Veneration of the Cross - the kiss

[IrishAm]

Do you kiss the cross itself or kiss the feet of Jesus? I’ve heard conflicting information and, relying on my old St. Joseph Missal, it reads rather confusing. It is clear that the priest kisses the feet of Jesus, but not so clear if the people kiss the cross or his feet.

Opinions? (Sources?)

 

[ohioszo]

Anywhere on the cross.

Which reminds me of Raymond Arroyo and his friend’s walk on EWTN, where they speak of the finding of the very small piece of the real cross. That piece, put amongst other pieces, cured some people when it was found in the 300 AD, by a royal personage. It is now at the Vatican, and splinters of it are in every Cathedral in the world.

 

[Mattapoisett64]

This comes up every year. In a number of parishes, a large “plain” (i.e., no corpus) cross is used for veneration (“Behold the *wood *of the cross, on which hung the Savior of the world . . .”) so in such cases one can kiss or touch any part of the cross. Where the Corpus is present, I would think you would be free to venerate the feet certainly.

 

[IrishAm]

Anywhere on the cross.

Which reminds me of Raymond Arroyo and his friend’s walk on EWTN, where they speak of the finding of the very small piece of the real cross. That piece, put amongst other pieces, cured some people when it was found in the 300 AD, by a royal personage. It is now at the Vatican, and splinters of it are in every Cathedral in the world.

Now THAT I know – found by Helena, mother of Constantine . . .

 

[hamburglar]

Bow and kiss the feet of the Corpus.

This is from my 1949 St. Andrew Missal (emphasis mine):

He [the priest] prostrates himself three times and finally bends and kisses the feet of the crucifix. This done he returns to his seat and puts on his shoes and the chasuble. Immediately after him the ministers and the other clergy, followed by the faithful, two and two, go up, prostrate themselves and adore as above.

 

[LilyM]

Now THAT I know – found by Helena, mother of Constantine . . .

My confirmation saint

I do neither (not fond of kissing inanimate objects that’ve been slobbered on by dozens of people before me) so I kiss my hand and touch it to the feet of the corpus, if there is one, or where they would be if it’s a plain Cross.

 

[BlessedMomof2]

Speaking of Veneration of the Cross - our priest mentioned (last sunday when speaking about the upcoming Triduum, giving a rundown of what happens each day) that people may remove their shoes during veneration of the Cross.



I’m 41 and have never heard of this. Anyone?

 

[Chatter163]

Removing the shoes is an ancient tradition, stil common in many countries, kind of hit-or-miss in American parishes today. The older or more “old-world” ethnic a parish is, the more likely it is to practice this, while newer or more suburban parishes are probably less likely. Some parishes, mine included, announce that it is optional. I have always preferred the removal of shoes. In the pre-VII rite, it was assumed that everyone present would do so, if able.

 

[BayernAnhaenger]

Speaking of Veneration of the Cross - our priest mentioned (last sunday when speaking about the upcoming Triduum, giving a rundown of what happens each day) that people may remove their shoes during veneration of the Cross.



I’m 41 and have never heard of this. Anyone?

The priest and servers do this in the Traditional Latin Mass.

It’s to signify (I think) humility, and is akin to what Moses did with the Burning Bush.

 

[Kathrin]

At the service I went to people put flowers by the cross, and you could take some frankincense and put it there too.
The cross was further back, so I don’t think it was meant for kissing.

This is in a town in Switzerland.

 

[benedictgal]

Speaking of Veneration of the Cross - our priest mentioned (last sunday when speaking about the upcoming Triduum, giving a rundown of what happens each day) that people may remove their shoes during veneration of the Cross.



I’m 41 and have never heard of this. Anyone?

I, too, am 41, and I have seen this on many occasions. In fact, I just saw the Holy Father take off his shoes to venerate the cross.

Back when we were part of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, one of our former bishops, who is now the Metropolitan of San Juan, explained to us that the removal of the shoes was a sign of humility. Since then, I have removed my shoes when I go to venerate the Cross.

 

[BlessedMomof2]

Removing the shoes is an ancient tradition, stil common in many countries, kind of hit-or-miss in American parishes today. The older or more “old-world” ethnic a parish is, the more likely it is to practice this, while newer or more suburban parishes are probably less likely. Some parishes, mine included, announce that it is optional. I have always preferred the removal of shoes. In the pre-VII rite, it was assumed that everyone present would do so, if able.

ahha. That makes sense.

Our parish houses the Brazilian parish for our diocese. Normally during the rest of the year they have their own mass on Sunday nights, their own CCD, their own sacraments and the two parishes rarely interact (unless it’s a social function) however, we “share” holy week ; for instance, we had 2 homilies last night and one reading in Portuguese and a few songs from their choir and a few songs from ours. So perhaps this is something that is in their tradition. (aside from the clucking from the older women celebrating Easter with them is amazing - they have such a beautiful language and even if I don’t understand what their priest is saying I sort of “feel” it, and they real feel for traditional worship. )

 

[LilyM]

The priest and servers do this in the Traditional Latin Mass.

It’s to signify (I think) humility, and is akin to what Moses did with the Burning Bush.

Our OF priest and servers did it too, on my understanding. I may do this myself next Good Friday - didn’t know it was traditional for the laity as well.

 

[AngelRose81]

Tonight at our Good Friday service, for the procession before the veneration of the cross where the unveiling of the cross occurs, we used an empty cross. This was the first time I’ve seen this. This was the cross used for veneration for part of the church that was seated on the main aisle (where I was) but there were crucifixes held by the other deacons for veneration for the rest of the church (we attend a large parish). Was this ok that an empty cross with no corpus was used? It just seemed a bit odd to me.

 

[Matariel]

Tonight at our Good Friday service, for the procession before the veneration of the cross where the unveiling of the cross occurs, we used an empty cross. This was the first time I’ve seen this. This was the cross used for veneration for part of the church that was seated on the main aisle (where I was) but there were crucifixes held by the other deacons for veneration for the rest of the church (we attend a large parish). Was this ok that an empty cross with no corpus was used? It just seemed a bit odd to me.

Huh… the same thing happened at my church. We had a blank wooden cross, with no body of Christ on it.

 

[Like]

Huh… the same thing happened at my church. We had a blank wooden cross, with no body of Christ on it.

Strange, this is the first time at my parish tonight we had a crucifixes to kiss. In the past it was always a cross as Christ is in the tomb. There shouldn’t be any sacramentals exposed eg.holy water founts, statues or candles or Crucifixes.

 

[StarMaiden]

In my church for as long as I can remember with have always had a crucifix.

 

[Joannm]

We use a large life size cross for the procession and use that in the center for veneraltion with priests off to the side with crucifixs. Most people go to the big cross. If you think about what the priest is singing when he processes in, “This is the wood of the cross on which hung the Savior of the world.”

 

[Phemie]

Even in large churches there is only supposed to be one cross for veneration.

Paschale Solemnitatis says:

1. The Cross is to be presented to each of the faithful individually for their veneration, since the personal veneration of the Cross is a most important feature in this celebration, and only when necessitated by the large numbers of faithful present should the rite of veneration be made simultaneously by all present. (72)

Only one Cross should be used for the veneration, as this contributes to the full symbolism of the rite. During the veneration of the Cross the antiphons, “Reproaches”, and hymns should be sung, so that the history of salvation be commemorated through song. (73) Other appropriate songs may also be sung (cf. n. 42).

Many interpret ‘cross’ to mean an empty cross and I’ve experienced it like that for the last 11 years in this parish. But since the Pope uses a crucifix, and who would know better, I think we can safely use one too.