www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall What kinds of wines are used in your parish?

I have gradually become aware that various parishes and/or jurisdictions use different wines for communion and the "wash", depending on whether or not the wash (zapifka?) is also part of their tradition.

. One OCA parish uses St. John Commandery wine for communion, but Gallo Port mixed with water for the wash.

. One Byzantine parish uses a white wine for communion, another uses a sweet Mogen David red at Vespers. Neither have the wash with the antidoron.

. I am also told that fortified wines, such as St. John Commandery, are not used by the Melkites.

All the sacred elements of communion have different names, depending on which tradition or jurisdiction is discussed.

Which wine does your parish use, and how does a given wine come to be the one preferred or required for use?

I still think Mavrodaphne of Patras is the finest communion wine available that I have tasted. Kretikos is also very good. Both of these are available usually at liqour stores that carry a decent supply of international wines.

Mavrodaphne is used quite frequently in Greece and Kretikos on Crete for liturgical purposes.

We use not only Mavrodaphne, but also Commanderia St. John, or Commanderia St. Nicholas when it can be found or donated. The last two are a bit pricey.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Great question!

In my parish we use something called "Port". It is a red Altar wine that I buy by the gallon at my almost local Catholic Church supply store. It is okay (not great, but okay), but I would love to improve the quality of our offering.

Here is another wine related question: Do Byz. Churches typically offer Red or White wine during liturgy? (I'm under the impression it should be red, but I don't know why I am under that impression. Several of my neighbours use white.)

Does it change or matter for Vespers?

I sure enjoy learning things here!

(I think I'll ask a similar question about what insence people use on another thread!)

Kadylo

At St. Georges Abouna is not able to use the altar wine he prefers anymore and I am not certain of what that is. However, I do know it is because the alcohol content is too high and is not allowed in the State of Alabama. So he now uses a Mogan David wine which is the closest he can find to it here in the state.

Only red is "canonical" in that the color is iconic of the blood of our Lord. White unfortunately is used in some places.

Since usually you want to use an open bottle of the red wine as soon as you can before it becomes vinegary, the same red wine is used often for Litya and zapivka after Communion.

Red is canonical, but there's an exception to every rule! Many of the Orthodox churches and monasteries in Transylvania use pale wine (and white communion cloths), locally produced, and more akin to a White Zinfandel than anything else. Go figure.

My favorite Communion wine was "Monastery Red," but sadly it's no longer available.

Dave

Red wine is certainly preferred by the "approved authors", both of the Western Church and of the Eastern Churches. White wine is not forbidden, and sometimes there are good reasons to use white wine (some priests find that red wine brings on migraine).
One does want a wine that is pure, natural grape wine. Mavrodaphne is excellent. Wines naturally vary from country to country (and from year to year), so one may wish to re-select each year, and be careful when traveling.
In some countries one can obtain "Mass wines" prepared, bottled and sold under ecclesiastical supervision. These are likely to be good, and they always include some lines of red wine.
Beware of so-called "fortified wines", into which extra alcohol and heaven only knows what else has been intruded. These are forbidden, and anyway they are utterly unsuitable.
Even worse, beware of what is billed as "non-alcoholic wine". It tastes as bad as it sounds.

Incognitus