SPLIT: Sign of Peace/Agnes Dei Reverence

[MarkThompson]

Actually, the sign of peace is slightly earlier in the modern form of the Mass than in the Latin Mass. Formerly it came after the Agnus Dei and immediately before the priest’s communion; now it is between the Pater Noster and the Agnus Dei. The differences are (1) it is no longer restricted to the clergy, but can be shared among all worshipers, and (2) it is generally done at all Masses with a congregation.

The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia contrasts the practice of doing it before the offertory in the Gallican and Mozarabic liturgies with the practice prevailing in Rome:
In Rome, however, the kiss of peace was more closely united to the Communion, and it must have followed shortly after the Pater Noster as it does at present. Thus Pope Innocent I in his letter to Decentius (A.D. 416) blames the practice of those who give the Pax before the Consecration and urges that it was meant as a token that “the people give their assent to all things already performed in the mysteries”.

Another clear testimony of about the same date occurs in a sermon attributed to St. Augustine, but probably written by St. Cæsarius of Arles (P.L. XXXVIII, 1101): “After this [the Lord’s prayer], Pax vobiscum is said, and the faithful salute each other with the kiss which is the sign of peace.” The Roman Ordines, the Stowe Missal which represents Irish usage at an early date, and a chorus of liturgical writers from the eighth century onwards attest that wherever Roman influence prevailed the Pax invariably followed the great consecratory prayer and the Pater.

 

[Phemie]

I have noticed this in Anglican churches and, whilst I don’t obviously receive communion, it feels much less disruptive to follow the order set out above

I have to admit that I also prefer that variation in the Anglican Church.

(I also like the way a steward releases people up to the communion rail row by row rather than the mad rush, and congestion, you sometimes find).

I don’t think I’ve seen that ‘mad rush’ in a Catholic Church in almost three decades. Even where ushers don’t do traffic control, I’ve noticed that people still go up to receive Communion pew-by-pew. In fact, it’s so prevalent that some people are complaining that it puts too much focus on those who don’t go up to receive (for whatever reason), making them feel obliged to go up and resulting in people receiving when they shouldn’t or requesting a blessing which they also shouldn’t do.

Sharing the peace used to be a quiet and dignified act, but it has become - in many places - a bit of a free-for-all and distracts from the solemnity of that part of the liturgy.

AMEN!

 

[lisahiku]

I’ve never been a fan of the sign of peace. One of the many reasons why I prefer the Latin Mass because its not done there. Nor the Byzatine/Eastern Rite for that manner.

Really, it is not done at the Latin mass? I have never attended on so i wouldn’t know. Wonder why it is not done since someone else on here it was SO important!

 

[Phemie]

Really, it is not done at the Latin mass? I have never attended on so i wouldn’t know. Wonder why it is not done since someone else on here it was SO important!

It’s not part of the EF Mass. It may well be done at the OF Mass, even when it is celebrated in Latin. It would depend on the community and the celebrant.

I do think it is important to catechize the people about this ritual and to explain that it’s not a chance to snuggle to your sweetie, catch up on the news with your best friend or make plans to go to brunch after Mass. It’s not even a time to kiss your spouse and shake hands with the neighbours, since the sign of peace offered to one should be the same sign of peace offered to all.

 

[MarkThompson]

It’s not part of the EF Mass.

Oh, but it is.
Before priest and people proceed to the Holy Table they perform the sacred and touching ceremony of the kiss of peace. After the Agnus Dei, the priest, moderately bowed before the altar, says a prayer for peace; then, in the high Mass, he kisses the altar, and embracing the deacon at his right (or the presbyter assistens) , he gives him the kiss of peace, saying: “Pax tecum” (“Peace be with thee”), receiving the answer: “Et cum spiritu tuo” (“And with thy spirit”). The kiss of peace is then given successively to the clergy present, and to the laity by means of the Pax-board (Instrumentum pacis) .

. . .

The kiss goes from one to another, thus uniting all the faithful most intimately among themselves and with Christ. That mystical union of the faithful in Christ, which the holy sacrifice and Communion are to accomplish, is beautifully represented in the kiss of peace.

It is therefore extremely regrettable that the kiss of peace has almost entirely gone out of practice. It is only rarely, at high Mass, that the faithful see this sign of charity among their priests; and they themselves are never allowed to take part in it. No great obstacles seem to hinder the administering of the kiss of peace to the faithful with the Pax-board, as the rubrics of the Missal permit. The server kneels before the priest and offers him the tablet; the priest kisses the altar and then the tablet, saying: Pax tecum; the server likewise kisses the tablet, and answers: Et cum spiritu tuo; then the server offers the tablet to the faithful to be kissed.

–Fr. Pius Parsch, The Liturgy of the Mass (1940).

 

[Phemie]

Oh, but it is.Before priest and people proceed to the Holy Table they perform the sacred and touching ceremony of the kiss of peace. After the Agnus Dei, the priest, moderately bowed before the altar, says a prayer for peace; then, in the high Mass, he kisses the altar, and embracing the deacon at his right (or the presbyter assistens) , he gives him the kiss of peace, saying: “Pax tecum” (“Peace be with thee”), receiving the answer: “Et cum spiritu tuo” (“And with thy spirit”). The kiss of peace is then given successively to the clergy present, and to the laity by means of the Pax-board (Instrumentum pacis) .

. . .

The kiss goes from one to another, thus uniting all the faithful most intimately among themselves and with Christ. That mystical union of the faithful in Christ, which the holy sacrifice and Communion are to accomplish, is beautifully represented in the kiss of peace.

It is therefore extremely regrettable that the kiss of peace has almost entirely gone out of practice. It is only rarely, at high Mass, that the faithful see this sign of charity among their priests; and they themselves are never allowed to take part in it. No great obstacles seem to hinder the administering of the kiss of peace to the faithful with the Pax-board, as the rubrics of the Missal permit. The server kneels before the priest and offers him the tablet; the priest kisses the altar and then the tablet, saying: Pax tecum; the server likewise kisses the tablet, and answers: Et cum spiritu tuo; then the server offers the tablet to the faithful to be kissed.

–Fr. Pius Parsch, The Liturgy of the Mass (1940).

I meant for the congregation.

 

[MarkThompson]

I meant for the congregation.

Well, it can be for the congregation in the EF too, just done differently and less frequently for the past few hundred years than it used to be.

Really, I just wanted to correct the following misconceptions:

• “The big issue is that it is done after the Our Father and more importantly AFTER the consecration of the Eucharist.” – it’s done today in the same place it has been done in the Roman Rite for the last 1600 or 1700 years.
  .
• “Attention should not be taken off our Lord after the consecration is made.” – when the Kiss of Peace is given in the traditional rite, the clergy are paying attention to the process of passing it among themselves, and the laity to the process of kissing the pax-board. Not Eucharistic adoration.

 

[Warrenton]

nope. The sign of peace is part of the liturgy which was handed on to us from Synagogue. Jews offered each other a greeting before Jesus was incarnate, and Jesus would have offered a greeting to others in His times at Synagogue.

Today we greet each other with the sign of peace, but that does not negate the fact that this is a pre-christian era part of the liturgy.

I doubt they shook hands.

The Orthodox don’t have a sign of peace where people shake hands, and they did not have it at the Syrian mass, either. Those rites are a lot older than the usual ones in the US.

As we discussed on another thread, if they want to do this, they should bring back the pax board (which will mean bringing back altar rails!) or go all the way and tell us to embrace each other at the shoulders and kiss.

Then it’s real, at least.

 

[Warrenton]

Well, it can be for the congregation in the EF too, just done differently and less frequently for the past few hundred years than it used to be.

Really, I just wanted to correct the following misconceptions:

• “The big issue is that it is done after the Our Father and more importantly AFTER the consecration of the Eucharist.” – it’s done today in the same place it has been done in the Roman Rite for the last 1600 or 1700 years.

Hey Mark - I’m confused.

At my parish church, the “peace” is exchanged after the Pater Noster and before the Agnus Dei.

(Kind of awkward, because it interferes with the Agnus Dei since there tends to be a lot of residual “action” for the first line of the A.D.)

That is in the OF, and it seems usual practice in all the churches I can think of in Arlington, Richmond, and Washington DC dioceses.

In the EF, the kiss of peace occurs after the Agnus, right? I read the entry in the Catholic Encylopedia, and that seems to have been the practice for most of the last 1000 years. The article indicates it precedes the reception of the eucharist, and the faithful exchange the kiss at the rails.

Before the middle ages, the timing of the peace seems to have varied.

It has been a while since I’ve been to a church with a deacon to sing the gospel, but I seem to recall the priest and deacon exchanged the actual kiss after the Agnus.

Is someone doing something wrong, am I remembering the sequence of what I saw incorrectly, or have I misread your post? Thanks!

 

[MarkThompson]

Hey Mark - I’m confused.

At my parish church, the “peace” is exchanged after the Pater Noster and before the Agnus Dei.

(Kind of awkward, because it interferes with the Agnus Dei since there tends to be a lot of residual “action” for the first line of the A.D.)

That is in the OF, and it seems usual practice in all the churches I can think of in Arlington, Richmond, and Washington DC dioceses.

In the EF, the kiss of peace occurs after the Agnus, right? I read the entry in the Catholic Encylopedia, and that seems to have been the practice for most of the last 1000 years. The article indicates it precedes the reception of the eucharist, and the faithful exchange the kiss at the rails.

Before the middle ages, the timing of the peace seems to have varied.

It has been a while since I’ve been to a church with a deacon to sing the gospel, but I seem to recall the priest and deacon exchanged the actual kiss after the Agnus.

Is someone doing something wrong, am I remembering the sequence of what I saw incorrectly, or have I misread your post? Thanks!

No, I think you’re right. When I said “in the same place” in the post you quoted, I was trying to keep it pithy, referring to the general fact, which was under discussion, of its being done after the consecration while the Blessed Sacrament is sitting on the altar. In my defense, in post #20 I was a bit more specific, and remarked that “the sign of peace is slightly earlier in the modern form of the Mass than in the Latin Mass. Formerly it came after the Agnus Dei and immediately before the priest’s communion; now it is between the Pater Noster and the Agnus Dei.” In practice in the TLM, as far as I understand it, the pax would typically be going on while the choral Agnus Dei was still being sung.