Serbian Orthodox Tradition

A.   The first thing in discussing how to address an Orthodox Bishop is to recognize what the Bishop represents.

An Orthodox Bishop is the living icon of Christ, the most perfect celebrant of the Holy Mysteries and is empowered with the authority of Apostolic Succession.

While Orthodox Bishops are all equal, within the Orthodox Church, they have different administrative duties, honors and rank. (i.e.: Patriarchs, Metropolitans, Archbishops and Bishops)

So based upon their rank:     

We should address Bishops as "Your Grace,"  

Archbishops and Metropolitans as "Your Eminence."     

The proper title for Patriarchs is "Your Beatitude" or "Your Holiness."  There are exceptions to this rule:

The Serbian Patriarch is address as "Your Holiness."

A.   When we approach an Orthodox Bishop, we seek his blessing:  By bowing from the waist such that our right hand touches the floor, than as we raise up we place our right hand over the left hand with palms upward, we say, "Bless your Grace" or "Bless your Eminence."  The Bishop then answers, "May the Lord bless you," and blesses us with the Sign of the Cross by forming his fingers into a Christogram, and places his right hand in our hands.   We kiss then his hand.   It should be noted that unlike a priest, the Bishop can bless with both the right and left hands; however he will as in the case stated above use his right hand.

The reason that a lay person kisses the hand of a Bishop is to show respect  to  his   Apostolic  office.   More importantly,  because the  Holy Mysteries  are held  in the hands  of the  Bishop during the Divine Liturgy,   when we kiss  his hand,  we show respect to the Holy Eucharist.

Related Links