Wednesday Liturgy: Follow-up: Why No "Amen" at End of the Our Father
ROME, NOV. 21, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
Several readers responded to our comments on the missing "Amen" at the end of the Our Father (Nov. 7).
One interesting comment hailed from an eminent Anglican who wrote: "Father McNamara … doesn't say -- and I had always thought -- that modern practice was, broadly, to add 'Amen' to prayers said by others -- signifying assent -- but not to prayers one said oneself. Thus, in the Roman rite, the prayer of preparation said by the priest immediately before Communion has no 'Amen' whereas the main orations (which the congregation hears) have an 'Amen' added. Mutatis mutandis, the 'Hail Mary's in the Angelus -- or when used in the Prayer of the Faithful -- tend not to have an 'Amen.' The great exception to this rule is that the Gloria and Credo are recited by all and have an Amen but, no doubt, that is in recognition of the ancient nature of the texts and their musical settings."
This comment regarding the nature of the "Amen" as a response to prayers said by others would offer a further explanation as to why it was omitted from the Our Father recited at Mass.
As our reader points out, it is a broad rule and there are several exceptions. For example, the "Amen" is omitted after the Our Father recited during Morning and Evening Prayer of the Divine Office. But it is included in the "Glory be to the Father" recited by all at the end of each psalm in the Office.
Likewise, the liturgical practice is not necessarily carried over into personal prayer and official collections of prayers, such as the Enchiridion of Indulgences, and the Compendium of the Catechism, almost always include the "Amen" at the end of the orations with no distinction made for private or group recitation.
A reader from Kansas asked: "I would also like to know why the last word of the Our Father is also omitted. That word is 'one,' i.e., 'deliver us from the evil one.'"
The Catechism makes clear in Nos. 2850-2854 that the petition to be freed from evil is not an abstraction but refers to a person, Satan, the evil one. The original Greek text, however, admits both translations ("from evil" or "from the evil one") and the present English translation respects the traditional rendition which is already found in the 1611 King James version.
Finally, a reader asked how to pronounce the word "Amen."
Many foreign words entering into English take on a life of their own and end up bearing little resemblance to the original pronunciation. As English rules of pronunciation are somewhat fluid, it is hard to say if there is really a correct way of pronouncing this word in English.
All told, the Hebrew word "amen" has survived fairly intact even though there are regional differences of pronunciation.
Beyond the United States most English speakers tend to say AH-men. In the United States the form AY-men is perhaps most common, but even there the form AH-men is almost invariably used when singing or reciting prayers in Latin. Some Eastern-rite chants sound closer to AH-min than to AH-men.
In the end, it is more important to assent heart and soul to the liturgical prayers than to accent them with perfect diction.
Several readers responded to our comments on the missing "Amen" at the end of the Our Father (Nov. 7).
One interesting comment hailed from an eminent Anglican who wrote: "Father McNamara … doesn't say -- and I had always thought -- that modern practice was, broadly, to add 'Amen' to prayers said by others -- signifying assent -- but not to prayers one said oneself. Thus, in the Roman rite, the prayer of preparation said by the priest immediately before Communion has no 'Amen' whereas the main orations (which the congregation hears) have an 'Amen' added. Mutatis mutandis, the 'Hail Mary's in the Angelus -- or when used in the Prayer of the Faithful -- tend not to have an 'Amen.' The great exception to this rule is that the Gloria and Credo are recited by all and have an Amen but, no doubt, that is in recognition of the ancient nature of the texts and their musical settings."
This comment regarding the nature of the "Amen" as a response to prayers said by others would offer a further explanation as to why it was omitted from the Our Father recited at Mass.
As our reader points out, it is a broad rule and there are several exceptions. For example, the "Amen" is omitted after the Our Father recited during Morning and Evening Prayer of the Divine Office. But it is included in the "Glory be to the Father" recited by all at the end of each psalm in the Office.
Likewise, the liturgical practice is not necessarily carried over into personal prayer and official collections of prayers, such as the Enchiridion of Indulgences, and the Compendium of the Catechism, almost always include the "Amen" at the end of the orations with no distinction made for private or group recitation.
A reader from Kansas asked: "I would also like to know why the last word of the Our Father is also omitted. That word is 'one,' i.e., 'deliver us from the evil one.'"
The Catechism makes clear in Nos. 2850-2854 that the petition to be freed from evil is not an abstraction but refers to a person, Satan, the evil one. The original Greek text, however, admits both translations ("from evil" or "from the evil one") and the present English translation respects the traditional rendition which is already found in the 1611 King James version.
Finally, a reader asked how to pronounce the word "Amen."
Many foreign words entering into English take on a life of their own and end up bearing little resemblance to the original pronunciation. As English rules of pronunciation are somewhat fluid, it is hard to say if there is really a correct way of pronouncing this word in English.
All told, the Hebrew word "amen" has survived fairly intact even though there are regional differences of pronunciation.
Beyond the United States most English speakers tend to say AH-men. In the United States the form AY-men is perhaps most common, but even there the form AH-men is almost invariably used when singing or reciting prayers in Latin. Some Eastern-rite chants sound closer to AH-min than to AH-men.
In the end, it is more important to assent heart and soul to the liturgical prayers than to accent them with perfect diction.
posted by Chipi Buenafe at
10:13 AM
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