried grapes and molasses-based sweetmeats; they used to be the quick power snacks once upon a time. So, it is about protecting the vineyards before the harvest season begins, otherwise, most of the grapes could end up on tables, therefore the yield would be much less, and so would be all the crucial products that come from the vineyard.

As a fruit, the grape is one of the most popular fruits in Anatolia, and abstaining from eating it also requires good stamina to control the appetite, and of course sins like greed and gluttony. Eating a grape may not be a sin according to religion, but not being able to control such sins might be considered as sinful. Most people choose to follow these traditions, sometimes regardless of religion, just to be on the safe side, after all, Mary is considered the ultimate mother, the most important woman ever to exist. The important thing here is to be grateful for the abundance and abundance that nature offers us. The core idea is to realize that the meaning of this day is associated with more important values than the grape itself. Another important note is that the grapes blessed in the church are distributed after the Sunday mass, and shared by the visitors, again regardless of religion. Whoever believes in traditions can participate, and get a share of a bunch of a blessed grape. The consecration of grapes is a lesson to be thankful for the bounty of nature and to show gratitude by offering it to the Virgin Mary on the day dedicated to her and of course to Mother Nature.