While on vacation, we attended an Orthodox Church where, during the Great Entrance, parishioners bent down and touched the priest’s robe as he walked by. Why did they do this?

This is a pious tradition that is most often practiced by Greek and Middle Eastern Christians, one that perhaps traces its origin to the scriptural accounts of the story of the woman who touched the hem of Christ’s garment as He passed by in the crowd (Matthew 9:20) or to those who sought to touch the fringes of his clothing for healing (Matthew 14:36). Some faithful will not only touch the robe, but take hold of it, raise it to their lips and kiss it.