CE Chapel of New College, Oxford 2.xi 2016

[mopsus]

Perish the thought that people should do as the bible says in 2 Corinthians 13, 12 and 'greet one another with a holy kiss'.

The form of the Peace greeting varies according to local culture. In India I have seen a namaste-type greeting, and in Japan (perhaps the last redoubt of Catholic women wearing veils in church) people bow to one another. Maybe some of those who feel uncomfortable with the Peace would prefer a form like these that does not involve physical contact?

[Dafydd y G.W.]

The form of the Peace greeting varies according to local culture. In India I have seen a namaste-type greeting, and in Japan (perhaps the last redoubt of Catholic women wearing veils in church) people bow to one another. Maybe some of those who feel uncomfortable with the Peace would prefer a form like these that does not involve physical contact?

Shaking hands doesn't make sense. One only shakes hands when first introduced to a person, so by using this gesture as the Sign of Peace one is in effect saying "You are a stranger" - which is the opposite of what is intended.

Incidentally the Peace does survive vestigially (and purely verbally) in the B.C.P. In 1552 Cranmer tacked it on to the final blessing ("The peace of God, which passeth ....").

[jean]

...One only shakes hands when first introduced to a person...

Try telling that to the French!

[Dafydd y G.W.]

Try telling that to the French!

Indeed. It was precisely that contrast which lay behind my comment. The gesture is the same, but it has different implications in the two cultures.

[W.Kearns]

If the sign of peace is supposed to be a greeting, why doesn't it come at the opening of the service where the glad-handing would not interrupt the liturgy?

[Dafydd y G.W.]

If the sign of peace is supposed to be a greeting, why doesn't it come at the opening of the service where the glad-handing would not interrupt the liturgy?

Presumably the Ambrosian position immediately before the offertory reflects Matthew 5, 23-24:

Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

The Pax not meant to be a mere greeting, but a sign that all the participants in the Eucharist have set aside any differences and are literally "at peace" with one another before they proceed to the actual offering of the sacrifice.

It is pity, however, that the admonition of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal is not more widely heeded:

[...] it is appropriate that each person, in a sober manner, offer the sign of peace only to those who are nearest.

Wise advice for Christians of all denominations.

[jean]

It was precisely that contrast which lay behind my comment.

I was thinking rather of what the French think shaking hands means to the English as against what it actually means (That is, not much.)

[ArpSchnitger]

I recall a story involving Her Majesty the Queen and, I think, former Commons speaker George Thomas/Viscount Tonypandy. He was seated next to the Queen at an official service in the early days of the ASB or Series 3 which involved action at the peace. Having not been warned in advance, he suddenly realised that he would have to share the peace with the monarch, but there was no existing protocol on how to do so, and, as shaking hands didn't seem appropriate, he decided on the spur of the moment to offer a dignified bow, which seems to have been a good choice.