At this point in my presentation of our worship of God, I would return again to the actual prayers and actions of our Liturgy with one thought in mind, namely that the Liturgy can be, if we truly participate in it, transformative. In the present way that we serve the Liturgy, the celebrant makes this exhortation after the Great Entrance and before the Creed is prayed, Let us truly love one another so that with one mind we may profess. This is a most profound exhortation and yet it takes up so little time that it is almost impossible for us to truly hear it – to hear it not only with our outer but also our inner ear. For us today it is just one of the exclamations of the Liturgy. But in earlier times this was not so. We know from the liturgical evidence of the ancient church that a kiss of peace was actually performed after this exclamation, and the entire Church, the entire gathering, took part in it. We used to practice this on a regular basis but with the potential for spreading various viruses, we have not practiced this for some time. We do practice it at Pascha, however, and it is my intention to reintroduce it.
St. John Chrysostom wrote, When the time comes for the exhortation of the mutual reception of the peace, we all kiss each other. Late Byzantine practices had eliminated it. The Western Church reintroduced it after Vatican II, albeit at a different point in the Liturgy. The earlier Byzantine practice was most appropriate since it clearly stated something that Jesus taught, namely that we cannot truly worship God if there is no peace between us and our neighbors.
The response to the exhortation clearly states this. What is it that we profess: The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, one in substance and undivided. This action and prayer is transformative since it reminds us that we cannot love God and hate our neighbor. If we truly mean this when we respond to this exhortation, personal transformation is reinforced.
This rite, the kiss of peace, is not only Eucharistic. It comprises an important and inalienable part of all Christian worship and originally was found in all of the Mysteries that the Church celebrates.
Contrary to the opinion of some, this rite was always a part of the Christian worship and is not a Roman Catholic invention. I will reintroduce it after all read this.