How to ask for blessings from the priest for the operation. How to ask for blessings from the priest so that higher powers hear you

Before some important business or event, Orthodox Christians usually go to church and ask the priest for blessings. Why is this needed?

What is the meaning of the blessing?

The fact is that a priest is an intermediary between God and people, and turning to him for a blessing, you receive the support of the Higher powers. If the Lord himself approved your work, then you receive spiritual help from Him. The very word "blessing" means that you receive a word from God for the good of your soul.

In the old days, without a blessing, nothing serious was done at all. It was believed that a business started without a blessing is doomed to failure, or even plunges a person into danger: for example, robbers could attack a merchant who went with goods to another city.

When are blessings most often asked for?

This applies, as a rule, to some important events for a person - trips, operations, treatment, admission to an educational institution, getting a job, marriage, starting a project.

What is the right way to ask for blessings?

A blessing is asked after the liturgy. If there are several priests in the temple, then it is better to take a blessing from the one who is higher in rank.

As a rite, blessing is a special kind of sign of the cross. At the same time, the believer who asks for a blessing must fold his hands in a cross - right palm to left, palms up, and say the words: "Bless, father." After receiving the blessing, it is necessary to kiss the priest's hand - this symbolizes the kissing of Christ's hand.

Can a priest refuse to bless?

Maybe if he considers that your case is contrary to religious canons. For example, there are restrictions for some actions in a post. It is also unlikely that you will receive a blessing for a divorce or abortion: according to church rules, this is unacceptable. Definitely, a priest will not give a blessing on something that has a dubious moral side. So, you should not ask him for a blessing if, for example, you get a job in a nightclub.

How to ask for a blessing from a priest

Every believer considers it indispensable when meeting with a priest to ask him Pastoral Blessing but many do it wrong. Of course, there are no strict canons on this issue, but the traditions of the Church and simple common sense suggest how to behave. The blessing has many meanings. The first of these is a greeting (or farewell). Only an equal in rank has the right to greet a priest by the hand; all the rest, even deacons, are blessed by him when they meet with the priest.

Blessing is taken for the accomplishment of any good deed. Why is the essence of the issue briefly stated to the priest, and then a blessing is asked for the completion of this deed. priestly blessing is permission, permission, parting words. Before starting any responsible business, before traveling, and also in any difficult circumstances, we can ask the priest for advice and blessings.

In order to ask for a blessing, you need to put your palms together, right over the left at chest level, in order to receive the blessing hand of the priest in them. After that, the person receiving the blessing kisses the blessing hand of the priest, as the hand of Christ Himself, who gives the grace-filled power to the blessing. The addition of palms has no mysterious meaning, grace does not “fall” into them, as some old women teach.

An Orthodox priest blesses not with his power and his name, but with the Power of God and the holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a priest or bishop blesses us with his hand, he folds his fingers so that they represent the letters IC XC, that is, Jesus Christ. This means that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself blesses us through the priest.

Therefore, we must accept the blessing of the clergyman with reverence. The Christian receives a blessing from the Lord Himself and God protects him in his deeds and his ways.

If you find yourself in a society where there are several priests, then the blessing is taken, first of all, from senior priests, that is, first from the archpriests, then from the priests. If not all of them are familiar to you, and this is difficult for you, say: “ Bless, honest fathers and bow.

If several people are suitable to receive the blessing, then men first come up - by seniority (if there are clergymen among the audience, then they come first). Then fit - women (also in seniority).

If a family is suitable for blessing, then first the husband, wife, and then the children (in order of seniority) come up. If they want to introduce someone to the priest, they say, for example: “Father Alexy, this is my wife, Nadezhda. Please bless her."

Many people think that a blessing is a "good word". But if you look deeper, then the blessing is rather a "word of grace." I think that everyone knows that grace is some kind of energy (divine), giving strength, energy and good luck in good deeds. Blessing is a powerful spiritual action taught in a prayer-verbal form (often with ritual actions with hands) that gives grace, help and protection from God. The one who asks for a blessing from God or His mediator thereby shows his humility, hope and hope for God's help and need for it.

So, there are “several kinds” of blessings.

1. Blessing for something.
   Take a blessing from the priest for this or that action. In ancient times, people did not start any good deed without receiving a blessing from a priest. From the conception of a child to the very death, all stages of a person's life were accompanied by a priestly blessing. For example: Dmitry Donskoy went for the Blessing to Sergei Radonezh before the Battle of Kulikovo, many travelers take a blessing for the road, the laity take a blessing for building a house, etc. In Orthodox Christian practice, each person should take a blessing for almost any business that does not negatively affect on the spiritual life: on a long journey, on a prayer rule, on a job, on building/repairing a house, on an operation in a hospital, on a wedding, on conceiving a child….i.e. at all important life events.

Why is it necessary to take a blessing for one thing or another?
Answer: so that the grace given from God through the priest drove away failures and helped in a good deed. But remember that according to your faith it will be for you. Taking a blessing is not some kind of ritual-amulet, but help and strengthening of the strength of a believer. That is, if a person does not believe in God, then. Automatically, he does not believe in the Blessing - in this case, it makes little sense to take the blessing (although there are times when a person gains / strengthens faith through the Blessing and success in business).
How to take a blessing from the priest?
Come to the church and in the candle shop ask how and when you can find the priest. When you meet with the priest, just say, “Father, I want to take a blessing for such a thing.” Briefly tell the essence of the matter (keep in mind that taking a blessing for a bad deed is a sin that leads to failure), say “Batiushka, bless” and, bowing your head, fold your right palms to your left palms up.
The priest will read a short prayer, cross you and either give you a hand (it must be kissed) or simply touch your head. It is believed that with the blessing of God, the Holy Spirit descends on a person, who performs a certain work, depending on what we ask for blessing.
By the way, a priest can bless a person at any time, regardless of whether the priest is in the temple or not, while dressing a priest or bishop in spiritual clothes also does not apply to the act of blessing.

1. Receive a blessing at the sight of the priest, without voicing your business.
   You probably saw that when the priest enters the temple, some parishioners approach him with the words "bless the father." The priest says: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!”
   In this case, parishioners take a common blessing to strengthen their spiritual strength, which helps them fight temptations and lead an Orthodox lifestyle. Of course, this blessing also helps in good deeds, that is, in this case, you receive a piece of grace for your humility.
   You can also ask “Father, bless the child”, that is, give grace from the Lord to the child.

Having received a blessing from the priest, we kiss the hand that blesses us. Thus, we kiss the invisible hand of Christ the Savior Himself. Saint John Chrysostom: Not a man blesses, but God blesses him with his hand and mouth.. So from the priest you can hear " God bless!».

Conclusion on 1,2,3 points. The power of the Blessing descends upon the one who asks for the blessing through words, and sometimes through the laying on of hands of the blesser. The priest overshadows the sign of the cross asking for a blessing, after which he places his hand in the palm of the believer. The Christian must receive this blessing as from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Therefore, the Orthodox believer kisses the hand of the priest (as if applied to the hand of the Savior). Some clergy do not allow their hand to be kissed, but after the blessing they lay it on the head of the one who asks.

1. God bless.
   We resort to these words before starting any business or making a decision, when we could not or for some other reason did not ask the blessing of the priest. In this case, "according to your faith, be it to you." As you believe in God, you will receive such an increase in strength and good luck through the blessing. I recommend, nevertheless, for a blessing, to go to church to the priest.
   You can also ask for a blessing from God with the words “Lord, bless” before less important things, such as eating.

Conclusion: To ask for a blessing is to ask for grace!

Not only in extreme cases, but also in any vital situations, we ask the blessing of the priest. What is the meaning of this and what is its effect? What are the reasons for applying for it? Let's try to figure it out.

Not only obedience

The first thing to know is that blessings are different. You need to learn to distinguish between them.

• Firstly, it may be part of church etiquette, greeting form . In the church, it is not customary for the laity to shake hands with the clergyman or in any other way. We say: “Bless, father!”, and he overshadows us with the sign of the cross. This is our Hello! The same type includes the one that we take after confession.
• Secondly, there are times when we need to ask the priest advice or permissions . We ask him to bless us for something we have planned. In this case, we, of course, make the decision ourselves, as well as bear full responsibility for it. Of course, the confessor can “correct” us a little, advise us on how best to act, but only we ourselves can make the final decision.
• Thirdly, you can take a blessing in the form obedience for some business with the old man. This obedience has the meaning of unquestioning fulfillment of what was said without reasoning, in fact - an order. His goal is to completely replace his will with the will of God through submission to the spiritual father. We will only say that the latter type is not available to us today, since there are almost no such spirit-bearing elders left. Not to mention worthy novices.

In addition, with a blessing gesture, the shepherd overshadows all those present several times during the service. But it has a general meaning, so we will not talk about it. And we can only be interested in the second kind, the one that is associated with advice and reasoning.

Why turn to a priest for a blessing?

The first question that naturally arises in our minds is: why? That is, why do you need to take a blessing at all? Is it really impossible to do without it? Sometimes you can get by. But at the same time, there is no certainty that even if the situation is successfully resolved, its favorable outcome will serve us well. Why is that?

The fact is that the spiritual laws by which we live often do not coincide with the laws of "this world." Often what we think is best for us turns out to be the worst of evils. Because we live according to our desires and our will, guided by the principles of the “old man”.

The Lord, meanwhile, expects a better choice from us. Remember the words from the Gospel: For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it (Matt. 16:25). How should this be understood? In other words: whoever wants to do the Lord's will will be saved, and whoever always seeks his own will perish.

The priest's blessing serves precisely this purpose - to give a person the opportunity to act as God pleases, and not us. What God's will is, we can't always know, and most of the time we don't. Having received permission from the priest, we can be sure that now the Lord Himself will intervene in our plans, and through people endowed with such power will send us the strengthening grace and help of God.

Another interesting question: is this a guarantee that the case will have a favorable outcome? No, it's not. If it is not saving for our soul, then the Lord is free to destroy the planned plans. Thus, too, His great mercy is manifested to us, sinners and short-sighted.

That's why not always be sure to fulfill the blessing that was received. The fact that after this our plan suddenly turns out to be impossible may simply mean that the Lord has something better in mind for us.

What can be blessed?

You need to apply for a blessing only at some especially important moments in life, in cases of insoluble situations. Asking for this about buying a new mobile phone or dyeing your hair is not worth it. This only humiliates the meaning of invoking the grace of God.

Of course, there is an opinion that the Lord must be present in every work, regardless of its scale. This is right and fair. But in everyday affairs and unimportant situations, you can limit yourself to a simple personal prayer asking for God's help.

You can not ask the priest's blessing for a deliberately bad enterprise that is contrary to the gospel commandments. For example, not a single priest will ever bless you for an abortion, since this is murder, and purposeful. And in many similar cases the answer will be the same. Remember that grace and sin never live together.

As for other, harmless plans and undertakings, such as, for example, a safe trip or any good undertaking, some of them even have special prayers, which are served in the form of prayers. This is also a good thing, if possible, believers try to order such a prayer service and pray not only personally, but also together with the Church.

How to do it right?

If you need to get lengthy advice on some important matter, then, of course, it is better to ask the confessor in advance to give you some time for this. In the case when detailed explanations, as you think, are not needed, you can do this, for example, after confession or approaching the cross after the service.

First you need to say what you want to take the blessing for (this is mandatory), bow your head and stretch out your hands, folding them palms up one on top of the other, right to left. The priest blesses you either with a cross that he holds in his hands, or by crossing and putting his hand on his head, or - most often - he makes the sign of the cross with his hand and puts it on your palms (for which you folded them).

All these actions are equivalent, there is no difference in them. In the latter case, the priest folds his fingers in a special way, so that they depict the initial letters of the name of Jesus Christ. This suggests that although the visible action is performed by the clergyman, the Lord Himself blesses. At the same time, the priest says: "God bless." And we also kiss the hand of the priest after this as the invisible right hand of Christ.

"Trust in God, don't make a mistake yourself"

Another important point: the blessing of the priest does not mean at all that we do not need to do anything further, "The Lord Himself will manage everything." This is fundamentally wrong. Now what we asked to bless us for, we must try to fulfill. If we asked for a job, then we should at least try to find it. It is impossible to move to a new apartment only with the help of God, it is impossible to repair a car only by the action of the Holy Spirit, without the participation of human hands.

We have already said that the person himself always bears responsibility for his decision. Neither the priest nor the Lord can do anything for us, live our lives. They can only help if the cause leads to good. And we will be responsible for our actions, their commission.

How many priests - so many opinions?

And finally, the most important thing! A blessing on one specific occasion can only be taken from one priest. Moreover, it is desirable that the priest knows you personally. If you have not received permission from one confessor, you should not run around in search of another, “more experienced”, who will definitely bless. Otherwise there is a profanation of this action.

The blessing of the priest is not an exam that can be retaken by another teacher. If we are really looking for advice, then we should not insist on our opinion and “terrorize” the shepherds with our willfulness. We just come to church after another. We are not interested in the answer that suits us, but the one that ultimately turns out to be the only correct one.

It is better, having sincerely prayed, to ask the Lord to reveal His will to us through the confessor. The same thing must be done when we do not know at all what to do. And then surely the help of God will not be slow to come.

Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov talks about how church action cannot be turned into a sport:

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Last update:
21.August.2015, 21:58

Priests (that is, people who have received the grace of the Holy Spirit for the sacred service of the Church of Christ through the Sacrament of the Priesthood) - bishops (bishops) and priests (priests) overshadow us with the sign of the cross. This fall is called a blessing.
When a priest or bishop blesses us with his hand, he folds his fingers so that they represent the letters IC XC, that is, Jesus Christ. This means that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself blesses us through the priest. Therefore, we must accept the blessing of the clergyman with reverence.
When in the temple the clergymen overshadow the people with a cross or the Gospel, an image or a cup, then everyone is baptized and bows from the waist, and when they overshadow with candles, bless with their hands or incense, pronounce the words of the general blessing “Peace to all” and others, then it is necessary to bow to the waist without a cross signs; at the same time, you should not fold your hands, as is done with a personal blessing, especially after bringing them to your mouth or chest.

To receive a personal blessing from a priest or bishop, you need to fold your hands in a cross: right to left, palms up, saying the words: “Bless, father (or lord).” Having received a blessing, we kiss the hand that blesses us - we kiss, as it were, the invisible hand of Christ the Savior Himself. As St. John Chrysostom says, “it is not a man who blesses, but God blesses him with his hand and tongue.” This is clear from the words of the priest - "God bless!" Invoke the blessing of God not only in important and dangerous undertakings, but also in all your ordinary everyday activities: on your food, to eat it for health; to your honest work and in general to your good undertakings, so that they are successful; on your way, so that it may be prosperous; on their children, so that they grow up in faith and piety; to all your wealth, so that it may be multiplied for the good of you and your neighbors.

Accepting a blessing

A familiar picture of our days: the priest, standing on the salt, proclaims: "The blessing of the Lord upon you" - and overshadows the parishioners with the sign of the cross. Praying grandmothers prayerfully fold their palms and for some reason press them to their chest, performing an unknown ritual. There is a clear misunderstanding here of how a clergyman should be treated and what a priestly blessing is. Every believer considers it indispensable when meeting with a priest to ask him for a pastoral blessing, but many do it wrong. Of course, there are no strict canons on this issue, but the traditions of the Church and simple common sense suggest how to behave.
The blessing has many meanings. The first one is a greeting. Only an equal in rank has the right to greet a priest by the hand; all the rest, even deacons, receive a blessing from him when they meet with the priest. To do this, you need to put your palms together, right over the left, in order to take a blessing hand in them and kiss it as a sign of respect for the holy dignity. And for nothing more! The addition of palms has no mysterious meaning, grace does not "fall" into them, as some old women teach. You can be blessed by a priest not only when he is in church clothes, but also in civilian clothes; not only in the temple, but also on the street, in a public place. It is not necessary, however, to approach for a blessing outside the temple to an unclothed priest who is not familiar with you.
In the same way, every layman says goodbye to a priest. If several priests are standing side by side, and you want to be blessed by everyone, then first you need to approach the senior in rank.
The second meaning of the priestly blessing is permission, permission, parting words. Before starting any responsible business, before traveling, and also in any difficult circumstances, we can ask the priest for advice and blessings and kiss his hand.
Finally, there are blessings in the course of a church service. The priest, saying: "Peace to all," "The blessing of the Lord upon you," "The grace of our Lord," overshadows those praying with the sign of the cross. In response, we humbly bow our heads, without folding our hands - after all, it is impossible to kiss the blessing right hand. If the priest overshadows us with sacred objects: the Cross, the Gospel, the Cup, the icon, we are first baptized, and then we bow.

You should not approach the blessing at an inopportune moment: when the priest takes communion, burns the temple, anoints with oil. But you can do this at the end of confession and at the end of the Liturgy, while kissing the Cross. It is not worth it to abuse the blessing by approaching the same priest several times a day. The words "bless, father" should always sound joyful and solemn to a layman, and there is no need to turn them into a proverb.
Without the blessing of God, no business can be successful. That is why our pious ancestors tried to start every business after prayer and having received a blessing from the priest