Answering "Amen"

CatholicExchange.com ^ | 02-17-06 | Fr. William Saunders

[Salvation]

by Fr. William Saunders

Other Articles by Fr. William Saunders

Answering "Amen"

02/17/06

I am an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. In distributing Communion, I am surprised by the different answers to “The Body of Christ” I receive. Most people say, “Amen,” but some say, “I believe.” Does it matter?

The simple answer is, “Yes, it does matter.” According to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (2000), the following rubric was again prescribed concerning the reception of holy Communion: “The priest raises the Eucharistic bread slightly and shows it to each one, saying, ‘The Body of Christ.’ The communicants reply, ‘Amen,’ and receive the Sacrament as they choose, either on the tongue, or in the hand, where this is allowed” (No. 161). The same response of “Amen” also is mandated if the communicant receives the Precious Blood from the chalice or if he receives Holy Communion by intinction, i.e. the priest intincts (dips) the Sacred Host into the Precious Blood and places the Sacrament on the tongue of the communicant (see also No. 286-7).

Given the basic rule, why is the word “Amen” important? The word “Amen” in Hebrew means, “truly,” “it is true” or “so be it.” In sacred Scripture, “Amen” introduces a solemn affirmation and an acclamation of assent. “Amen” denotes not only an asseveration but also a recognition of authority of the one making the proclamation.

For instance, in the Gospel of St. John (6:53), Jesus said, “Amen, amen I say to you, unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” Often, English translations of the Bible will have “Let me solemnly assure you,” or "Truly, truly I say to you.” Here the Lord solemnly underscores the truth of what He is teaching.

In the Book of Revelation (3:14) Jesus identifies Himself as “Amen”: “The Amen, the faithful Witness and true, the Source of God’s creation...” for He is always faithful to His word. Here the word “Amen” highlights our Lord’s authority since He is Truth.

Finally, in apostolic times, the word “Amen” was used in liturgy as a positive response to the truth of the belief and the authority by which the belief was taught.

For these reasons, since the earliest times of the Church, “Amen” has been the proper response of the communicant receiving the holy Eucharist. For example, St. Justin Martyr (d. 165) in his First Apology (chapters 65-66) notes how “Amen” is the response of the people to the prayers and thanksgiving offered by the priest in the Eucharist Prayer. “Amen” is the assent of the people that the holy Eucharist truly is the Body and Blood of Christ, that the priest has the authority to act in the person of Christ to confect the Eucharist, and that the teaching handed down from the Apostles is truly the teaching of the Lord. St. Justin wrote,

We call this food Eucharist; and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration, and is thereby living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by Him and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nourished, is both the flesh and blood of that incarnated Jesus.

Without the “Amen,” one should not receive.

St. Augustine (d. 430) in a Sermon (No. 272), taught,

If you are the body and members of Christ, then it is your sacrament that is placed on the table of the Lord. It is your sacrament that you receive. To that which you are to respond, "Amen" ("Yes, it is true!") And by responding to it, you assent to it. For you hear the words, "the Body of Christ" and respond, "Amen." Be then a member of the Body of Christ that your Amen may be true. (Cited in the Catechism, No. 1396.)

Therefore, we must say our “Amen” with great confidence before receiving the holy Eucharist. Sadly, some people have decided to change the response to “I believe,” or “Thank you,” “or “We are,” or “I am.” All of these responses are inadequate. If a person says, “I believe,” does that person only assent to the holy Communion he is receiving, or also to the whole Church and all of its teachings which “communion” signifies? If a person says, “Thank you,” he is taking, but what is he giving? If a person says, “We are,” does he mean his group, his congregation, the whole Church or his concept of Church? If a person says, “I am,” we ought to lock him in the tabernacle.

The simple straight answer is, “The proper, best, and only legitimate response when receiving Holy Communion is ‘Amen.’” Amen.


Fr. Saunders is pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Potomac Falls and a professor of catechetics and theology at Notre Dame Graduate School in Alexandria. If you enjoy reading Fr. Saunders's work, his new book entitled Straight Answers (400 pages) is available at the Pauline Book and Media Center of Arlington, Virginia (703/549-3806).

(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)

[Salvation]

For continued discussion...............

When people answer with anything else than the "Amen" has always been one of my pet peeves when I am an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion.

[Salvation]

Oops, I see that I copied the link into the title space. Hopefully it can get fixed right away.

[Salvation]

Thanks.

[Claud]

I sometimes worry about forgetting to say "Amen" when I receive at the Novus Ordo...at the Latin Mass we don't respond at all.

Frankly, I didn't know there were other answers floating around out there.

[Salvation]

Without the “Amen,” one should not receive.

[Salvation]

I would think a silent "Amen" would be appropriate then, don't you?

[Salvation]

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[Nihil Obstat]

I've heard people in front of me say "I believe" before. More often than that I've seen people say nothing. (I don't think it's beacuse they are used to the Latin Mass- most likely it's because they had their mouths full of chewing gum.) The worst though is when they grab the Host out of the priest's hand.

[Salvation]

Yes, it can be disheartening to see these abuses. And the sad thing is that the priests can re-educate their congregations and solve the problems! (Or at least some of them.)

[NYer]

When people answer with anything else than the "Amen" has always been one of my pet peeves when I am an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion.

Do you correct them?

And ... just curious ... does your pastor allow EMHCs to "bless" children in the communion line?

[NYer]

at the Latin Mass we don't respond at all

Ditto in the Maronite Rite. Probably because in both rites, we only receive on the tongue.

[Claud]

I would think a silent "Amen" would be appropriate then, don't you?

Of course! But if I forget, I'll forget silently too. :)

As I'm usually kneeling, I doubt if the priest has any doubt about what I believe when I'm receiving.

[murphE]

at the Latin Mass we don't respond at all.

It is because the priest does not just say, "the Body of Christ", he prays:

"The Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy soul unto life everlasting. Amen."

"Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam. Amen."

including the Amen.

[radiohead]

The worst though is when they grab the Host out of the priest's hand.

I know things have changed, but even this lapsed Catholic is shocked that people touch the Host. {{{shudder}}}

[donbosco74]

I saw a man take the host from the priest's fingers, and then as he was walking away with the host, he tucked it into a plastic bag and put it into his pocket. I told the usher about it and he didn't believe me. Another usher said that when he was trained for (Ordinary) Eucharistic Minister, they taught the class that when a fragment of the host falls to the floor it's not important because a crumb or piece small enough that it's hard to see whether or not it is a fragment "loses its character."

That same priest faced another man who knelt for communion but the priest told him to stand. The man just knelt there with his toungue out, waiting, with the single file line of people behind him. The priest finally placed the host on his tongue, but as the man rose, the priest said to him, "You're a big help." The communicant would have had to speak with his tongue occupied in order to answer.

One mother was in line behind her daughter, and when the girl opened her mouth to receive on the tongue with her hands in a prayerful vertical posture, her mother reached around the girl, grabbed her forearm and thrust it forward toward the priest, as if to encourage her to take the host in her hand, instead.

As an observer I've seen at least one abuse every day at such Novus Ordo places. But in years of observation, I have yet to see any abuse at a Traditional Latin Mass. Whenever I asked a N.O. priest about the abuses, he gave me some excuse and changed the subject. When I've mentioned this to a TLM priest, he usually says something like, "It sounds like you should have no problem deciding which Mass to attend."

[A CA Guy]

Why would anyone want to say anything else?
Seems that would be a form of humanism they would be practicing in doing so.

[Coleus]

many of the people to whom I distribute say absolutely nothing. some will say "hello", and I notice some take a bite out of the host and palm the rest and walk out of the church with the Eucharist in hand.

[NYer]

I know things have changed, but even this lapsed Catholic is shocked that people touch the Host.

Worse yet, is that many Catholics no longer believe in the Real Presence.

Have you been away a long time?

[NYer]

Another usher said that when he was trained for (Ordinary) Eucharistic Minister, they taught the class that when a fragment of the host falls to the floor it's not important because a crumb or piece small enough that it's hard to see whether or not it is a fragment "loses its character."

((((Shudder)))) Oh brother! Thanks for proving the point that most catholics have lost all concept of the Real Presence. Once something sacred is manhandled, reverence is lost. (BTW - laypersons who distribute communion are not eucharistic ministers but extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. On the priest can properly be called minister of the Eucharist because he is the only person who can confect the Eucharist.)

But in years of observation, I have yet to see any abuse at a Traditional Latin Mass.

This is also true in the Eastern Catholic Churches which prohibit distribution of communion in the hand and the use of EMHCs. In all of these churches only the bishop, priest or deacon may distribute communion and only on the tongue.

[NYer]

I notice some take a bite out of the host and palm the rest and walk out of the church with the Eucharist in hand.

Is there no way you can prevent this? Can't you insist that they consume the host before they step away? What an abominable practice!