Dear Forum Members,
Praised be Jesus Christ!

Forgive my ignorance on this, but do/can Orthodox monks who are NOT priests give blessings? I wondered due to when I met an Orthodox monk, I wanted to know if I should ask for a blessing, as I would a priest.

Thank You!

I would think that nonordained monks would be in the same category as deacons, who cannot give blessings except on a personal basis, as can every Christian.

However, I'm not concluding that there may not be monks somewhere who have a custom of blessing pilgrims or visitors who enter their monastery.

A blessing is a special charism reserved for priests; that is why our priests are so special.

Fr Deacon Paul

Monks most certainly do give blessings, particularly those who are spiritual fathers. It would be odd indeed for the disciple to go to the Starets and not ask for a blessing. Moreover, odd though it may sound, there were and still are monasteries where the abbot is not a priest--and then there are female monasteries, where the abbess most certainly is not a presbyter.

I don't doubt that some monks or nuns, especially those who give spiritual direction, give blessings within the confines of personal contact. You or I could can also give blessings.

But none of the above should give group blessings or appear that his/her faculty is to give blessings; blessings are reserved for priests. This is made very clear in the Divine Praises books and documents.

If I am wrong then I am in company with the authorities who claim that deacons cannot give public blessings.

Christ is amongst us!

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

So, it is appropriate to ask an Orthodox monk(not a priest) for a blessing (with the palms one over the other) when meeting? Do only spiritual fathers give blessings, or could one ask a blessing from any monk in a monastery one is visiting? Do monks say the same prayer a priest does when blessing, or do they simply make the sign of the cross over the palm as an abbess does?

Thank You!

But a secular deacon is not a monastic.

This should give you some guidance.
http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/monastery_etiquette.aspx

But what if I am of the oriental persuasion?

Chirstopher,

I see nothing in the piece to which Chadrook linked that would be out of place in a visit to any monastery, regardless of the Church of which it is a part. The majority of the information there is precisely what it is titled - etiquette - civility, the major distinction between it and common courtesy in visiting anyone else's "home" being the religiosity of the monastic environment. And, with allowances for the differences between Eastern and Western settings (icons vs statues, etc), you could as well apply much of it to a visit to a Latin monastery as to an Eastern or Oriental one.

Many years,

Neil

Anybody may bless another person, except a layman would not bless a clergyman.

An non-ordained person blesses someone by holding the fingers of their hand just as they do when making the sign of the cross on themselves. The person receiving the blessing kisses the hand of the bless-er.

In this way an abbess (or a non-ordained abbot) blesses her nuns and visitors to her monastery. She also gives her blessing even to the priest who is gong to serve a Service in her monastery (I have seen this as normal in Serbia.)

A mother or father blesses their children like this.

So yes, you could ask a blessing from a non-ordained monk but I would think that they are not used to it in the States. In the case of a deacon I don't think you would ask a blessing from him where there is a priest or bishop present (unless the deacon is your spiritual father.)

I have been told by Russian clergy that while a Russian priest takes a blessing from an abbess before serving a Service in her monastery he would not kiss her hand.