Finding Peace In The Rite of Peace

The Rite of Peace of the Novus Ordo Missae has been the occasion for increased controversy for the better part of half a century. Many articles have been written that lament the manner in which it is celebrated or that call for the Rite, or a least any hint of an exchange, to be suppressed altogether.

During the Rite, one commonly observes people shaking hands or exchanging hugs or kisses, extending fist-bumps or patting each other on the back, or people bowing toward one another with a measure of restraint. For all intentions, the Rite still remains an awkward moment at a time when the assembly  should be aware of and disposed in body and mind to the obvious - Jesus' Body and Blood is on the altar.

Actions can speak louder than words. Combined, words and actions provide a poetry that disposes the believer to the will and influence of Christ. Each person, properly disposed to the action the Holy Spirit, to the grace of God, becomes a conduit of Christ's peace, a leaven of peace in the world.

Though recent popes have reminded us that we should maintain an appropriate sobriety proper to the nature of the The Peace, many or perhaps most parishes regularly tolerate significant deviations from the norms, including those listed in the excerpt below. The norms are strong reminders to where the focus and our attention should be directed.

Pope Francis on June 7, 2014, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDW) issued the protocol for the ritual expression of the exchange of peace at Mass.

c) In any case, it will be necessary, at the time of the exchange of peace, to definitively avoid abuses such as:

• the introduction of a “song for peace,” which is non-existent in the Roman Rite.
• the movement of the faithful from their places to exchange the sign of peace amongst themselves.
• the departure of the priest from the altar in order to give the sign of peace to some of the faithful.
• that in certain circumstances, such as at the Solemnity of Easter or of Christmas, or during ritual celebrations such as Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, Matrimony, Sacred Ordinations, Religious Professions, and Funerals, the exchange of peace being the occasion for expressing congratulations, best wishes or condolences among those present.10

10 Cf. General Instruction on the Roman Missal, n. 82: “It is appropriate that each person, in a sober manner, offer the sign of peace only to those who are nearest”; n. 154: “The priest may give the Sign of Peace to the ministers but always remains within the sanctuary, so that the celebration is not disrupted. He may do the same if, for a reasonable cause, he wishes to offer the Sign of Peace to a small number of the faithful”; CONGREGATION FOR DIVINE WORSHIP AND THE DISCIPLINE OF THE SACRAMENTS, Istr., Redemptionis sacramentum, March 25, 2004, n. 72: AAS 96 (2004) 572.

In Divine Worship, the Mass of the Personal Ordinariates, The Peace is typically celebrated in a manner that preserves the nature of the Rite. The priest-celebrant, turning toward the people, extends the Peace of Christ, the peace only Christ can give, that proceeds from Jesus Who is present - Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity - upon the altar.

In the solemn high form of Divine Worship, the priest, after kissing the altar, embraces the deacon, who in turn embraces the subdeacon. The Rite occurs in the same place as in the Novus Ordo Missae, after the Lord's Prayer and before The Communion.

THE PEACE

Then bowing in the middle of the altar, with hands joined upon it, the Priest says:

LORD Jesus Christ, who saidst to thine Apostles, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: regard not our sins, but the faith of thy Church; and grant to her peace and unity according to thy will; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Priest kisses the altar and, turning toward the People and extending his hands, he sings or says:

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

People: And with thy spirit. The People may offer one another a sign of peace.

The people's response - And with thy spirit - suffices to affirm the communion of peace that Christ offers His people.

The People kneel.

As the Priest takes the Host and breaks it, he sings or says:

(Alleluia.) Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;

People: Therefore let us keep the feast. (Alleluia.)

The Priest places a particle of the Host in the Chalice, making the Sign of the Cross with it, saying quietly:

May this mingling and consecration of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to us who receive it.

The Priest genuflects, and then the Agnus Dei is sung or said:

O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.

O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.

O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, grant us thy peace.

At Masses for the Dead, the petitions are grant them rest (twice) and grant them rest everlasting.

Abusus non tollit usum. Abuse does not cancel use. Misuse of something is no argument against its proper use. Agreed. The Church in Her wisdom also agrees, and has taken necessary action to curb abuses that creep in from time to time. That the Rite of Peace is so prone to distortion may require, once again - as in the day of Pope Saint Gregory or in the 15th and 16th centuries on the eve of the Reformation - to subdue practices that bend attention away from Jesus and the peace only Christ can give.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. - St John 14:27