Johanneswein

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St. John and the chalice with the poisoned wine, depiction in the book of hours "De Gray Hours"

The blessing of Johannes wine (also in the spelling Johannis wine ) is one of the benedictions of the Catholic Church . "On the feast of St. John the apostle and evangelist , December 27th, before the service it is customary to consecrate the wine that the priest gives the believers in a chalice to drink after the mass on the epistle page ", so it was, for example, sufficient reported in 1678. The blessing of wine, always red wine, which can be performed by the celebrant in Holy Mass , is contained in the Benedictine . There it says about this sacramental : "St. John's wine reminds us of the commandment of innocent love, which this apostle especially preached".

history

In the Legenda aurea the work of John the Evangelist in Asia Minor is reported. There he did not want to sacrifice in the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus. Aristodemus, the high priest of the temple, wanted John to sacrifice, otherwise he would have to drink the poison from which two criminals had already died before his eyes. John struck the cross over the chalice, the poison escaped as a snake, he drank without dying. He also threw his cloak on the criminals and they came to life, whereupon Aristodemus was converted.

The old custom, also called Johannessegen or Johannesminne , has been widespread throughout Germany since around the 12th century. In the villages of the Rhineland it was common until the 1920s. A hand postille from 1906 says: “Why is wine blessed on this festival and offered to the faithful to drink? this happens

  1. so that all who drink of the blessed wine may be protected from all poisonous diseases and epidemics and may maintain the health of the body and the salvation of the soul and
  2. so that through the intercession of St. John, who has taken a poisoned drink out of love for God and neighbor, namely to convert an idolater, may be filled with the love of God and the neighbor with holy joy. That is why the priest can say the words when he is offering the wine of St. John: 'Drink the love of St. John in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.' "

Where the custom existed, churchgoers would bring a bottle or two of wine to the parish church on December 27th and have them blessed. Then the whole family drank it, often only at home. The St. John's blessing was a special event for the children. On this day, they were allowed to take a sip of red wine for the only time a year . Some of the wine was also stored so that it could be taken as medicine in cases of weakness and illness.

In 1668 the Nörvenich pastor Conradus Flocken had a silver drinking bowl made by a Cologne goldsmith, "for the greater convenience of those who drink the consecrated wine from it". This precious bowl is used in Nörvenich when giving communion .

The directorates of the Catholic dioceses in the German-speaking area indicate on December 27th the possibility of the blessing of Johanneswein, which the believers can drink at the communion bench or at the altar.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gustl Motyka: Old Upper Palatinate Customs: From New Year to New Year's Eve through the farming year . Regensburg, MZ Buchverlag, 2002 (4th edition), p. 148
  2. ↑ https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienJ/Johannes.htm
  3. ↑ Hans Preuss , Johannes in the Centuries. Gütersloh, Bertelsmann, 1929, pp. 40–43.