On August 18, the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) celebrated the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is the fourth of the five great feasts of AAC and the oldest of the seven feasts dedicated to the Mother of God. On this day, the church consecrates grapes.
According to legend, after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary lived in Jerusalem and visited the grave of her beloved son for 12 years. During one of the visits to the tomb of Jesus Christ, the angel Gabriel appeared to her and brought the good news of her meeting in heaven with her son. The Virgin Mary had reported the news to her family and to all Christians and bequeathed to be buried in Gethsemane. Shortly before the death of the Mother of God all the apostles gathered in her home. Holy Mary bequeathed to the apostle John to serve holy liturgy and to take the sacrament for the last time. While the liturgy took place, the apostle John gave the board to Virgin Mary and asked her to capture her image on it, so that people using this board were cured of their ailments. Then the apostles surrounded the bed of a dying Dame. Suddenly, the room began to shine a divine light, and Jesus Christ himself came down from heaven, surrounded by angels, and took his mother's soul. Her body was buried in the cave of the apostles, the entrance to which was closed by a large stone. The end of the earthly life of St. Mary is called the "Assumption", not death.
According to tradition, the Apostle Bartholomew, who was absent at the burial, having returned to Jerusalem, for the last time wanted to see the Mother of God. The apostles decided to open the entrance to the cave, so that he could bow to the body of the deceased. When they took away the stone, they saw an empty cave. The apostles, to console Bartholomew, gave him a board with Dame’s image on it. The first educator of Armenia brought the board to Armenia and placed it in a place called Darbnots (forge), where in the future, to honor the Virgin, a convent and church were founded.
After the liturgy, in the day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the church the rite of blessing of grapes brought by the parishioners is committed, and the harvest for the whole year is sanctified. In Armenia, it is assumed that the grapes can be eaten only after the consecration of the harvest.
The feast of the Assumption is rooted in pagan times; it inherited the characteristics of Navasard (Armenian New Year), during which the people expressed gratitude to the patron of fertility and motherhood, the goddess Anahit giving her bundles of wheat, symbolizing the beginning of the harvest. The feast of the Assumption, as well as Navasard, marks abundance and is celebrated during ripening grapes on Sunday which is the nearest to August 15.
During the period of paganism and Christianity, together with the rising of the sun, people prepared for the festival: they sacrificed animals, covered tables, where there were loads of fruit. All of this was accompanied by songs, dances and games. During the consecration people asked the God to bless the grape seed and make the berries bring people to mental and physical health and allow to atone for sins.
In ancient times, grapes were endowed with divine value. During the Christian period, Armenian Church has chosen grapes as the subject of blessing because Christ consecrated wine made of grapes and gave it to his disciples as a symbol of his blood. It was believed that the consecrated grapes turn into consecrated wine, and a small part of already consecrated grapes was stored until the next blessing ceremony as a symbol of wealth and abundance.
According to the Bible, Noah came out of the ark on Mt Ararat and planted a vine from the harvest of which he made wine.
According to scientists, the grapes have a certain Christian meaning, but for the ancient Armenians, they were a symbol of labor, wealth, prosperity, fertility, and joie de vivre. "This holiday was one of the most favorite holidays of the Armenian people and enjoyed the greatest popularity among farmers, as Armenians considered grapes the noblest of the fruit. The Lord’s Son is often compared with the vine. Over time, this holiday got a Christian coloring and was entrenched in the church calendar. The ceremony of consecration brought together notions of work, rest and divine praise. In regions of Armenia this holiday is also called Grape Easter (Musaler)”, anthropologist Samvel Mkrtchyan says.
Now grapes remain one of the most important elements of national symbols. It was depicted on the coat of arms of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, in relief of Armenian churches and on the famous cross-stones. Since independence, the Armenian national symbolism has acquired new elements, more attention has been paid to the interpretation of symbols and the attitude of ancient Armenians to them. And the symbolism is intertwined with the traditions, which, along with religion, language and culture, play an important role in preserving the national identity of a small nation.
