Church life is a partnership of love and has its own etiquette, just as civil society has its own. Deep down, all etiquette springs from the heart. In the beginning it was not conventional, but in the Church we have nothing conventional. Every external expression is linked to our religious convictions. Yes, there is the reverence of the believer for the believer, and even more so the reverence of the layman for the cleric because he is a father and because, in his function, he is an icon of Christ. The priest is your brother, no doubt, but he is also towards you because he is an icon of the Divine Teacher. He is a living image of the Lord. Why do you bow before an icon in church? Is it not because this is bowing before the Savior Himself? Is He who was sanctified by priestly ordination with the laying of the hand of the apostolic bishop not of greater rank than the icon?
His hand is the instrument necessary for the transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord. His hand, which binds you to your wife in a holy bond, is in this sanctification the hand of the Lord Himself. He was given the power of the Trinity to perform the sacraments. Therefore His face towards you, however burdened with sins it may be, is the face of the Redeemer Himself. In this respect He was, in His entire person, more precious than all the pearls of the earth. His face was not earthy. And to the extent that God enables you to see in Him the light of the sacraments, God will enable you to become luminous in your turn.
لذلك نتقدس عندما نقبّل يد الكاهن. اننا في هذه اللحظة نقبّل يد المسيح. واذا اردت الاصول تصنع امامه مطانية اي انحناءة بحيث تمس يدك الأرض ثم تضع يدك اليمنى على اليسرى وتقول له “بارك يا سيد” فيبارك بإشارة الصليب عليك وبعد ذلك يضع يمينه على يمينك فتقبلها ولا تكن مرائيا وتقبل اصبعك التي تمسك بها يمناه. ان كنت لا تريد هذه اليد فاعرض عنها. اما احناء رأسك على الطريقة المدنية فليس من تقاليدنا.
In the presence of the priest, do not cross your legs and do not shout, for it is one of the characteristics of the kingdom that there will be no shouting in it (Revelation 21:4). The weakest of faith is not to curse the priest or chew his name in councils, criticizing his faults, because this defiles your mouth. Rebuke him between you and him in a contrite heart, and do not make yourself privileged because you are a member of the parish council. And what is most abhorrent above all is to be arrogant to him because you consider yourself a leader and do not feel that you have possessed a clergyman with your money, unless he himself has been defiled by your agreement over money.
The worst thing you can do is to incite the faithful against him. You can blame him or complain to the spiritual leader with convincing arguments. Consider his visit an honor for you, a visit from Christ Himself.
If we do not have the Orthodox understanding of kissing his right hand, then at least we should stand up in respect for him when he passes by. How painful it is for me to see our children when a cleric enters a house and they remain seated and smoke their cigarettes when he passes by as if he is not a messenger of Christ. These people stand up for a representative or a minister as if the great ones in their eyes are the great ones in the world.
Be assured that the priest or bishop does not feel any glory if you honor him. He only feels that you have drawn closer to God.
Metropolitan George Khader
About my parish bulletin
September 26, 1993