14. _Thou gavest Me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss My feet._ A kiss is the sign of love. But how could the Jew possess this, who knew not peace, who received not peace from Christ when He said, _Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you_? This kiss belongs then not to the Synagogue but to the Church, to her who looked for Him, who loved Him, who said, _Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth_. For the ardour of that lingering desire, which had grown with waiting for the Lord’s coming, she sought slowly to quench by His kiss, and to satisfy her thirst by this gift. Wherefore the holy Prophet says, _Thou shalt open my lips, and my mouth shall shew Thy praise_. He then who praises the Lord Jesus kisses Him; and he who praises surely believes in Him. Thus David Himself says, _I believed, and therefore have I spoken_; and before, _Let my mouth be filled with Thy praise, and let me sing of Thy glory_. Sidenote: Ib. cxix. 131. Sidenote: Rom. x. 10. Sidenote: S. Matt. xxiv. 15. 15. Concerning the gift of special grace the same Scripture also teaches thee that he who receives the Spirit kisses Christ, for the holy Prophet says, _I opened my mouth, and drew in the spirit_[206]. He then kisses Christ, who confesses Him; _For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation_. He kisses the feet of Christ, who, reading the Gospel, recognizes the acts of the Lord Jesus, and admires them with pious affection; thus religiously kissing, as it were, the Lord’s steps as He walks. We kiss Christ then with the kiss of Communion; _Whoso readeth let him understand_. Sidenote: S. Luke xxii. 48. 16. But how can the Jew have this kiss? For as he believed not in His Advent, so neither did he believe in His Passion, for how can that man believe that He suffered, who believes not that He came? Hence the Pharisee had no kiss save haply that of the traitor Judas. But neither had Judas this kiss, and therefore when he would have shewn to the Jews that kiss which was the concerted sign of his betrayal, the Lord says to him: _Judas, betrayest |thou| the Son of man with a kiss?_ that is, ‘Thou offerest a kiss, though thou hast not the love that the kiss should express, thou offerest a kiss who art ignorant of the mystical meaning[207] of the kiss.’ What is required is not the kiss of the lips, but of the heart and mind. Sidenote: S. Matt. xv. 8. 17. But you will say that he kissed the Lord. True it is he kissed Him with his lips, and this kiss the Jewish people has, wherefore it is said, _This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me_. Wherefore he has not the kiss who has not faith and charity; for by a kiss is conveyed the force of love. Where love is not, nor faith, nor charity, how can there be any sweetness in kisses? Sidenote: Cant. i. 1. Sidenote: S. Luke ii. 51.