KISS. There are in the Scripture Style Kisses of Friendship, Adoration, Homage and Respect, Kisses of Peace and Reconciliation. Saint Paul speaks frequently of the Kiss of Peace, which was in Use among Believers, and was given by them to one another, as a Token of Charity and Union, publickly Heb. xi. 21.in their religious Assemblies. Salute each other with an holy Kiss. We have already spoken of the Kiss of Adoration under the Word Adore. Joseph coming to visit his Father Jacob, who was on his Death-Bed, the good old Man kissed the End of the Staff of Command which he held in his Hand. Adoravit fastigium virgæ ejus. Vide LXX in Gen. xlvii. 31. Esth. v. 2. Ps. xi. 12. juxta Heb.Esther kissed the End of King Ahasuerus’s Scepter, in the Way of Homage and Adoration. The Psalmist exhorts us, to embrace the Son of God, and acknowledge his Dominion. We kiss the Text of the holy Gospels, the Cross, Relicks, Altars, and sacred Vessels, out of Respect, and with a kind of relative Worship, which we pay them: And with this same Spirit the converted Adulteress kissed our Saviour’s Feet, washed them with her Tears, and wiped them with her Hair.
Library / Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible, Complete and Unabridged
Volume II · K
Kiss
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Augustin Calmet, O.S.B., “Kiss,” in Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible, Complete and Unabridged, English translation, Mind of the Church, https://mindofthechurch.com/works/calmet-dictionary/k/kiss/.