“Lord Jesus Christ, You are the true vine, and Your Father is the vinedresser, and You called Your apostles the brunches”.
This prayer is
read when the vineyard is being planted. Vine, grape and wine are the most common
examples used in the Gospel parables. In Gospel, it symbolizes life, joy and
Christ. The words “wine” and “vine” are mentioned in Bible more than 250 times. Wine was always treaded in Christianity as a blessed creation. It can be
explained by the fact that Christianity spread in the regions where the
Greek-Roman Empire had been thrived earlier. People thought there that wine was not just one of the numerous products of farming activity, but it was also
connected with the veneration of Dionysius, the god of winemaking.
In the Old Testament,
wine plays a very important role too. Most often vineyards were compared with Israel. Noah planted a vineyard after the great flood ended. During the
exodus, God promised the Jews to bless their bread, wine and water, i.e.
everything what was necessary for living. At that time, the climate and the
soil of Palestine contributed to the development of vineyards and winemaking.
King David
often praised the product of winemaking: “And wine that maketh glad the heart
of man” (Psalm 104:15) or “Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the
time that their corn and their wine increased” (Psalm 4:7). David thought that
wine was one of the most important food elements for a person. Wine softens a
person’s heart, which is the center of all feelings.
Since ancient
times, religious traditions and wine coexist harmoniously in Christianity.
Christ began to reveal His miracles turning water into wine at the marriage at
the Cana of Galilee. The evangelists provided us with precious information about
wine, when they described this miracle. They say it is the drink of joy and
happiness.
Wine gains the true
mysterious meaning during the Last Supper, when Christ gave His disciples the cup
and said: “This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye
drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:25). Thus, wine and bread
become the Divine gifts during the Eucharist.
The blessed
product of winemaking could not stay outside the walls of the Athonite
monasteries. Nama is a sweet red wine traditionally used in Greek Orthodox
Churches for the sacrament of the Holy Communion. This type of wine is usually
made of black grapes dried in the sun.
Preparing wine
for the Holy Communion is not the natural reason why monks have begun to deal
with winegrowing. Wine is an important food additive for monks, whose daily
ration is poor in calories because they do not receive any animal proteins and rely on their nutrition mostly from plant food. Monasteries host many pilgrims who are also
offered wine twice a day during the meal excerpt from the fast days.
Moreover, many
workers live on Athos, who help monasteries with the household work. Monasteries
at their turn should provide them with wine and rakia. Guests are also offered
rakia when they arrive to the guesthouse of any monastery on Athos. This
traditional Athonite treat is served with coffee and lokum. Fathers said that a
glass of rakia prevents you from breaking a sweat, while the sugar of lokum diminishes
the sense of fatigue. The thing is that earlier there were no cars on the Holy
Mount and monks and pilgrims had to make great distances on foot.
What is more,
monks knew the healing qualities of wine. Monastic manuscripts contain numerous
recipes of different medications, which were based from wine. Besides, according
to the recipe found in the manuscript dated back to the 17th century, grapes
were used for making ink.
In the very
beginning of the 10th century, the founders of the monasteries knew a lot about
the beneficial qualities of grapes and organized vineyards to have their own
products of winemaking. Wine was not only a Divine gift for the monastic
society but also an exchange unit that helped monasteries to provide themselves
with what they needed and to cover other costs.
Archimandrite
Emilian, the abbot of the monastery of St. Peter, said: “Prayer warms the
hearts of monks”. We can say also that wine warms the body of a monk. It
becomes his relief and break from his daily hard physical and mental labor.
Source: http://dishupravoslaviem.ru/vino-v-xristianstve/#more-8201
CONVERSATION