In October, on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, it’s not uncommon to find churches blessing animals. At the start of fox hunting season, people routinely celebrate the blessing of the hounds. So it shouldn’t seem all that unusual that, in wine-growing country, they mark the harvest with the blessing of grapes, celebrated by Trappist monks:

New Clairvaux Vineyard conducted a blessing of the grapes in the Abbey’s St. James vineyard in Vina (California) on Friday. Father Anthony Bellasorte and Abbot Thomas X. Davis … were joined by about 25 monks. This type of celebration goes back more than 800 years to the seventh century in St. Benedict’s Monastery at Monte Casino, Italy.

Meantime, in another corner of wine country, the legendary Napa Valley, a deacon took part in the blessing, as the local paper reported in the caption for the picture on the left:

Deacon Bob Little from the St. Helena Catholic Church blesses the grapes and the winery’s winemaking team, and the cellar, vineyard and visitor center staffs to mark the start of harvest.

“I think this year looks incredible,” says Joel Aiken, the vice president of winemaking. The Blessing of the Grapes at Beaulieu Winery nearly dates back to Prohibiton days when they made wine for the Catholic Church.

Photo: by Lianne Milton, Napa Valley Register