Question
When and by whom was established a custom to kiss a blessing hand of a priest?
Answer:
In Biblical times kissing was a normal form of greeting, especially kissing of a hand. To do that you had to bent to the other man’s hand, kiss it and rub it across your forehead. Kissing as a form of love and respect was accepted by the early Christians as well: «Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss» (1 Thes.
Kissing of priest’s hand when he holds a cross or blesses you, on the contrary to a simple greeting, carries a deep spiritual meaning. When receiving grace from God through a cross or blessing of a priest, we kiss the invisible hand of God, which gives us this grace. Because when priest blesses us, he form the Greek letters IC XC, that is, Jesus Christ, with the fingers of his hand. Therefore we must receive the blessing of clergy with reverence.
At the same time the one kissing priest’s hand shows respect to his holy order. Bishop Nikolay Velimirovich wrote about that to one layman: «You used to gladly kiss a blessing hand of the last priest, but now you feel awkward to kiss a hand of a priest, who is much younger than you. Have you ever heard about prince Milosh and a young priest? This is the story: one young priest was serving liturgy in one town at the presence of prince Milosh. The old prince was very pious, used to come to the church long before the service, stand on the same spot until the end of a service and pray unceasingly. When the service was over, the young priest came out of the Altar with a cross and Antidoron. The Price came to kiss the cross and partake Antidoron and kiss a hand of the priest. But the young man pulled his hand away, as if being ashamed that an elderly man, Prince, wanted to kiss his hand. Prince Milosh looked at him and said: “Let me kiss your hand, because I won’t be kissing your hand, but the Holy order of priesthood, which is older than you and me!” I
think this explains everything. The old Prince said the words of the Holy Spirit Himself. Think yourself. If your priest is 25 y.o., then his order is 1900 y.o.. And when you kiss his hand, you kiss the order of priesthood, which came down from Apostles to the multitude of Altar servers. And when you kiss a Holy order of priesthood, you kiss all the saints and Holy Fathers of the church, who bear this order starting from the times of the Apostles until now. Kissing of a priest’s hand is not a regular kissing, but according to Apostle Paul, Holy kissing (1 Cor.
Categories: Orthodoxy in Questions and Answers
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