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Home , Gospel (liturgy), Kiss of peace

SSMAC Family Sunday – The of Biblical Origins

In four of his letters to Christian communities, St. Paul uses a particular phrase to conclude his message. He tells these communities to “greet one another with a holy kiss.” (Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, :11, 1 Thessalonians 5:26) The idea of greeting with a holy kiss makes us think of many other biblical references to . One such reference is from the where we are told in reference to salvation, that “mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.” (Psalm 84:11) Christ, being named both the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2) and the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), is the fulfillment of this promise that righteousness and peace will be joined for our salvation, and so spreading the kiss of Christ’s peace is a further expression of this . Even more fundamentally, the human species is granted life by a type of a kiss. In Genesis 2:7, God creates man by “breathing into his face the breath of life.” And yet again, after Christ rises from the dead, having finished re-creating humanity, he greets the disciples with the greeting “Peace be unto you: as my Father has sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive the Holy Spirit.” (:21-22) In ancient times, the act of a kiss was used to end a legal conflict and was shared as a mark of reconciliation. Similarly, when the sign of a kiss comes from God, it is life-giving, unifying and peace instilling. In return for God’s generous life-giving kiss, the evil of this world used this very sign and distorted it to become death-causing, dividing, and peace-destroying. When Christ was betrayed by Judas to the high , he did so with a kiss. The God who gave life to Judas did so with a kiss, and in return, Judas betrayed Christ to death with a kiss. As with most things in life, the best that the world has to offer can be corrupted by evil into the worst that the world can offer. It is our job as Christians to take the fallen state of the world, and to reintroduce it to the life, unity, and peace with which God created it. St. Paul has actively chosen to the spread the gospel of by sharing the with which Christ himself greets us.

Liturgical Practice

This phrase from St. Paul, “Greet one another with a holy kiss,” is a line that we are quite familiar with as Armenian Christians, since we hear it chanted by the during every Divine : “Voghchooyn dook meemyants ee hampooyr surpootyan.” This command by the instructs the congregation to participate in a ritualized re-enactment of St. Paul’s words, which we call the Kiss of Peace. As was already explained, we share this kiss not as something novel, but to spread with others what Christ himself has already given us. It is for this reason that the Kiss of Peace is spread from the throughout the congregation. The -bearing deacon receives the Kiss of Peace by kissing the hands of the which are resting upon the : the true presence of Christ in our midst during the Liturgy. So, as the kiss is passed among the entire congregation, it is acknowledged that it is Christ who gives us life, Christ who binds us together as one, and Christ who shares his peace through this kiss. The Kiss of Peace is yet another articulation of the purpose of the Badarak. It is where we are greeted with the life-giving, unifying, and peace-instilling of Christ and are thereby able to share it with the world. Badarak Scavenger Hunt - The “Count” for Peace

Vocabulary:

1. խաղաղութիւն (khaghaghootyoon) – peace: the gift, the coming, and the presence of God himself [taken from incommunion.org]

How to offer the kiss of peace:

The Kiss of Peace is the liturgical seal of the reconciliation and love that we should actualize in our daily lives. It is perfectly acceptable for the faithful to greet each other with a kiss on each cheek, or, with a more ritualized inclination of the head, first to the left, then to the right of the person being greeted. [taken from the Diocesan Book]

The person offering the Kiss of Peace says: Քրիստոս ի մէջ մեր յայտնեցաւ։ Kreesdos Ee Mech Mer Haydnetsav “Christ is revealed among us.”

The response is: Օրհնեա՜լ է յայտնութիւնն Քրիստոսի։ Orhnyal eh haydnootyoonun Kreesdosee. “Blessed is the revelation of Christ.”

Activity

The Kiss of Peace is only one of many times during the Diving Liturgy where we encounter the theme of peace. In fact, the word for peace, khaghaghootyoon, is in the top 10 of the most- frequently used words of the Badarak. Can you count how many times it is used?

From the beginning of the Badarak until we go downstairs for the assembly, how many times is the word khaghaghootyoon used? In your count, include the others forms of this word which we use: uzkhaghaghootyoon (the peace), khaghaghootyan (of peace), khaghaghootyamp (by peace). If you come to Church late, make sure to use your book to count from the pages you missed. The correct answer only includes the times the word khaghaghootyoon is spoken out loud during the service. Do not include when the priest says it during his silent prayers.

Քրիստոս Ի Մէջ Christ in our Midst Traditional Armenian Hymn q = 100 English Adaptation: Dn. Michael Sabounjian mf bb 4 œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ bœ œ VOICE & b4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Krees-dos ee mech mer hayd-ne - tsav, vor Enn Asd-vadz asd paz-me tsav.Kha- Christ is re- vealed, here, in our midst; e One Who Is, with us he sits. e

6 b bœ bœ œ bœ &b b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ gha-ghoo-tyan tsayn hun - che - tsav, soorp vogh-choo - nee hra - man du - vav. Ye - voice of peace, re - soun-ding now, com - mands to greet with ho - ly vow. is

10 b bœ bœ &b b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ge - ghe - tsees mee antsn ye - ghev, ham - pooy - rus hot lur - man du - vav. Tush - Church has now be - come one soul: the ki - ss's bond has made us whole; re -

14 b f &b b œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ bœ œ œ bœ œ œ œ

na - moo-tyoo -nun he - ra - tsav, sern hun - ta - noo - rus su - pre - tsav. Art mov - ing all that makes us fall, and sprea-ding love u - pon us all. With

18 b œ œ œ bœ bœ mp &b b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bash - do - nyak par - tyal uz - tzayn,dook zorh - noo-tyoon ee mee pe - ran, mee - voi - ces raised in songs of praise, e - xalt the Lord in u - ni - ty. Bless

22 rit. b 5 4 U &b b œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ 4 œ bœ œ œ œ œ 4 œ bœ ˙

as - na - gan Asd - va-dzoo tyann,vo - room srov pekn en sur - a - pan. God one sub- tance, Tri - ni - ty, to whom the an - gels sing con-stant - ly.

Draft 2020