NUNTIATORIA

Forgotten Rubrics: The Ceremonial Liturgical Kisses

In the traditional Roman Rite, the gesture of the kiss (osculum) is charged with theological depth. It is not sentimentality, but a visible confession of reverence, charity, and communion with Christ. Each kiss—whether of the altar, the Gospel, the sacred vessels, the priest’s hands, or blessed objects—embodies the mystery of the Incarnation, by which God “kissed” the earth with His presence.

The Kiss of Peace
The pax, the kiss of peace, is the most ancient liturgical kiss, attested already in the New Testament: “Salute one another with a holy kiss” (2 Cor. 13:12). In the Roman Rite, the celebrant first kissed the altar—Christ Himself—before transmitting the peace to the deacon, then the subdeacon, and so forth. Thus peace descended from Christ at the altar into the members of His Mystical Body, emphasising that charity is not man-made goodwill but a grace flowing from the Eucharist¹.

The Kiss of the Altar
The altar, as Christ and the place of sacrifice, is kissed repeatedly during the Mass. At the beginning, the kiss unites priest and altar; during the Gloria and Credo it seals acts of worship offered through Christ; and at the dismissal it expresses gratitude for the completed Sacrifice. The kiss of the altar also honours the relics of the martyrs placed within its stone².

The Kiss of the Gospel
After chanting the Gospel, the celebrant kisses the sacred text, praying: Per evangelica dicta deleantur nostra delicta (“By the words of the Gospel may our sins be blotted out”). Beforehand, the deacon receives the priest’s blessing with a kiss on his hand, showing that the proclamation of the Word is sanctified by Christ through His minister³.

The Kiss of Sacred Objects
Servers and ministers traditionally kissed both the object they presented and the priest’s hand when offering cruets, thurible, paten, or chalice. These double kisses testified that even inanimate things dedicated to the altar are marked by holiness, and that the anointed hands of the priest, by which the Sacrifice is effected, are worthy of honour. In Solemn Mass, the deacon and subdeacon likewise kissed the celebrant’s hands when handing or receiving the sacred vessels⁴.

The Kiss of the Priest’s Hands
The anointed hands of the priest were especially venerated. They are the hands that touch the Host and make Christ present upon the altar. Kissing them recognised not the man himself, but the indelible mark of Christ’s priesthood upon him. This rubric extended beyond Solemn Mass: the faithful, too, would kiss the priest’s hand when receiving blessings or sacred objects, uniting their reverence to that of the clergy⁵.

The Kiss of Blessed Objects by the Faithful
The faithful themselves participated in this language of the kiss, especially during solemn blessings. At Candlemas, when the newly blessed candles were distributed, each communicant would kiss first the candle, then the priest’s hand, before receiving it. On Palm Sunday, the same was done with blessed palms: object first, then the priest’s hand. These actions taught that the blessings flowed through the priest’s hands, consecrated for such mediations, and that the objects themselves were set apart for holy use. Thus even the laity joined in the ritual rhythm of reverence, receiving what was sacred with a kiss of veneration⁶.

The Loss of the Sacred Kiss
In the modern liturgical reforms, most of these gestures were abandoned. The profound choreography of kissing the altar, the priest’s hand, or sacred objects has been replaced with simplified exchanges. The pax became a handshake, the object-kisses abolished, and reverence for the priest’s hands downplayed. Yet with these gestures went a whole catechesis in action: a sacramental language teaching that what is sacred is honoured not only in words but also in touch and kiss.

Theological Meaning
The liturgical kiss embodies the Incarnation: the invisible grace of God made tangible in gesture. The altar kissed by the priest, the candle kissed by the faithful, the hand kissed by the server—all proclaim that Christ sanctifies the material world. To restore these forgotten rubrics is not to indulge in archaism, but to reclaim a pedagogy of the sacred, whereby body and soul together profess reverence for the mysteries of faith. 🔝

1. O’Connell, J.B. The Celebration of Mass: A Study of the Rubrics of the Roman Missal (Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing, 1964), pp. 182–185.
2. St. Justin Martyr, Apologia I, ch. 65, on the Eucharistic kiss of peace.
3. Fortescue, Adrian. The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described (London: Burns Oates, 1918), pp. 81–84.
4. Amalarius of Metz, De ecclesiasticis officiis, I.20, on the kiss of the Gospel.
5. Gihr, Nicholas. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (St. Louis: Herder, 1902), pp. 596–600.
6. Martimort, A.G. (ed.), The Church at Prayer, Vol. II: The Eucharist (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1986), pp. 139–141.