Do your Bishops still slap confirmands?

[gtsecc]

Or touch their cheek saying, "Pax tecum!" or "Peace be with you!"?

 

[Holcomb]

Or touch their cheek saying, "Pax tecum!" or "Peace be with you!"?

I wish I could get it when I'm confirmed, but I think that's fallen out of style pretty much everywhere, sadly.

 

[Tonks]

Or touch their cheek saying, "Pax tecum!" or "Peace be with you!"?

Nope. Of course the question made me chuckle as all I could think of was the scene in the last Indiana Jones: "und zees iz how ve say gutbuy in germany" lol.

At any rate, I've never seen the practice.

 

[gtsecc]

My Bishop slapped me when I was confirmed.
I don't know how wide spread that is these days.

 

[Cosmic Charlie]

Do your Bishops still slap confirmands?

In my neighborhood ?

Only if he wants an elbow in his teeth.

 

[QuantaCura]

In this age of uber-sensitivity and lawsuits, I doubt it happens at all. When I was confirmed the bishop brought it up, but then told us he wasn't going to do it.

 

[BillH]

I got slapped for mine!

It wasn't by our bishop, though -- I was confirmed through my university's RCIA program, and the university's calendar wouldn't allow the Archbishop of DC to come and confirm us. Hence, one of the priests at our school got deputized to perform the confirmation. He was a middle-aged guy from India and gave me a pretty good slap on the cheek right after confirming me.

Someone took a picture right as he made contact -- I think I've got it somewhere on my computer at home.

 

[Number 81]

Now... is this for symbolic reasons or just for his own entertainment?

 

[gtsecc]

Now... is this for symbolic reasons or just for his own entertainment?

The practice goes back to at least 350 AD.

 

[AnnieG]

Maybe it still exists somewhere. And if you are confirmed in the traditional rite, of course. In my case, the bishop gave us a kind of kiss of peace (well, not a wet one, I think you'll understand what I mean), and I found it very nice. Later, when I heard that in Germany most bishops only "firmly shake the confirmand's hand" I couldn't believe it. This sounds profane.

 

[MariaRegina]

The late Bishop Dwyer of Reno, Nevada, gave a hefty slap to all who came to him for confirmation. Of course, that was in the 1950s, pre-Vatican II.

I remember in the early 1960's that the practice of slapping was being terminated.









BTW: In the Orthodox Christian mystery of Chrismation, the Priest or Bishop doesn't slap the newly illuminated.

So, was this custom of slapping only a western tradition or was it universal, being used both in the East and the West?

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

I saw it for the first time this past September when Bishop Olmsted confirmed 35 kids using the traditional rite, yes he slapped them and said pax tecum!

 

[MariaRegina]

I saw it for the first time this past September when Bishop Olmsted confirmed 35 kids using the traditional rite, yes he slapped them and said pax tecum!

Was he using the pre-Vatican II rite?

 

[Number 81]

The practice goes back to at least 350 AD.

Yeah, but why?
I was never slapped, but the Bishop did have a tendancy to ask you about your saint or some other theological question such as "Who were the first five popes?"

 

[français]

i was never slapped.. thank goodness lol!!

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

Was he using the pre-Vatican II rite?

Yes, it was according to the 1962 missal.

 

[SmileBugMG]

...the Bishop did have a tendancy to ask you about your saint or some other theological question such as "Who were the first five popes?"

I don't know who the first five popes are! What if you got the question wrong? :o

We were "slapped," but it was really more of a tap. And the Bishop did say "Peace be with you."

 

[Fantine]

Traditional doesn't always equate to good.

Traditional doesn't always equate to good.

Traditional doesn't always equate to good.

Traditional doesn't always equate to good.

Traditional doesn't always equate to good.

Most certainly not in the case of sacramental slapping.

 

[gtsecc]

Oh my goodness.
The Bishop doesn't wind up and slap children across the face as hard as he can! The Bishop does it lightly. It means the call to Christ is hard, and we will suffer in following him.

 

[Holcomb]

Oh my goodness.
The Bishop doesn't wind up and slap children across the face as hard as he can! The Bishop does it lightly. It means the call to Christ is hard, and we will suffer in following him.

Exactly. I was actually rather disappointed to find out this isn't done anymore. And for no good reason! I think people could use a reminder that Christianity is not supposed to be easy these days, in whatever form that reminder might take.