Kissing a Preist's Hand

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Carlton1993

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How many of you kiss he hand of a preist when you meet him? I know that back in the old days this was the norm, but nowadays is looked upon as unusual. i kissed the hand of an elderly preist a few days ago and was asked…‘Are you English?’ I think this is a beautiful mark of respect and would like to see it brought back.
 
It should be up to the priest. Latin Rite priests, particularly thos ein the US, just aren’t as comfortable with it, nor are bishops in the US.
 
Recently, the bishop of the diocese of Dallas came to my parish in order to administer the sacrament of Confirmation to my son and many others. We had an opportunity to pose for pictures afterwards. Before approaching our bishop I asked my parish priest if it was still customary to kiss the ring, to which he replied positively. My sons and I then proceeded to take our pictures and all of us asked the bishop’s permission to kiss his ring and he graciously allowed us to do so. I sensed that he was charmed by the gesture. My sons made me very proud that evening there, in the company of one of the spiritual descendants of the apostles.

With respect to priests, I have this warning. On frequent occasions, I insisted on hugging my parish priest after Mass and on my way out. My priest does not have a problem with it, however, after attending Mass at a major North Texas Catholic university, I approached the celebrant with this same gesture in mind and was re-buffed rather rudely. He then insisted that I read the statement framed on one of the side tables. It detailed the diocese policy on sexual harrassment. To say that this was embarrassing and de-moralizing is just the beginning of it. I accepted the shame with as much dignity as possible, thanked the Lord for the persecution and went on my way. I have not since then approached this particular priest in the same fashion and now I think twice before giving my own parish priest a hug. It’s a shame what this ‘priest scandal’ has done to our clergy and to the laity. The effects of it are more than I realized. Please pray for the Church and most especially for our priests!
 
I have never seen this done in a social setting. However, I’ve done it many times in the past as a TLM altar server, such as when receiving and handing the biretta to the priest. I would feel awkward, however, with doing this outside of a liturical ceremony.
 
I would certainly like to see more of this. It is a beautiful expression of respect for the priesthood and an act of devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
 
Acolyte said:
Before approaching our bishop I asked my parish priest if it was still customary to kiss the ring, to which he replied positively. My sons and I then proceeded to take our pictures and all of us asked the bishop’s permission to kiss his ring and he graciously allowed us to do so. I sensed that he was charmed by the gesture. My sons made me very proud that evening there, in the company of one of the spiritual descendants of the apostles.
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You asked. That was important, and the polite thing to do. Some people are just not kissy-huggy, and some people might look upon the gesture as “Old World” and not egaltarian, no matter how respectful it is meant to be.
 
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In the Eastern Church, we were always taught to kiss the priest’s hand, not only upon initial meeting, but everytime we came in contact with him. I have changed over to the Latin Church, and where I attend, this is not the tradition.
 
Grace and Peace,

I do this every time I meet my Priest or other Priests who visit and I am primarily a Parishioners of an NO Parish. 🤷

Peace and God Bless.
 
sisterbell said:
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In the Eastern Church, we were always taught to kiss the priest’s hand, not only upon initial meeting, but everytime we came in contact with him. I have changed over to the Latin Church, and where I attend, this is not the tradition.
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This is more common in central and southern Europe. One priest I know was in Italy and while walking down one street people would be kissing his hand and asking for blessings- on the next street someone spit on him.
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Caesar said:
This is more common in central and southern Europe. One priest I know was in Italy and while walking down one street people would be kissing his hand and asking for blessings- on the next street someone spit on him.
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A little personal physical space may be a good thing for our priests. We can show our respect in other ways than kissing in hugging them. We can alway put more in the collection basket. 🙂
 
I think it should be a spontaneous gesture in the instance of a priest, not a prescribed one. I’ve often kissed the hands of my confessors. I think it should be the norm when we greet bishops.
 
I never tried that gesture but what I usually do is take his hand and place it on my forehead, this is a way from my culture to show respect to the elderly, parents, relatives (Uncles, Aunties…), and in this case to the priests.

Pax
 
In the east we kiss his hand and often touch our foreheads to it.

I think this is a good explantion I found on the web:

Firstly, when we venerate the hand of the Priest we do not venerate the Priest; rather we are venerating the hand of Christ Himself; this is the blessing of the Priesthood. When a Priest performs any Sacrament it is not done by the power or authority of the man who is Priest, but by the hand and authority of Christ; when the Priest blesses you, it is not him, but the hand of Christ that has blessed; when the Priest absolves your sins, it is not the Priest, but Christ who has absolved; in like manner when we kiss the hand of a Priest, it is not the hand of a mere man that we have kissed, but the Hand of Christ. This being the case we should never refrain from venerating the hand of Christ through the hand of a Priest, nor should we refrain from venerating the Cross or any other Holy thing.
 
Carlton1993 said:
How many of you kiss he hand of a preist when you meet him? I know that back in the old days this was the norm, but nowadays is looked upon as unusual. i kissed the hand of an elderly preist a few days ago and was asked…‘Are you English?’ I think this is a beautiful mark of respect and would like to see it brought back.
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i don’t kiss the hands of priests at all. doesn’t seem appropriate to me to do so.
 
TraditionalCath said:
i don’t kiss the hands of priests at all. doesn’t seem appropriate to me to do so.
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Agreed. It is not a requirement of the Church. One need not kneel and kiss (or just kiss the hand) of a priest in order to show respect for him or to show love and worship of GOD. Kissing rings of precious metal (gold) maybe, for some, mistaken as a sign of worship.
Safest: Worship GOD and GOD alone.
 
I like the tradition and I practice it as often as the priest or bishop accepts the gesture. I think it is a restoration of a very important principle. The Church is the Kingdom of God on earth and as often as we can show respect for the Church the better.

CDL
 
I would certainly like to see more of this. It is a beautiful expression of respect for the priesthood and an act of devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
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to be mores respectful of priests i think calling them by there last name is better. I dont like it when i see some people just address them as Chip, or Mark, without even saying Father. I prefer to call them Father Smith, Father Johnson instead of father joe, or father chip. When i hope some day to meet Jesus I dont think i will say “Hey, Jeez” but, “my Lord and my God”.
 
I think it is an absolutely beautiful gesture. The Norbertine Canonesses in Tehachapi, California send out a newsletter. In one of the issues there is pictures of the sisters, one by one, kneeling down before the priest and kissing his hands.

They wrote, “After Fr. _______’s thanksgiving Mass celebrated here at the Bethlehem Priory, we have the privilege of venerating his anointed hands used to consecrate and to bless, and which daily touch the Sacred Body of Christ.”

When I saw the pictures and read this my heart melted at the beauty of it all. I remember reading about St Francis: “When someone told him of a priest living openly with a woman and asked him if that meant the Mass was polluted, Francis went to the priest, knelt before him, and kissed his hands – because those hands had held God.”

I have never seen this done before at the local parishes here. I also have never done it. I would not wish the priest to feel uncomfortable, but what a privilege it would be to kiss his hands, the very hands that hold and consecrate the Body of Christ.
 
ThereCanBeOnly1 said:
Agreed. It is not a requirement of the Church. One need not kneel and kiss (or just kiss the hand) of a priest in order to show respect for him or to show love and worship of GOD. Kissing rings of precious metal (gold) maybe, for some, mistaken as a sign of worship.
Safest: Worship GOD and GOD alone.
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So may for example, kissing of icons and holy pictures, or the use of statues in worship. But we don’t sacrifice them! More important is to teach people why we do these things and how it is not substitute or detract from the worship of God. I can’t imagine how people would construe kissing of the hand as worship! Is it not common in some parts of Europe to kiss the hands of ladies or something ( or maybe I read too many story books 😉 😛 )

But then it’s more common for me because many people do it. Like when the priest distributed blessed bread to those whose feet he washed on Holy Thursday, almost all kissed his hand. Though priests from the West who are not used to this sometimes rub their hands on the side of the habit. A bit rude, though I think they do it unwittingly.

The ring is usually kissed only for a bishop- and partly because previously it used to have a relic of the Cross. As for the priests it is more common to kiss the hand which have been anointed.
 
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