On the pictures below you can see the famous Vine of St Simeon, which has grown out of the side of the church, where St. Simeon’s former resting place is, and born fruit for the last 800 years. In the words of a Serbian website:
“A vine sprouted from St. Simeon’s (Stefan Nemanja’s) tomb. It still yields fruit after 800 years. Barren women become mothers after they have tasted the grapes from the vine. This miraculous vine has brought luck to many childless married couples who now have their posterity. One can become acquainted with the contents of a great number of letters sent to the monastery by the thankful parents who consumed grapes from Nemanja’s vine.”
The monks also make wine using a few of the grapes from the vine and give the wine as a blessing to visitors, especially those who have experienced a miracle through St Simeon’s intercessions”.
Chilandar 1924 – the vine of St. Simeon
Chilandar 1988
Chilandar April 1997
Chilandar- the vine of St. Simeon September 2013
Detail of the carefully packed grapes
Wim,27/8
Dear Mt Athos Weblog,
I recently received some of the holy grapes from this vine. I received instructions in Serbian Cyrillic about the process of prayer and fasting required when taking the grapes. Unfortunately I cannot read Cyrillic. Could someone who understands the prayers/fasting/abstinence requirements for this process perhaps reply and let me know what my wife and I must do to respect the traditions about these holy grapes so that we may take them properly and with due respect to the requirements. We are most grateful. Regards.
Dear Richard,
I do not have the instructions in English or another language. Maybe you can share the cyrillic text with us (take a picture and send it to me)?
Regards,
Wim
Dear Richard,
if you still need a translation of that text, post it here and I will translate it for you with great pleasure.
Greetings Richard,
A few years late, but do you know how to obtain these grapes and/or wine made from them? Google (and Google Translate) have not been helpful.