We find ourselves in the days of the afterfeast of the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor. Following the hymnography, together with the Church’s poet we magnify the Lord and His love, which He revealed in the sacred event of His wondrous Transfiguration.
Six days before the event of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, our Lord Jesus Christ foretold to His disciples that He would suffer at the hands of the elders and the chief priests, that He would be crucified, but also that on the third day He would rise again (Matt. 16:21). The Lord also revealed to His disciples that He would come again in glory, “with His angels, and then He will repay each according to what he has done” (Matt. 16:27).
Christ took Peter, James, and John up onto a high mountain. Interestingly, the Evangelist does not mention the name of this lofty mountain; however, sanctified Tradition bears witness through the centuries that the event of Christ’s Transfiguration took place on Mount Tabor in Lower Galilee.
On Mount Tabor, which rises to 588 meters, Christ first offered prayer, during which the Transfiguration occurred: Christ revealed Himself as perfect God and perfect Man—that is, as the God-Man. Just as at the Jordan at the Baptism of the Lord, so too in the event of the Transfiguration, the Holy Trinity is present—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Transfiguration is thus a new theophany, a new manifestation of God.
As the Evangelist testifies, together with Christ appeared Moses and Elijah, witnesses of the Law and the Prophets. Moses symbolizes human nature, since he died and was buried; Elijah, who was taken up into heaven, signifies immortality and the divine nature. They bear witness that Christ is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, the awaited Messiah who is at the same time the God-Man. In the persons of the three apostles whom the Lord took up onto Tabor, there is also a profound message: in the Apostle Peter is revealed faith, in the Apostle James hope, and in the Apostle John love. These three apostles would later, not by chance, be called the “pillars of the Church” (Gal. 2:9).
In celebrating the glorious Transfiguration of Christ, we also celebrate our own future transfiguration, which will take place in eternity. In our noble striving toward this glorious transfiguration, it is necessary to remind ourselves daily that man consists of both body and soul, and that our bodily and external transformation must be preceded by an inner transformation—that is, the transformation of the soul. The Lord, who was transfigured before His disciples, will also transfigure our soul and make us capable of beholding this divine light, and of becoming partakers of it—partakers of the Kingdom of Heaven, in which we will rejoice together with Elijah, Moses, and the apostles James, Peter, and John. This divine light of Tabor is our future; this wondrous, all-pervading light is that towards which we journey together with Christ.
On the Blessing of the Fruits of the Vine (Grapes) at the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
According to our liturgical practice, this rite is performed at the festive Liturgy after the prayer behind the ambo. Following the troparion and kontakion of the feast, the presbyter reads the prayer for the blessing and sanctification of the fruits of the vine—grapes—and thrice sprinkles them with holy water. Where grapes are not available, the Typikon notes that apples or other fruits may be blessed instead. In such cases, however, the prayer for the blessing of grapes is not read; rather, the prayer for the blessing and sanctification of the first fruits is used instead.
After the dismissal of the Liturgy, the blessed grapes are distributed together with the antidoron to the faithful as a blessing. It is important to note that this blessing and sanctification of grapes is not performed with the “Theophany water,” but with water that is consecrated immediately beforehand according to the rite of the Lesser Blessing of Waters.
In the Typikon of Romanos we encounter the following note regarding the blessing and sanctification of grapes: “We have received from the holy fathers the command that on this saving feast of the Transfiguration we are to eat grapes, which the presbyter blesses and distributes as a blessing after the antidoron. Whoever among the brethren should transgress this command and eat grapes before the Transfiguration is forbidden to eat grapes for the whole month of August, because he has transgressed the command, and in order that he may learn to respect the command. This applies also to all monks who cultivate vineyards. After this feast, grapes are to be placed on the brethren’s table three times a week: on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The same practice applies to figs and other fruits when their time comes for eating. The brethren are always to be forgiven! According to some older Typika, grapes are blessed and begin to be eaten only at the Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.”
Prayer for the Blessing of the Fruits of the Vine at the Transfiguration
O God, our God, You willed that Your Only-Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, be called the True Vine, and by the grace of Your Spirit You have made His fruit to be the cause of immortality. Bless now also, O Lord, this fruit of the vineyard, and grant sanctification and the strengthening of soul together with bodily health to all who partake of it. By Your grace preserve our life in peace, adorning our souls with Your eternal gifts which cannot be taken away, and ever bestowing peace upon Your people. Bless, increase, and cause the vineyards of those who faithfully serve You to bring forth fruit in abundance, and fill their households with all Your earthly good things, that, having all sufficiency at all times, they may abound in every good work. By the grace, mercy, and love for mankind of Your Only-Begotten Son, with whom You are blessed, together with Your most holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
This text was published on the portal Kinonia, in the section “From the Editor’s Pen,” on August 21, 2025.
Written by: Catechist Branislav Ilić, editor of the portal Kinonia
