Receiving a Blessing from a Priest

A priest's blessing is not a religious pleasantry. When a priest blesses, the Church understands Christ Himself to be blessing through His minister — the same Lord who lifted up His hands over the disciples and blessed them (Luke 24:50). The Old Testament priests were commanded to put God's name upon the people in blessing (Numbers 6:24-27), and the Epistle to the Hebrews states the underlying logic in one line: "the less is blessed of the better" (Hebrews 7:7) — in the blessing, the "better" is never the priest, but the One he serves.

By widespread custom the priest forms his fingers, as in the blessing hand of many icons, into the letters IC XC — the first and last letters of "Jesus Christ" in Greek — so that the very hand spells out whose blessing it is. Blessings run through Orthodox life: services open with them, confession ends with one, journeys, meals, and undertakings are begun with them, and asking a blessing before a significant decision is a habit of Orthodox piety.

The custom is easy to learn. Approach the priest, cup your hands one over the other, right on top of left, palms up, and say, "Father, bless" (in Greek, Evlogison, Pater; in Slavonic practice, Blagoslovi). The priest answers with a blessing — often "The blessing of the Lord be upon you" or similar words — makes the sign of the cross over you, and places his hand in your cupped hands; you then kiss his hand. The kiss honors the hand that handles the Holy Gifts and gives you the Chalice.

The same greeting replaces the handshake when meeting or taking leave of a priest socially, and many Orthodox open letters, and even phone calls, with "Father, bless." Greeting a bishop, one says "Master, bless" (Despota in Greek practice, Vladyko in Slavic). Deacons, readers, and monks who are not priests are not asked for this blessing — the blessing belongs to the priesthood. If you are juggling coffee, a service book, and a toddler, a nod and a warm word offend no one; the custom is an invitation, not an examination. For who is who among the clergy, see clergy titles and forms of address.

In cultures where Orthodoxy is old, kissing the priest's hand is as unremarkable as shaking hands. In lands of newer Orthodox presence it can feel strange, and practice honestly varies: some converts and some parishes minimize the custom, and some priests, out of humility, withdraw the hand or simply clasp yours instead. None of this breaks any rule, and no thoughtful priest is offended by a newcomer's handshake.

The tradition's own explanation is worth hearing before deciding the custom is servile. The kiss is aimed past the man — at the priesthood of Christ, and at the Gifts that hand has held; priests themselves are taught to receive it that way, as a reminder of Whose hand theirs must represent. Understood so, the gesture humbles both parties at once: the layman bows to Christ, and the priest is reminded he is not Him.