Kissing Priests' Hands (and Bishops' Rings)

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EcceAgnusDei said:
How many of you follow the tradition of kissing priests’ consecrated hands? I’ve always done this with traditional priests and have recently started to do it with all priests. Sometimes non-traditional priests don’t know want to make of it (at least, I can tell by their expression, but they haven’t said anything). I think it is an excellent way to honor their priesthood and to remind both of us that they are ontologically different from the laity. What have your experiences been?

How about kissing the ring of the Bishop? And genuflecting on the left knee. I haven’t personally done this with my Bishop yet because I haven’t had the opportunity since I became Catholic. I have a feeling he wouldn’t like it, though. Your experiences?
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My family follow the tradition of kissing the Bishop’s rings. I cannot genuflect now because old bones make it rather difficult and reserve genuflection in front of the Holy Eucharist. Better stuck in front of Jesus than by the Bishop’s shoes, I reckon.

I kiss rather than shake hands with a priest as a form of greeting and to give reverence due their priesthood. We occasionally invite Bishops and priests to dinner and it is only those who are new to the Deanery and Diocese who blush. We had 19 priests and 1 Bishop last week for a meal and all that bowing and kissing made me a bit giddy. 🙂
 
I recently had a debate with a friend on which knee to use when genuflecting to kiss the ring of the Diocesan Bishop. Does anyone have anything (espeacilly documentation) that defends the use of the left knee instead of the right?
 
theyoungmonk said:
I recently had a debate with a friend on which knee to use when genuflecting to kiss the ring of the Diocesan Bishop. Does anyone have anything (espeacilly documentation) that defends the use of the left knee instead of the right?
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I imagine there is no documentation on such a mundane matter, since it is not a liturgical or official action. However, the force of tradition dictates that genuflections of the right knee are reserved for the Eucharist, while genuflections of the left knee are appropriate for bishops, kings, dignitaries, etc.
 
theyoungmonk said:
I recently had a debate with a friend on which knee to use when genuflecting to kiss the ring of the Diocesan Bishop. Does anyone have anything (espeacilly documentation) that defends the use of the left knee instead of the right?
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I don’t really have anything concrete on the matter, but I only genuflect on my right knee for God. For any other reason I would be genuflecting I use my left knee. I think it is a matter of personal preference and reserving how you show reverence to whom.
 
In India, some Catholics will follow the age-old custom of “pranāma” which is the showing of deep respect by touching the feet of another.
 
I don’t remember seeing anyone do this when the Bishop and Bishop Emeritus came.

But then again, I didn’t stay for the reception after. To be honest, I felt a little sympathy for both Bishops after Mass. The congregation turned into vultures after Mass and pecked away. But I suppose they are very much use to that.

I think his Secretary wanted to say: “relax - you all can get a picture.” 😛

I’ve only seen our parish’s Filipino members kiss the priest’s hands.
 
I usually kiss the ring of our bishop. On Holy Thursday, I kissed the hands of each of our parish priests and thanked them for the sacrifice they made to be our priests. They seemed to be touched by the gesture, but I can’t say for certain.

In our parish, our Filipino people regularly take the priests’ hands, bow slightly and raise them to their foreheads (the foreheads of the parishoners) in a gesture of respect. I assume it is a tradition of their homeland, as I’ve seen godparents honored by their godchildren in the same way.
 
theyoungmonk said:
I recently had a debate with a friend on which knee to use when genuflecting to kiss the ring of the Diocesan Bishop. Does anyone have anything (espeacilly documentation) that defends the use of the left knee instead of the right?
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fisheaters.com/addressingclergy.html

“Stand when he enters the room and remain standing until he invites you to sit. Men must remove their hats in his presence. When it is your own Bishop, kneel on your left knee and kiss ring as sign of respect for his office. If kneeling would be awkward or impossible, or if he is not your own Bishop, bow at the waist and kiss his ring (do not do either if the Pope is present). Repeat reverential gestures when leaving his presence.”
 
I kiss the priests hands when I greet him… But this was a traditionalist priest, and he was very delighted… But my paris priest… welll… I did i before… but now he greets me with a fist-bump… So i get the message, and another priest once just mumble something and laugh in an embarrassed way…

For the Bishop… well if I meet him I would
 
In our parish, we also kiss the priest’s hand when taking something from him in ceremony (outside of Mass).

For instance, when the children make their First Holy Communion, they are also invested in the brown scapular at the conclusion of Mass. Before receiving the scapular from the priest, they kiss his hand.

The same is followed when receiving the blessed palm from the hand of the priest on Palm Sunday.

Also, a practice that has fallen out of use is kissing the hand of the Bishop if he is distributing Holy Communion to you.
 
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