Page:The Kiss and its History.djvu/120

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106
THE KISS

Even after the use of the pax had been abolished by the Reformation, the "book-money," as a customary due to the clerk, was retained. But at a congress at Roskilde in 1565, parish clerks were forbidden to demand this fee.

The holy kiss is still imparted in the Greek Church on Easter Sunday; all the faithful greet leach other in church with kisses, and the words, "Christ is risen," the reply to which being, "Verily, He hath risen." In the Roman Catholic liturgy this usage has been confined to certain masses, and the holy kiss is only exchanged among the clergy, not among the members of the congregation. First, the bishop and archdeacon kiss the altar, then the archdeacon kneels down and the bishop gives him the kiss of peace with the words: Pax tibi, frater, et ecclesiæ sanctæ Dei (Peace be with thee, brother, and with God's Holy Church). The archdeacon answers: Et cum spiritu tuo (And with thy spirit), after which he gets up, genuflects towards the altar, and carries the kiss of peace to the chief canon, whom he kisses on the left cheek with the words pax tibi, and thus it is sent round to