The word Amen is one of the few Hebrew words that have been imported unchanged into the Catholic liturgy. So frequently was Amen in the mouth of Jesus that it pleased the Holy Spirit to have it perpetuated in the Church. Saint Matthew’s Gospel narrative attributes Amen to Jesus twenty-eight times, and Saint John’s Gospel narrative records Amen in its doubled form twenty-six times (“Amen Amen I say to you . . .”).
The word Amen is a derivative from the Hebrew very aman, which means “strengthen” or “confirm”. In our liturgical use of Amen, it is a ratification by the people of what has been spoken, and it may be interpreted as if the congregation were all saying with one voice, “May it so be done as the priest has prayed.” The word Amen, therefore, carries the connotation of “so be it” or “nothing more need be said.”
There are many instances in the Mass when the congregation responds with a firm and hearty “Amen”. With every prayer that the priest prays (the Opening Collect, the Prayer Over the Gifts, the Prayer After Communion, and especially the Eucharistic Prayer), it is the part of the priest to pray the prayer, but it is the part of the people to respond with “Amen.” The prayer is radically incomplete without the people’s “Amen” bringing it to conclusion. Therefore, every utterance of “Amen” rightly should be filled with as much gusto as the priest puts into every prayer.
Another important Amen moment in Mass is when we receive Holy Communion. When the priest gives Communion and says “the Body of Christ,” our “Amen” is a firm and faithful conviction that we truly do believe what the priest has just said, that this is the Body of Christ.
May our every utterance of the word Amen be filled with as much faith and gusto as we carry in our hearts.