In the Orthodox church, the practice of veneration (kissing) is quite prevalent. We kiss the icons in the church when we enter. We kiss the candle before we light it and commemorate names. We kiss the relics of the the saints to receive the blessing of the Lord through them. We also kiss the hand of the priest.
When you greet a priest in the Orthodox Church, it is commonly accepted to ask for the blessing of the priest. You will approach the priest, position your hands right over left, and say: “Father Bless”. The priest will bless you and place his hand over your hands and will say: “The blessing of the Lord.” In the USA, where everyone is a big parish family, and sees each other regularly, this gesture is not always practiced. However, it is good that we learn how to take a blessing from the priest and allow ourselves to be exposed to this Orthodox practice. We should know that when we get the blessing from the priest, it is not the priest who blesses us, but the Lord Himself through the priest.
Similarly, when you receive bread at the end of the divine liturgy, when the priest gives you bread, you venerate their hand. The same applies to after kissing the cross, or after being anointed. This is not the act of you being thankful to the priest, but the act of you thanking the Lord that He offered the gift of bread through His servant priest. As always, the veneration of the priest’s hand is the veneration of the hand of the Lord.
When approaching hierarchs in the Orthodox Church, you will position your hand the same way you do when you ask for a priest’s blessing, but will say the following:
1. When you approach a Patriarch, you will say, “Your Holiness, bless.”
2. When you approach a bishop/metropolitan, you will say “Master bless”
3. As a side note, we do not take the blessing from deacons, given that they do not have the blessing through ordination to consecrate gifts or give a blessing to the people. Their role is as a helper to the priest.
Although we may not have been taught to seek the priest’s blessing, it is a good practice to start doing so. This shows our maturity as Orthodox Christians, as well as our knowledge of the Orthodox ethos, and the respect for the position that our spiritual father takes within the parish. Whether a priest is young or old has nothing to do with this practice. The service of the priesthood is 2000 years old and more than that, so the respect given to the priest is ultimately given to the Lord who instituted this sacred service. In the old country, in many Churches, people would even stay after liturgy to wait for the priest to come out to get his blessing, given that he just consecrated the gifts and the grace that ran through him is still “fresh”. This is not to say that we should all do this, but we ought to show our reverence for the grace that is being given to us through our priests. In the words of our people:
“YOU ALWAYS VENERATE THE HAND WHICH BLESSES”