Reverence and Participation
Why do people kiss the priest’s hand?
People kiss the priest's hand because those hands bless, absolve, anoint, and handle the holy mysteries. The gesture honors the priesthood of Christ working through the ordained servant, not the man's private personality.
Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Why The Hand Specifically
In parish life, people often ask Abouna for a blessing by kissing his hand or by receiving the hand-cross. The hand is associated with blessing and sacramental service. This is especially meaningful in a Church where the priest serves the Eucharist and offers absolution.
The Main Point About Kissing the Priest's Hand
The gesture should teach humility and reverence. It should never be used to flatter clergy or make anyone feel inferior. The honor belongs to Christ and to the priestly ministry He entrusted to the Church.
If the gesture is unfamiliar, you can greet Abouna respectfully and ask for a blessing. Understanding the meaning matters more than copying the custom quickly.
The practice is strongest when it keeps the focus on blessing. The faithful are not honoring private status; they are honoring the priestly service through which Christ gives absolution, anointing, teaching, and Eucharistic care.
That is why the custom belongs with humility, fatherhood, and sacramental service.
- Why Do We Kiss a Priest's Hand?, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States Q&A. Pastoral answer on honoring the priesthood and asking for blessing by kissing the priest's hand.
- Ranks of Clergymen, SUSCopts Deacons. Overview of bishops, priests, and deacons within the ordained service of the Church.
- The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Catechetical lecture on the Eucharist as true communion in the Body and Blood of Christ.
Mysteries: The Orthodox name for the sacraments, calling attention to God's grace given through visible rites such as Baptism, Chrismation, Confession, and the Eucharist.
Abouna: A common Coptic way to address a priest, meaning our father, because priestly service is pastoral and fatherly within the life of the Church.
Eucharist: A Greek word meaning thanksgiving. In Orthodox worship it names the sacrament in which bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ.
Absolution: The priestly prayer of forgiveness and release, prayed by the authority Christ gave His Church for repentance and reconciliation.