Pax Vobiscum

Throughout your humble blogger's childhood the 1928 Book of Common Prayer dictated the structure and wording of all Episcopal services.

(Image from ancient faith blog)

The 1979 revision to the BCP was much thicker than its predecessor; not only did it retain most of the original 1928 prayer book, it offered contemporary wording for those who found the sound of thees and thous to be as discordant as clanging cymbals. One insertion was permanent, however. All four versions of Holy Communion now had the Passing of the Peace.

It is initiated by the celebrant, who says, "The peace of the Lord be always with you." The people respond, "And also with you." The ministers and people may greet one another in the name of the Lord (BCP, pp. 332, 360). Any appropriate words of greeting may be used in the exchange of peace that follows between individuals (BCP, p. 407). The gesture of greeting has been expressed in a variety of ways, including a kiss on the cheek, an embrace, a handclasp, or a bow. The peace is also known as the kiss of peace and the Pax (from the Latin, "peace").

The Peace is a two-thousand-year-old tradition that had been eliminated by the Anglican Church in 1552, 18 years after its founding. Now that the Peace has been restored, it's difficult to imagine services without it.

John Danforth, Episcopal priest and former Missouri Senator, and Matt Malone, Catholic priest, believe that something as simple as passing the peace can reduce the polarization of American politics:

John Danforth

This may sound fantastical or naively optimistic, but a common element in the traditions of both our churches may provide a practical model for reducing polarization. It is called the exchange of peace, a simple act of reconciliation before beginning the most sacred part of the liturgy. We turn to one another and say: “The peace of the Lord be always with you.” This practice should go beyond our sanctuaries. Imagine if Americans began to exchange the peace with their political opponents. In a secular setting they could simply say, “I am your friend.”

This would transform the tone of politics. Treating opponents as friends would be more than a nicety. By showing that we are disposed to listen as well as speak, it would make possible real dialogue.

Matt Malone

It would be a step toward bridge building and away from confrontation. Christians have a mandate to take up such a ministry of reconciliation—to help heal this country. For in the Christian tradition, truth is ultimately a person, the one who is “the way and the truth and the life.” Truth, therefore, is someone encountered in love, not something wielded as a weapon. No opinion, however passionately held, can ultimately be called truthful if it isn’t spoken in charity. That is precisely what St. Paul meant when he wrote: “Though I speak in the tongues of angels, but have not love, I am a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”

For Christians to embark consciously on a ministry of reconciliation would be a profound gift to America. This would be an ambitious ministry requiring dedication, imagination, persistence and interfaith coordination. But with prayer and imagination, we can find countless ways in countless situations to exchange the peace.

Face-to-face contact makes it more difficult to hate the person with whom one is so engaged. Such contact is forbidden in the year of the coronavirus and makes it all the more urgent that religious services be resumed.

There is a disease that can yet kill thousands, but there is a different disease abroad in the land that can kill the entire body that holds everything together.