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The kiss of peace is a traditional Christian greeting dating to early Christianity. The practice remains a part of the worship in traditional churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Orthodox churches, Oriental Orthodox churches and some liturgical mainline Protestant denominations, where it is often called the kiss of peace, sign of peace, or simply peace or pax. It is practiced as a part of worship in many Anabaptist heritage groups including Old German Baptist Brethren, and Apostolic Christian. ==Sources== It was the widespread custom in the ancient western Mediterranean for men to greet each other with a kiss on the cheek. That was also the custom in ancient Judea and practiced also by Christians. In the Gospels, greeting with a kiss was also the custom practiced by Jesus. However, the New Testament's reference to a holy kiss (''en philemati hagio'') and kiss of love (''en philemati agapēs'') transformed the character of the act beyond a greeting. Such a kiss is mentioned five times in the New Testament: * Romans — "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (Greek: ). * I Corinthians — "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (Greek: ). * II Corinthians — "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (Greek: ). * I Thessalonians — "Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss" (Greek: ). * I Peter — "Greet one another with a kiss of love" (Greek: ).〔It has been noted that these mentions of the holy kiss come at the end of these epistles. Since these epistles were addressed to Christian communities they would most probably have been read in the context of their communal worship. If the assemblies for worship already concluded in a celebration of the Eucharist the holy kiss would already have occurred in the position it would later occupy in most ancient Christian liturgical tradition (with the exception of the Roman Rite), namely after the proclamation of the Word and at the beginning of the celebration of the Eucharist.〕 The writings of the early church fathers speak of the holy kiss, which they call "a sign of peace", which was already part of the Eucharistic liturgy, occurring after the Lord's Prayer in the Roman Rite and the rites directly derived from it. St. Augustine, for example, speaks of it in one of his Easter Sermons: Augustine's Sermon 227 is just one of several early Christian primary sources, both textual and iconographic (i.e., in works of art) providing clear evidence that the "kiss of peace" as practiced in the Christian liturgy was customarily exchanged for the first several centuries, not mouth to cheek, but mouth to mouth (note that men were separated from women during the liturgy) for, as the primary sources also show, this is how early Christians believed Christ and his followers exchanged their own kiss. For example, In his ''Paschale carmen'' (ca. 425-50), Latin priest-poet Sedulius condemns Judas and his betrayal of Christ with a kiss thus, "And leading that sacrilegious mob with its menacing swords and spikes, you press your mouth against his, and infuse your poison into his honey?"〔 For a documented discussion of the mouth-to-mouth early Christian kiss of peace, see Franco Mormando, "Just as your lips approach the lips of yours brothers: Judas Iscariot and the Kiss of Betrayal," in ''Saints and Sinners: Caravaggio and the Baroque Image,'' ed. F. Mormando (Chestnut Hill, MA: McMullen Museum of Boston College, 1999), pp.179-190.〕 The kiss of peace was known in Greek from an early date as ''eirḗnē'' () ("peace", which became ''pax'' in Latin and peace in English).〔Catholic Encyclopedia - (Kiss )〕 The source of the peace greeting is probably from the common Hebrew greeting shalom; and the greeting "Peace be with you" is similarly a translation of the Hebrew shalom aleichem. In the Gospels, both greetings were used by Jesus - e.g. ; , . The Latin term translated as "sign of peace" is simply ''pax'' ("peace"), not ''signum pacis'' ("sign of peace") nor ''osculum pacis'' ("kiss of peace"). So the invitation by the deacon, or in his absence by the priest, "Let us offer each other the sign of peace", is in Latin: ''Offerte vobis pacem'' ("Offer each other peace" or "Offer each other the peace"). From an early date, to guard against any abuse of this form of salutation, women and men were required to sit separately, and the kiss of peace was given only by women to women and by men to men.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kiss of peace」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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