2nd Annual "Blessing of the Hands"

Photo By Sgt. Micha Pierce | U.S. Navy Capt. Doug Stephens, Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point (NHCCP) commanding officer, left, Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Bingol, center, chaplain for the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, thank the participants of a "Blessing of the Hands" event at the NHCCP, MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, July 20, 2020. Blessing of the Hands events are held for medical professionals to thank them for all that they do. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Micha Pierce)  

MCAS CHERRY POINT, NC, UNITED STATES

07.21.2020

Story by Cpl. Micha Pierce 

Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point

U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Bingol, chaplain for Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, held the second annual “Blessing of the Hands” event at the Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point pavilion, Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina, July 20, 2020. The “Blessing of the Hands” event, is a hospital tradition practiced around the nation during Nurses Week, honoring nurses and the work they do. It is a general order of a blessings that was made unique for nurses, passed down by various generations of navy chaplains who have served in hospitals.
“The blessing of hands is a unique opportunity for a public witness of a pastoral act of recognition of the nursing vocation,” said Bingol.
The ceremony begins with a prayer for nurses and other medical professionals, thanking them for their service and for their sacrifice. Participants then form a circle and extend their hands to receive a blessing, a Chrism is applied, a concentrated oil, in the sign of the cross to the participant’s hand.

• Date Taken: 07.21.2020
• Date Posted: 07.23.2020 08:01
• Story ID: 374276
• Location: MCAS CHERRY POINT, NC, US