Bulletins

July 31, 2016

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Last week our guide through the liturgical history of the Kiss of Peace, Jesuit Father Josef A. Jungmann, described the beginning of a change in its practice. Whereas before the Archdeacon and Bishop would be the first to exchange the Pax after the words Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum or “May the peace of the Lord be with you always” followed by others exchanging the sign of peace with those at Mass nearest them, the new development which would continue for almost a thousand years involved the exchange of the Pax beginning at the altar and then continuing on sequentially one-by-one through the sanctuary or even among the faithful. Father Jungmann continues:

It was only natural that the kiss of peace was no longer received from the deacon but from the celebrant himself, and even he “received” it. Therefore he first kissed the altar: osculato altari dat pacem astanti. Even this was not fully satisfactory, and efforts were made to indicate even more plainly the source from which the peace was to be derived. According to a pontifical from lower Italy, about 1100, the celebrant kissed first the altar, then the book, and finally the Sacred Host, before he offered the deacon the kiss of peace. Elsewhere, as in France, as a rule only the Host was kissed. In England, however, during the thirteenth century this custom was stopped as being less seemly."" Here, and in part also in France, it was customary to kiss instead the brim of the chalice and in addition generally the corporal or the paten," while in Germany the prevailing practice was to kiss the altar and the book. Altar and crucifix are also mentioned for this. The participation of the people continued for several centuries, especially after the kiss of peace was everywhere extended beyond the circle of communicants, and in particular when it was brought from the altar. Therefore the old rule which is found in earlier Christian sources was repeated, namely, that men may give the kiss of peace only to men, and women to women. This rule was very easy to keep when-as was usually the case-the old ordinance regarding the separation of the sexes was still observed.

The remark of Tertullian, that a pagan husband would not tolerate that his wife should dare to approach a brother for the Kiss of Peace, obviously stems from a previous period before the rule was in effect... The rule shows that in general it must have been as a matter of fact an actual osculum oris or “kiss on the mouth”. An uninterrupted passage of the Kiss of Peace from the altar was thereby naturally excluded for the women. According to an old French custom, however, the priest gave the Kiss of Peace to the groom in a bridal Mass, who in turn imparted it to the bride.

(The Mass of the Roman Rite, pp. 326-328)

May the peace of the Lord be with you always!

Fr. Christopher J. Pollard