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Holy Trinity Armenian Church in Fresno to celebrate grapes blessing
August 10, 2013 - 16:46 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net -
Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church will celebrate one of its
oldest traditions -- the blessing of the grapes -- for the 100th time
Sunday, Aug 18, The Fresno Bee reports.
The downtown Fresno parish, which was established in 1900, held its
first grape blessing in the summer of 1913.
Special events for the 100th anniversary of the Traditional Blessing
of the Grapes and Festival are scheduled at California Armenian Home.
His Eminence Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, prelate of the Western
Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America in La Crescenta,
will celebrate Badarak divine liturgy at 10 am and the grape blessing
at 11:30. The festival is noon-5 pm, featuring traditional Armenian
food, music and dancing.
Menu items include shish kebab, chicken kebab and peda burgers. There
also will be a farmer's market with fresh Valley fruits as well as
baked goods.
The blessing of the grapes is a tradition dating to ancient Armenia at
the beginning of harvest in mid-August, marking a time of rebirth and
regeneration.
Priests went into the vineyards to conduct solemn ceremonies. They
carried a pair of clippers in their right hand and a cross in their
left hand. They asked God to bless the grapes and save the vineyards
from natural disaster. After the ceremony, parishioners exchanged best
wishes.
Levon Baladjanian, chairman of the Holy Trinity picnic committee, says
the grape blessing in Fresno captures an important part of Armenian
faith and culture.
"It's quite a tradition -- the blessing of the soil, the harvest, the
hope in praying for the success of the harvest," Baladjanian says.
"The grape was symbolic of the homeland. When Armenians came here in
the 1890s, a lot of them brought their agrarian life here and they
farmed grapes."
From: Baghdasarian
August 10, 2013 - 16:46 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net -
Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church will celebrate one of its
oldest traditions -- the blessing of the grapes -- for the 100th time
Sunday, Aug 18, The Fresno Bee reports.
The downtown Fresno parish, which was established in 1900, held its
first grape blessing in the summer of 1913.
Special events for the 100th anniversary of the Traditional Blessing
of the Grapes and Festival are scheduled at California Armenian Home.
His Eminence Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, prelate of the Western
Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America in La Crescenta,
will celebrate Badarak divine liturgy at 10 am and the grape blessing
at 11:30. The festival is noon-5 pm, featuring traditional Armenian
food, music and dancing.
Menu items include shish kebab, chicken kebab and peda burgers. There
also will be a farmer's market with fresh Valley fruits as well as
baked goods.
The blessing of the grapes is a tradition dating to ancient Armenia at
the beginning of harvest in mid-August, marking a time of rebirth and
regeneration.
Priests went into the vineyards to conduct solemn ceremonies. They
carried a pair of clippers in their right hand and a cross in their
left hand. They asked God to bless the grapes and save the vineyards
from natural disaster. After the ceremony, parishioners exchanged best
wishes.
Levon Baladjanian, chairman of the Holy Trinity picnic committee, says
the grape blessing in Fresno captures an important part of Armenian
faith and culture.
"It's quite a tradition -- the blessing of the soil, the harvest, the
hope in praying for the success of the harvest," Baladjanian says.
"The grape was symbolic of the homeland. When Armenians came here in
the 1890s, a lot of them brought their agrarian life here and they
farmed grapes."
From: Baghdasarian