“Wine to gladden the heart of men; oil to make his face shine.”
(Psalm 104:15)
Olive oil and wine are, have always been, staples of the Middle Eastern culture and are often depicted and referenced throughout Holy Scripture. Our Lord’s first miracle was changing water into wine to save and perpetuate the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee (John 2:1-11). The Good Samaritan poured wine and oil on the wounds of the man beaten by robbers (Luke 10:34). Jesus was anointed with perfumed oil by a woman prior to His Passion (Luke 7:37-38), and our Lord utilized wine as He instituted the Eucharistic meal Christians continue to celebrate and share to this day. Jesus even used olive orchards and vineyards as teaching points, analogies, and within His parables.
The Psalms readily speak of “wine and olive oil,” and many times as being paired together. At every wedding service the prayers of the Church include the verse, “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within the walls of your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.”
The analogy of a wife being like a fine, fruitful, luxuriant “vine” is rich with images of life. The grape vine produces grapes to be turned into wine, which is also a symbol of life. Furthermore, the fact that an abundance of fruit can come from a single vine is the symbol of the wife as a bearer of children and source of abundant joy. The walls allow us protection from all that is outside, support the roof that shelters us, and offer a boundary for the purpose of security.
Olive oil was the only fat that could be stored for the winter in ancient Israel, so it served many functions. It was an important food source, a medicine for closing and healing wounds, a kind of “make up” for brightening faces, a soothing emulsifier for dry skin scourged by the harsh arid conditions and blazing sun, and a source of fuel for lamps to light the evenings. Olive oil was also used ritualistically to anoint kings, priests, and prophets.
It takes many olives to produce olive oil, and there are several types of olive trees. A newly planted olive orchard is an archetypal image of hope, because it was a common tactic for conquering armies to decimate olive orchards to weaken their rivals; a kind of “scorched earth” policy. Due to this, olive trees would only be planted if peace was expected in the future, because it takes many years for olive trees to produce fruit. Therefore, when olive trees were planted, it was not necessarily labor for the planters, but for their children and future generations. In essence, they literally enjoyed fruits of their parents’ labor.
Thus, olive oil continues to be greatly valued, is produced with hard work, and is an elemental part of almost every aspect of life. What joy it is to have a wife like a fruitful vine and children like a newly planted olive orchard.
