St. Thomas

Question:Why do you kiss the altar at Mass?
Answer:  There are three reasons. One: Why do we kiss anything? We show respect and affection for the ones we love with a greeting of a kiss. As a priest, I kiss the altar out of gratitude for the Salvation of God. It’s at the altar we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, and I love the Lord for it. Two: A kiss can be a sign of submission. One can be called to kiss the feet or the ring of one who rules over you. (There’s an old custom of kissing a bishop’s ring when you greet him that demonstrates this practice.) As a priest of God, I submit to the Lord as his servant at the place of my service, the altar. Three: We honor the saints in heaven who are present in a relic in the altar. Each altar has an altar stone containing a relic of a saint. Since the saints are people we know who lived lives of virtue and have been welcomed into the Beatific Vision, we honor them with a kiss. As we hope to be united with Christ in the gift of the Eucharist at the altar, we seek to stand with those saints who are with Christ in glory. For these reasons, I kiss the altar as I begin the Mass and end it.