puricare chronicles: KISSING THE ALTAR - In Roman Catholicism, the altar is both the sacrificial table and the place where the paschal feast takes place.

Sunday, September 16, 2018

KISSING THE ALTAR - In Roman Catholicism, the altar is both the sacrificial table and the place where the paschal feast takes place.

Kissing The Altar

The Catholic
Tradition of a Priest Kissing the Altar

by Ezra Rose

The Roman Catholic Mass begins with the procession. Each member genuflects at the altar, and the priest and deacon kiss the altar in an act of veneration.

The Altar of Sacrifice

In Roman Catholicism, the altar is both the sacrificial table and the place where the paschal feast takes place.

During the first centuries of Christianity, when the Eucharist was still illegal, Christian altars were constructed from wood and often resembled ordinary house tables.

This practice continued until the Middle Ages when, in 517, the provincial council of Epeaune in France decreed that altars should be made of stone to signify “Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” of Catholicism.

Venerated relics were conserved in cavities in the stone altars of newly built Basilicas, which were then placed directly above the tomb of a martyr to evoke those times during the persecutions of the church when martyrs' tombs were utilized as places of Eucharistic celebration.

In Remembrance of Me.

The Eucharist is housed in the Tabernacle, which is present in the sanctuary. It is customary to genuflect in reverence to the Tabernacle when entering the sanctuary.

According to Catholicism, Jesus Christ established the Holy Eucharist prior to his death on the cross by informing the twelve apostles to “do this in remembrance of me.”

The Eucharist involves the Roman Catholic concept of Transubstantiation:the bread and wine take on the substance of Christ, maintaining their literal taste and appearance while becoming, in essence, his body and blood.

The Altar

An act of veneration, the holy kiss, or kiss of peace, occurs three times during the Mass, the first of which is at the altar.

Like the cross on Calvary, where the Bible says that Jesus Christ sacrificed his life and was crucified, the altar is considered a place of sacrifice.

In kissing the altar, the priest symbolizes the bond between Christ and his church; acknowledges the sacrifices of those martyrs (relics) who gave their life for the furtherance of the faith; and, when performed with the deacon, is an extension of peace to the community.

The final kiss is also given at the altar to venerate the table as a symbol of Christ, as well as being the place where the faithful offer their bodies as a "living sacrifice."

The Living Word.

The next holy kiss seals and venerates the Word after the liturgy of the Word at the Ambo.

The Ambo is a lectern where the deacon carries the Gospel book.

The Gospel is seen to have within it the power to transform the lives of the faithful.

According to Catholicism, just as Christ became the living Word, so the faithful should seek to do the same.

About the Author

Confident, charming and engaging, I combine skills as a creative writer, performer and vocalist to provoke opinions, motivate, inform and influence thought. I have a powerful use of rhetoric and am camera savvy and comfortable. An accomplished Music and Theatre Practitioner, I have shared stages, studios and screen time with, amongst others: Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, Elton John, Chaka Khan and Joss Stone, Westlife, Leona Lewis, Katharine Jenkins, Lemar, Blue, The Gorillaz and Tori Amos, Paul Carrack, Ralph McTell, Mica Paris, Beverly Knight, The Sugababes, Girls Aloud, Barry Manilow, JLS, John Legend, Dappy, Will Young, Duffy and Eliza Doolittle. I first appeared in Daddy Cool (Shaftesbury Theatre) before creating the role of Pastor Brown in the Berlin production. I then created the roles of W.L Bost, Frank Bell and Morris Sheppard in the UK Tour ‘Slavery’; assumed the role of Scar in The Lion King (Paris) before creating the role of Sam in Bill Kenwright’s UK No.1 Tour, Whistle Down The Wind and going on to play Cab Calloway, James Brown and Ray Charles in a West End revival of The Blues Brothers. Most recently I have performed as Bertie Cadogan and Frederic Fitzwilliam in the original workshops and rehearsed reading for Roots & Rhythm – The musical to be staged in the spring of 2013 at the Hackney Empire.

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