Kissing the book. . .

Some have asked me why I kiss the Gospel after the reading of the Gospel.  Let me give a little background.  We do not technically have a Gospel book but have a gold plated ornamented cover for the lectionary (each year for the three year series is place in the metal cover in its time and we also have one for the one year lectionary).  This itself is somewhat unusual in the LCMS but it should not be.  If we say we esteem God's Word as we think we do, nothing could be more fitting than to adorn that book with a noble cover befitting the Word of God.  For what it is worth, I am not a fan of printing out the readings and reading them from the printed page (or even from a binder).  The Word is not temporary but weighty and nothing speaks to this more profoundly than an ornamented book cover. 

When I finish the reading, I say The Word of the Lord!  While the hymnal says This is the Word of the Lord, I have always found it unnecessary to make this sentence or to make it as though you are trying to convince someone that it indeed is the Word of the Lord.  So from the time of my ordination and on I have simply said The Word of the Lord!  And the people respond:  Thanks be to God!  I am always lifting up this lectionary book with its ornamented cover.  The imagery here says that I am reading God's Word off the page -- not doing a dramatic reading or reading information but serving as the voice for God to speak His Word to His people.

When I finish the Gospel reading, I do as has been done for many centuries.  I lean forward and kiss the page of the Gospel read.  It is a simple gesture yet one that is not insignificant.  The point of this is to reference back to the crosses over my forehead, mouth, and heart along with the simple prayer that this Word of the Lord be upon my mind, upon my lips, and in my heart.  Perhaps it is related all the way back to Scripture itself and its warning to the clergy not to speak God's Word to save others only to not be saved yourself by believing the Word of the Lord.  In any case, the ceremony at the end is related to that which begins the reading of the Gospel.  Historically, at a Solemn High Mass, after the deacon reads the Gospel and when he completes the reading of the Gospel, the subdeacon takes the Gospel book to the priest.  Remember he has stopped by the priest to receive a blessing before reading it and now returns to the priest.  At that time, the priest kisses it and pray quietly: Per evangelica dicta deleantur nostra delicta. At a Missa cantata.  At a Low Mass, the priest himself reads the Gospel and then takes the Missal (or Gospel book) in his hands and kisses it, saying the same prayer.

What is that prayer?   Per evangelica dicta deleantur nostra delicta.  Which is rendered in English:  May our sins be blotted away by the reading of this Gospel.  My Latin is rusty but I think that is pretty close.  In any case, it is rather profound thing to say and it says something decidedly Lutheran.  Not only faith is connected with the hearing of the Word of God but also absolution.  It is a tacit and awesome admission that the Word of God is a sacramental Word.  It does not simply talk about absolving sins but absolves them in the speaking and hearing of that God.  The Word is, then, a means of grace.  The short prayer is a simple acknowledgement of its sacramental role and function.  It is the pastor's voice but Jesus speaking.  Thanks be to God!  And now you know the rest of the story...