the prayers that followed, the emperor standing or kneeling when appropriate. The ceremony of the kiss of peace took place - an exception in the Tridentine form of the Roman Rite, reserved only for very special occasions - and, for this ceremony, as expressly directed by the Coronation rite prescribed in the Roman Pontifical, an instrumentum pacis was used, the Emperor receiving the greeting from the senior assistant Bishop. For the reception of Holy Communion, after the celebrating archbishop or bishop had taken communion under the appearances of bread and wine, and after the rites in preparation for the communion of the faithful had taken place, the emperor descended from the throne and went to the altar. There, by special privilege, he ascended the altar steps, and, arriving near to the altar table, he knelt at the altar's highest step to receive Communion. He then kissed the celebrating Prelate's hand, and received the Eucharist, under the species of bread alone (as usual for the lay faithful and even for the clergy other than the celebrant). Though a few other coronation rites contained special privileges allowing for the reception of Communion under both kinds by the monarch on coronation day (such as the rite of coronation of the kings of France), the general coronation rite of the Roman Pontifical did not contemplate this. On the contrary, the rubrics of the Roman Pontifical expressly reiterated that the celebrant should drink the whole of the Eucharist under the appearance of wine, so that the monarch, though allowed to ascend to the altar, received Communion only under the appearance of bread. Only the celebrating prelate and the emperor received Communion during the Coronation Mass. After receiving Communion and consuming the Sacred Host, and after having said in silence his private devotional prayers customary upon the reception of the Eurcharist, and while the Communion antiphon was still being chanted by the choir, the emperor, still kneeling at the highest step of the Altar, performed ablutions with the chalice, that was then presented to him by the celebrating prelate. The celebrant also performed ablutions, and drank the contents of the chalice. Returning to the throne, the emperor resumed the use of his crown and sceptre, and rose from the throne chair to hear the prayers after Communion. After the prayer of the day, a special postcommunion prayer was recited for the emperor Mass thereafter continued normally