Glendale News Press
August 9, 2007
Grapes blessed for hope

Ancient Armenian religious tradition of the harvest has roots in
teachings of the Old Testament.
By Ryan Vaillancourt

Varujan Tomassian was recovering from heart surgery at Glendale
Adventist Medical Center on Wednesday, but thanks to a special gift of
grapes brought by local clergy, the Glendale resident was all smiles.

Tomassian was the first patient at the center to receive a bundle of
the blessed fruit in connection with the ancient Armenian religious
tradition known as the Blessing of the Grapes.

The ritual, which stems from teachings in the Old Testament, is
traditionally celebrated on the second Sunday in August – harvest time
in Armenia, said the Most Rev. Muron Aznikian of the Western Prelacy
of the Armenian Apostolic Church in La Crescenta.

But for Glendale Adventist patients, many of whom expect to be in the
hospital on Sunday, the tradition was brought to their bedside on
Wednesday.

Tomassian may be out of the hospital by Sunday, but if doctors say he
needs more bed-rest, he will be at peace knowing that he didn’t miss
out on a cultural celebration that he grew up honoring, he said.

"I am one of the first ones to receive the grapes," said Tomassian,
who had been serving as a translator for the U.S. Army in Iraq when
one of his heart valves became infected in April. "Everyone waits to
Sunday, but not me, so I am happy."

The special delivery of the grapes to patients came after a half-hour
morning service in the hospital’s chapel.

Aznikian was joined by clergy from St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic
Church in Glendale, including the Rev. Ardak Demirjian, the
Rev. Gomidas Torossian, Deacon Raffi Keshishian and Deacon Herayr
Tejirian.

In their traditional black robes, the group led about 60 hospital
employees, patients and family in traditional songs and blessed large
baskets full of grapes in English and in Armenian.

Though grapes have evolved into the symbolic focus of the ceremony,
the blessing extends to all fruits of the earth, Aznikian said.

"Through the grape, we bless all vegetables and fruits of the gardens
and vineyards," he said.

The blessing also extends to the recipients of the grapes, including
hospital patient Simaugul Karapetyan.

Receiving the blessed grapes gave Karapetyan a sense of hope, she
said.

"If we accept that hope, we live through that hope," she said, through
a translator. "I feel more peaceful and a lightness in my spirit."

Glendale Adventist has been celebrating the Blessing of the Grapes for
more than a decade as a way to recognize the hospital’s vast Armenian
patient population, said Irena Aghassian, one of the center’s three
in-house chaplains.

Glendale Memorial Hospital is scheduled to celebrate the tradition at
2 p.m. today in the hospital’s main auditorium at 1420 S. Central
Ave. Archbishop Hovnan Derderian of the Armenian Western Diocese is
slated to preside over the service.

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