Forgotten Rubrics: Kissing the Hand of the Priest
Rubric: It was once customary for the faithful, upon greeting a priest, to kiss his anointed hand, in reverence for the sacred office of the priesthood and the mysteries entrusted to it.
In many places it has all but vanished, yet the gesture of kissing a priest’s hand once expressed something profound and unmistakably Catholic. It was never about the man himself, but about Christ, whose priesthood he shares and through whose hands the sacraments are given.
At ordination, the priest’s hands are anointed with sacred chrism. From that moment forward, they are no longer merely human hands, but consecrated instruments of grace. Through them the Eucharist is consecrated, sins are absolved, the sick are anointed, and blessings are bestowed¹. To kiss such hands was a natural act of reverence: we honour not flesh and blood, but the dignity of Christ’s priesthood carried in fragile vessels².
The custom is deeply rooted in both East and West. Among the Orthodox, the faithful still approach clergy with the words, “Bless, Father,” kissing the hand that makes the sign of the Cross³. Among Catholics, it was long considered fitting to greet a newly ordained priest by kissing his anointed hands, and in some regions this remained a common courtesy among the faithful of all ages⁴. The gesture echoes older cultural traditions of respect, but is transformed by sacramental theology into an act of devotion.
Decline of the Practice
Why, then, did this visible act of devotion fade? Several factors converged in the modern era.
First, there was a cultural shift in Western society. Practices of hand-kissing, once common in aristocratic and familial settings, fell out of fashion by the mid-20th century⁵. As society abandoned external signs of deference, ecclesiastical expressions of respect also waned.
Second, the post-conciliar period saw a deliberate simplification of clerical customs. Gestures emphasising hierarchical distinction were often set aside in favour of a more egalitarian spirit. In many countries, seminarians were discouraged from accepting such reverence, fearing it could foster clericalism⁶. This attitude, however, often confused humility with the rejection of visible signs of sacred office.
Third, the wider desacralisation of Catholic life meant that tangible catechesis by way of gestures gave way to a largely verbal pedagogy. The priest was increasingly understood as a “presider” or community leader rather than as alter Christus. In such a context, kissing the priest’s hand seemed incongruous, even embarrassing.
Remembering What Was Lost
To recover this forgotten rubric is to recover a truth often obscured in modern times: that the priest is not simply a functionary, but alter Christus, another Christ. In reverencing his hands we reverence the mysteries they hold, and the High Priest who alone makes them efficacious⁷.
Perhaps it is time we remembered again that such visible signs of respect are themselves catechesis. By kissing the priest’s hand, we teach ourselves and our children that we love Christ’s sacraments, we love His Church, and we love the sacred office through which He comes to us. 🔝
¹ Pontificale Romanum, De Ordinatione Presbyteri, where the bishop anoints the priest’s hands with chrism, signifying their consecration for sacramental ministry.
² Cf. St. John Chrysostom, On the Priesthood III, 4: “When the priest calls upon the Holy Spirit and offers the dread Sacrifice, who among men can still think he is the same as before?”
³ Orthodox Catechism of St. Philaret of Moscow, Q. 378–379, which explains the reverence shown to clergy as honour to Christ present in His priesthood.
⁴ EWTN, “Kissing the Hands of a New Priest” (1999), recalling the traditional custom still observed in parts of Europe.
⁵ See Hand-kissing entry in Encyclopedia of Etiquette and Social Customs (London: 1937), noting the decline of the gesture in modern Europe.
⁶ Yves Congar, Power and Poverty in the Church (Baltimore: Helicon, 1964), 183–185, where Congar critiques the disappearance of symbolic signs as contributing to the erosion of visible ecclesial identity.
⁷ Vatican II, Presbyterorum Ordinis §2: “Through the sacrament of Orders priests are configured to Christ the Priest so that they may act in the person of Christ the Head.”
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