by Priest Marco Mannino-Giorgi
On the day of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we see the priest bless the grapes and
distribute them to the people of God. But where does this practice originate?
The blessing of fruit on the day of the Transfiguration (grapes, but also figs, plums, apples, and all
seasonal fruits) has very ancient origins, going back simply to the offering of the tithe by rural
populations to the Church. As we know, at the beginning of each of the four seasonal harvests, the
so-called firstfruits—the first fruits gathered—were offered to the Church so that they might be
redistributed among the poor. The practice of tithing (which may be monetary or in kind) is a
biblical institution dating back to the time of the Old Law (cf. Genesis 4:2–4, Numbers 15:19–21,
Deuteronomy 8:10–14), and Christians maintained the practice of tithing for the upkeep of the new
temples of the Lord, the Christian churches.
Fruit was part of a whole range of goods and products, such as honey, wine, bread, wax, candles,
oil, and incense, which arrived at churches at regular intervals. Canons 37 and 44 of the Council of
Carthage, for example, prohibit mixing the products intended for worship (incense, candles, wine,
bread) with those intended for the needs of the poor and for agape meals. Among the Apostolic
Canons there is also a prohibition against bringing “peacocks and birds” to the holy altar… This
probably means that some converts, still mentally attached to pagan customs, had offered to the
Church what they considered to be a precious gift.
Reaffirming the decision of the local Synod of Carthage, Canon 28 of the Quinisext Council in
Trullo states that “mixing Eucharistic wine with grape juice for the seasonal offering is
disrespectful.” It appears, in fact, that grapes and their juice were being given at the same time as
Communion during the feast of the Transfiguration… The Holy Fathers of the Council decided once
and for all to put an end to this practice, which was considered disrespectful toward the Eucharist.
From the seventh century onward, there is evidence of the custom whereby the Byzantine Emperor
would meet the Patriarch at Chalcedon, home to famous imperial vineyards, in order to personally
offer him grapes from his own lands. In the Book of Ceremonies of the Emperor Constantine VII
Porphyrogenitus (+959), a complex protocol is recorded for “the offering of the royal firstfruits to
the Patriarch,” which concluded with a meal after the Divine Liturgy and an exchange of fruit
among the officers of the Guard, the clergy, the Emperor, and the Patriarch.
However, the earliest Typika of the Church are not unanimous in prescribing the blessing of fruit on
the day of the Transfiguration. For example, the influential Typikon of the Italo-Greek monastery of
Casole (12th century), whose Rule was even taken into consideration overseas, moves the blessing
of fruit to the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. Below we reproduce the priestly prayer for
the blessing of the firstfruits:
O Lord our God, You have commanded us to offer You the firstfruits of what is Yours, as You
commanded in the Old Law, in exchange for Your heavenly gifts: therefore accept these first fruits
of human labor, the offering of Your servants according to their means. Accept, O Good One, the
firstfruits of Your servants, which are offered to You today as the first fruits of their harvests, and
send us in return Your heavenly treasure. Grant to us all the abundance of Your blessings and
material and spiritual riches, so that we may acknowledge Your lordship over all things and glorify
You as the good and philanthropic God; for Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Why offer fruit—or anything else—to the Church nowadays? Beyond the charitable use that may be made of it, by distributing it among poor families, we give thanks to God for the spiritual and material blessings He has granted us: because He has enabled us to produce food or given us enough money to purchase it, and thus to glorify Him as the Benefactor of our lives. Offering God the first products of our labor is a genuine living prayer, a form of prayer expressed through action.
We give glory to God as Creator and Artist, magnifying His creation and bowing before the
perfection of the natural cycles and the seasons.