Laying on of hands

The laying on of hands is a practice found throughout the world, and in different religions, in varying forms. In Christianity, it refers to a ceremony that may be used either as part of prayer for healing, or of commissioning of workers, or for receiving the Holy Spirit.



In its "healing" form it is based on the belief that through the power of Jesus, a person can act as a carrier of Jesus's healing power. This is a popular Jesuit ceremony in which prayer for forgiveness is often the prelude, along with cleansing one's spirituality, to creating Union with the Spirit, and through Jesus's name actually healing a given illness. Faith healers, Christian and non-Christian sometimes 'lay hands' on people when praying for healing.

This Christian tradition has its roots in Jewish beliefs and practices. In biblical times the laying on of hands was an action which conferred blessing or authority. Jacob blessed his son Joseph in this fashion. Jesus Christ laid hands on children to bless them, and on the sick to heal them. The High Priest Aaron laid his hands on the head of a goat at the Feast of Atonement thus transferring the sins of the people of Israel to it (Leviticus 16:21). In the Old Testament priests were ordained by the laying on of hands.

In the New Testament the laying on of hands was associated with the receiving of the Holy Spirit (e.g. Acts 8:14-19). Initially the Apostles laid hands on new believers. Believers chosen for particular service also had hands laid on them (e.g. Acts 6:5). The practice continued to be used in ordination in early church times. It is continued today in ceremonies of initiation into the church, such as the Anglican ceremony of confirmation, where the bishop lays hands on the confirmand and prays for him to receive the Holy Spirit. Many churches also lay hands on a person when commissioning them to particular work, such as missionary or pastoral service.

It was an long held belief in England and France that the King could perform this rite. Known as the 'divine touch' it was claimed to cure scrofula, a name given to a number of skin diseases. The notion was first introduced by Clovis in France, and Edward the Confessor in England. The belief continued to be common throughout the Middle Ages but began to die out with the Enlightenment. Queen Anne was the last English monarch to claim to possess the divine ability. The French monarchy continued to believe and perform the act up until the French Revolution. The act was usually performed at large ceremonies, often at Easter or other holy days.

CORRECTION: The rite of the king's touch began in France with Robert II the Pious (d. 1031). Legend later attributed the practice to Clovis as founder of the kingdom. Sources: Marc Bloch, Les Rois Thaumaturges, pp. 36-38, 41-49 Gabor Klaniczay, The Uses of Supernatural Power: The Transformation of Popular Religion in Medieval and Early-Modern Europe, Princeton U. Press, 1990, p. 91 Cynthia Hahn, Portrayed on the Heart: Narrative Effect in Pictorial Lives of Saints from the Tenth through the Thirteenth Century, U. of California Press, Berkeley, 2001, p. 249 Henry A. Myers and Herwig Wolfram, Medieval Kingship, Nelson-Hall, Chicago, 1972, pp. 167, 335

Reference

 * New Bible Dictionary (ISBN 0851106307)