Amen

AMEN. - Biblical and liturgical acclamation.

1. BIBLICAL USE

Derived from the root 'āman' "to be firm, to sustain," the word Amen (Heb. 'āmēn; Septuagint: 'Αμήν) expresses a fundamental idea of security and truth. Isaiah twice calls God the God Amen (65:16), in the sense of "true God" (thus the Septuagint). This concept, of messianic value, is developed by St. Paul (2 Cor. 1:18-20). Similarly in the Apocalypse Christ is called the Amen, ὁ 'Αμήν, being the witness of truth (3:14). Frequent is the adverbial use of a. as the assent of the hearer (yes, certainly) to what the speaker says, joined moreover, for the most part, to the wish that this very thing may come to pass (cf. 1 Kings 1:36; Jer. 11:5; 28:6). The a. thus takes on the value of a religious acclamation (Deut. 27:15-26; cf. Num. 5:22), especially in the exercise of worship (1 Chron. 16:36; Neh. 5:13; 8:6). In this sense it occurs in the final doxologies of the first four books of the Psalms (v.) (at the end of Psalms 40 [41]; 71 [72]; 88 [89]; 53, the a. is doubled; in 105 [106], it is joined to the Alleluia: cf. 1 Chron. 16:36 Heb., and Rev. 19:4). In these cases the Septuagint has γένοιτο, γένοιτο, which the Vulgate renders Fiat, fiat. Characteristic is the use of the a. made by Jesus with the noted asseverative formula: Amen dico vobis (or tibi), which occurs 28 times in Mt., 13 in Mk., 7 in Lk., and 26 times, in doubled form, in Jn.: Amen, amen dico vobis "truly, truly I say to you," that is, "I say to you in all truth" (superlative form: cf. St. Augustine, Tractatus in Ioh., 8, 34 (PL 35, 1694). Perhaps St. John alludes to this in Rev. 3:14.

2. LITURGICAL USE

The a. passed spontaneously from the synagogue to the Christian community. The clear allusions of St. Paul (1 Cor. 14:16; 2 Cor. 1:20), the texts of early Christian literature and the epistles of the apostles, which place the a. even as a seal of greetings, good wishes and doxologies, give the best proof of it (cf. Didache, 10, 6; St. Justin, I Apol., 65 and 67; Dionysius of Alexandria, in Eusebius, Hist. eccl., 7, 9; Tertullian, De spect., 25; St. Augustine, De catech. rudibus, 9, 13; St. Jerome, Comm. in Galatas, II, pr.).

As a solemn profession of eucharistic faith, the a. was sung at the most important moments of the sacrificial action: at the Consecration (as still in the Eastern liturgies) and at the end of the Canon and anaphora, while the faithful had to pronounce it in receiving communion. "Placing the left hand, as it were the throne of the king, under the right - says Cyril of Jerusalem - receive with the hollow palm of this hand the Body of Christ, and answer a." (Catech., 23, 21); and Ambrose of Milan in De Sacramentis: "Dicit tibi Sacerdo: Corpus Christi; et tu dicis a., hoc est Verum. Quod confitetur lingua, teneat affectus" (4, 5; cf. Constit. Apostolorum, 8, 13; St. Augustine, Sermo 272). This ancient custom is still in force in the Ambrosian liturgy; and the Roman liturgy preserves a vestige of it in the Mass for the conferral of sacred Orders. The liturgical a. has an eminently social value, because it expresses the solidarity of the faithful with the celebrant: "Fratres mei - explains St. Augustine - a. vestrum subscriptio vestra est, consensio vestra est, adstipulatio vestra est" (Sermo contra Pelagium, 3: PL 39, 1721). Famous for this is the a. at the end of the doxology that concludes the canon, before the Pater noster: it is the most solemn of the liturgy, the only one, perhaps, deriving from the primitive canon. As a concluding formula of the creeds a. may well be translated, with the Fathers, verum est: "it is true," or "so it is." Instead, at the end of doxologies, and especially at the end of prayers of petition, it has the optative sense of sic sit, "so be it," as St. Augustine already interpreted it (Sermo 6, 3 of the Denis collection: PL 46, 836), and its translation today replaces the a. in almost all prayers in the vernacular.

UNIVERSALITY OF AMEN

The a. is one of the most widespread words in the world: common to the Jews, to Christians of every rite, and to the Muslims themselves, who add amio to their prayers, especially after the first aura of the Koran. The rabbis extolled its efficacy as a pledge of eternal life: "Whoever says a. with all his strength (that is, with every intention and devotion), will have the gates of paradise opened to him" (J. Buxtorf, in Lexicon Chald. Talm. Rabb., Basel 1620, col. 115). A word of faith and of hope, the a. also gladdened the tombs. Christian epigraphy has handed down to us not a few inscriptions such as: Reguiescat in pace. A. or Cum Christo in aeternum. A.

With a meaning so manifold and sublime, the a. is an untranslatable term (cf. M. Victorinus, Adv. Arium, 3, 9; St. Augustine, De doctr. christ., 2, 11; Tractatus in Io., 8, 34), one of those mystical words which, like the Alleluia, even in the heavens form part of the canticles of the Church triumphant (Rev. 5:14; 7:12; 19:4):

"All our activity," concludes St. Augustine (Serm., 262, 28, 29), "will be A. and Alleluia" - for the blessed life will be wholly "in the contemplation and praise of the truth": "all the saints will say Alleluia, because they will say A."

Igino Cecchetti