The pecidiar tendency of the Christian religion to encourage honor towards all men, as men, to foster and develop the softer affections, and, in the trying condi- tion of the early Church, to make its members intimate- ly known one to another, and miite them in the closest bonds, led to the observance of kissing as an accompani- ment of that social worship wliich took its origin in the very cradle of our religion. (See Coteler, ^Id comtituf. A post, ii, 57; Fessel, .1 t/cc rs. sacr. p. 283.) Hence the exhortation, " Salute each other with a holy kiss" (Rom. xvi, 16 ; see also 1 Cor. xvi, 20 ; 2 Cor. xiii, 12 ; 1 Thess. V, 26; in 1 Pet. v, 14 it is termed "a kiss of charity"). " It might, perhaps, be understood among the members of the Church that the kiss was to be exchanged be- tween persons of the same sex only, though no direc- tion to this effect is found in the apostolic epistles, and it is known that in process of time the heathen took oc- casion from the practice to reproach the Christians for looseness of- manners. On this account care was taken (as ajipears from the Apostolical Constitutions) to main- tain iu respect to it the distinction of sexes; but the practice itself was kept up f<ir centuries, especially in connection with the celebration of the Supper. It was regarded as the si>ecial token of perfect reconciUation and concord among the members of the Clunch, and was called simply the peace {ilpijrij), or the Iciss of peace (osculum pacis). It was exchanged in the Eastern Church before, but 'in the Western after the consecra- tion prayer. L^ltimately, however, it was discontinued as a badge of Cliristian fellowship, or a part of any Christian solemnity" (Fairbairn). (See Apost. Constif. ii, 67 ; viii, il ; Just. Mart. Ajiol. i, (io; Palmer, On Lit.
KISSOS
113
KITE
ii, 102, aiid note from Du Cange; Kw^hamjChri.ff. An- tiq. b. xii, c. iv, § 5, vol. \v, 49 ; b. ii, c. xi, § 10, vol. i, 1(51 ; b. ii, c. xix, § 17, vol. i, 272; b. iv, c. vi, § 14, vol. i, 526 ; b. xxii, c. iii, § 6, vol. vii, 316 ; see also Cod.Just.V. Tit. iii, 16, de Don. ante Niipt.; Brande, Pop. Antiq. ii, 87). The peculiar circumstances have now vanished which gave propriety and emphasis to such an expression of brotherly love and Christian friendship. (See Wemyss, C'lavis Symbolica, s. v.) The kiss of peace still forms part of one of the rites of the Romish Church. It is given immediately before the communion ; the clergy- man who celebrates mass kissing the altar, and em- bracing the deacon, saying, " Pax tibi, frater, ct ecclesiiB sanct;^ Dei ;'" the deacon does the same to the subdea- con, saying, " Pax tecum ;"' the latter then salutes the others.
Kissing the foot or toe has been required by the popes as a sign of respect from the secular power since the 8th century. The first who received this honor was jiope Constantine I. It was paid him by the emperor Jus- tinian If, on his entry into Constantinople in 710. Val- entine I, about 827, required every one to kiss his foot, and from that time this mark of reverence appears to have been expected by all popes. When the ceremony takes place, the pope wears a slipper with a cross, which is kissed. In more recent times, Protestants have not been required to kiss the pope's foot, but merely to bend tlie knee slightly. See Adoration.
On tlie suljject of this article generally, consult Em- merich, De OacuUs up. Vtt. ill discesim (Meining. 1783); Heckcl, De Osculis (Lipsia?, 1689) ; Pfanner, De. Oscidis Christiano?: Veter., in his Obs. Sac?: ii, 131-201 ; Kem- pius, Z>e Osculis (Francof. 1680); Jac. Herrenschmidius, 0.<!Ci(lof/ia (Viteb. 1630); Muller,Z>e Osculo Sancto (Jena, 1674) ; Boberg, De Osculis Ilebi: ; Lomeier, Diss, fjenial. p. 328; alsoinUgolini,7'(^fS(7?(r.vol. xx; Gotz, De Osculo (Jena, 1670); hange, Friedenhiss d.alten Christen (Leipz. 1747) ; compare Fabricius, Bihliofp: andquar. p. lOlG sq. ; and other monographs cited by Volbeding, Index, p. 55, 147. See Salutation.
Kissos. See I\"i'.
Kisteniaker, Johann Hyacintii, a celebrated Ro- man Catholic theologian, was born August 15, 1754, at Nordhorn, in Hanover, and was educated at the Univer- sity of Minister. He was ordained priest Dec. 22, 1777, but filled the rostrum instead of the ])ulpit, and became quite celebrated for his attainments as a linguist. In 1786 he was elected professor of philology at his alma niator, and in 1795 was transferred to the chair of Bib- lical exegesis. He died March 2, 1834. Of his numer- ous works we have room here only for the titles of those most important in theology, which are, Commen- tatio de nova exegesi prcEcip)ue Veteris Testamenti ex col- laiis scriptoribus Greeds et Romctnis scripta (iMiinster. 1806) -.—Exefjet. Abhandlnnr/ iiber Matt, xvi, 18, 10, and xix, 3-12. oder iiber den Primat Petri und das IChehand : — Exegesis critica in Psalmos Ixvii, et cix, et excuisus in Daniel iii defornace ignis (1809) : — Weissagung Jesu vom Gericht iiber Judda und die Welt, etc. (1816): — Canticum canticorum illustratum ex Hierographia Ori- entallum (1818): — Weissagung vom Dnmanuel (1824); and especially Biblia sacra Vulgatw editionis juxta ex- emplar Vaticanum (1824,3 vols.), dedicated to pope Leo XII; and his translation of the New Testament (1825), which is largely circulated among the Roman Catholics of Germany. Sec Hamberger, Das gekhrte Deutschland, Appendix, vols. xviii and xxiii; Wetzer und Weltc, A'tV- chen-Lexikon, vol. vi, s. v. ; xii, 671 sq. (.J. H. W.)