In my most recent column, I began my response to F.E.’s question, “What’s up with this priest?” The questioner had written that a priest had told someone in the communion line that the person had to say “amen” before receiving the Host and that the priest seemed to give a lecture on this at the end of Mass.
I promised to say more in today’s column on the topic of the “amen” at Mass. For anyone who missed the previous column, it can be found in the Aug. 27 issue or online at www.catholictimescolumbus.org.
To recap, I had explained that the Fathers of the Church, especially St. Augustine in the fourth and fifth centuries, taught about the importance of the “amen.” I said that we are asserting our belief in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; that we are saying “yes” to Jesus, Who desires union with us; and that we are assenting to being transformed by the Eucharist.
We are divinized, I had written, and we are made one with the Church, the mystical Body of Christ.
As I pointed out, “amen” means “I believe” or “so be it.” While we now use the English translation for most of the Mass, it would not be appropriate to speak the seemingly English equivalent of “amen” at any of the prayers at Mass or at the reception of Holy Communion. Part of the reason is that, as with so many words and concepts from foreign languages, translations often fail to communicate the deeper significance of words.
For example, to say that I believe something could mean that I accept it as true, but it can also mean I’m only somewhat certain. Think of the driver of a car telling the police officer who stopped her for speeding that she believed that she was driving the speed limit; in fact, the officer tells her, she was exceeding it significantly. Belief and reality in this case are at odds with each other.
Perhaps the person who says “I believe” rather than “amen” doesn’t mean to suggest mere probability when the priest says “the Body of Christ.” The response “amen” helps us to avoid any semblance of doubt about Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist.
We also avoid the embarrassing situation of thinking we know what the word means but getting it wrong. For example, I’ve heard, too many times to be counted, the silly response “thank you” in the communion line.
If I were distributing mere pieces of bread, perhaps a “thank you” would be in order. This response, however, seems to ignore that one has just received the Divine Presence of Christ Himself, of God Himself. Of course, we should be grateful for the gift, but so much more is conveyed in the “amen.”
Our “amen” is a ratification of what the priest says about the Host he is giving us, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2856) teaches. Elsewhere in the Catechism (1062), we learn that the Hebrew word “amen” means much more than our English translations.
Although “amen” comes from the root word “believe,” “this root word expresses solidity, trustworthiness, faithfulness. … Amen may express both God’s faithfulness towards us and our trust in Him.”
St. John the Evangelist teaches that Jesus is the “Amen, the faithful and true witness” (Revelation 3:14), and St. Paul tells us to utter our “amen” through Christ, to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Our Lord frequently uses the word in a doublet (“Amen, amen, I say to you”) to emphasize the importance of what He is saying. Some Bible translations use “verily, verily.” Synonyms for “verily” include “definitely,” “certainly,” “undoubtedly,” “in reality.”
When we say “amen” at the end of prayers at Mass (and privately, too), especially at the “Great Amen” in response to the Doxology at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, and at Holy Communion, we mean all the things that the word signifies.
We are stating in one word that we are at peace with God and that we are not aware of anything that would prevent us from receiving Christ such as mortal sin. We are also stating that we are at peace with the Church, that is, we are seeking to forgive others who have offended us and that we desire to be one with all other Christians.
Furthermore, we are saying that we “believe and profess all that the Holy Catholic Church believes, teaches and proclaims to be revealed by God.”
Saying “amen” is our recognition of Who it is we receive at Holy Communion. We are acknowledging our Good Shepherd, Who desires to feed us (Psalm 23). We are opening the door of our heart to Christ, Who stands knocking, so that He may come in to us and eat with us and we with Him (Revelation 3:20).
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20)!