I am a practicing Catholic who usually attends the Novus Ordo on Sunday. While there is nothing wrong with the Novus Ordo itself, it is often celebrated sloppily. There are a variety of different ways to offer the Sacrifice irreverently, and often the irreverence is on the part of the people. Perhaps the most prevalent irreverence occurs during the sign of peace. An ancient tradition dating to Biblical times (John 14:27), in 2023 years it has been reduced to happy hour. Nowadays, many people use this time to chat, engage in PDA, turn around and shake hands with the people in the pew behind oneself, et cetera, et cetera. This often carries into the next solemn prayer, the Agnus Dei, and the constant chatter makes it hard to hear the priest.
Now the sign of peace, properly demonstrated, looks like this:
However, most people are unaware of this, so a simple handshake (only with those on your left and right, without losing focus on the altar) will do.
Notice that the peace comes from the altar. The celebrant gives the sign of peace to the concelebrant (or the deacon or the master of ceremonies), who in turn passes the sign of peace to the next highest ranking server, and so on. Now this peace does not mean merely the absence of war; this peace is order and tranquility, the opposite of chaos. It is NOT to be confused with "hippie peace", often demonstrated by the "peace sign". The common peace sign is of demonic origin. In fact, the logo is based off the cross of Satan, which it closely resembles. The finger gesture was originally used in the 1960's by hippies (new age thinkers who preached a doctrine of complete and total licentiousness, in opposition to the Gospel) who gave it to others who they were signaling as allies. If a hippie gave you the peace sign, it meant, "Chilax, dude. I won't give you any trouble. I'm a commie too." Back then we were waging an unpopular war with what was soon to be Communist Vietnam, and the hippies took their side. That said, no Christian should EVER give anyone that gesture.
This gesture is commonly used at Mass by those Catholics who don't know what the gesture implies. This is simply the devil infiltrating what he hates and fears the most - the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Every Mass, Christ's ultimate victory over Satan is re-presented (not represented; it is literal), something that he simply cannot stand. Thus, he finds any way he can to attack God's children. With this in mind, let us pray the Mass fervently and reverently and never use the blasphemous peace sign again.
Hello, my name is Damien. I've been blogging for a couple years, and run about a dozen different blogs, some more active than others. My best known blog, The Cooperstown Advocate, is all about baseball players and whether I think they should be in the Hall of Fame. In other words, facts and opinions. This blog will feature a wide range of topics, little known facts about them, and my opinions on certain issues. Now comments are open to everyone, but please realize that I always moderate my comments and will not publish overly offensive ones. If anyone wants to have a private discussion with me over email, I can be found at cooperstownadvocate@gmail.com. However, I have been known to be locked out of this email, so I may use a different address.
