Last May, we lost a long-time parishioner who we affectionately considered one of our parish saints. She tried to attend Mass every day, even though the weather might be bad, which was made all the more difficult by her being over 90 years old and needing the assistance of a walker to move around. On many of the Sundays, she would come to Mass with her husband who was also slowed down by age as much as she was, if not more. Whenever he would come forward for Holy Communion, the minister would say “The Body of Christ” to which he would respond, as we all do: “Amen.” However, his Amen could be heard throughout the entire Church, even up in the choir loft! I always found it somewhat inspiring to hear him proclaim what I have considered the Great Amen.
I share that story to introduce the final of the eight main elements of the Eucharistic Prayer outlined by the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. We read the following about the conclusion of this central moment of the Mass:
The concluding doxology, by which the glorification of God is expressed and which is affirmed and concluded by the people’s acclamation Amen.
(GIRM, 79h)
The people’s acclamation after the concluding Doxology is sometimes referred to as the Great Amen. Although I affectionately called the response of the elderly man above the Great Amen, this point of the Mass is properly called by this name. But I think his example can still be a point of reflection for us. No doubt this man’s Amen, which is sometimes translated as “I believe”, or “So bet it”, was a profession of faith that the Eucharist is indeed the Body of Christ (and His Blood, soul, and divinity). It is no mere symbol that we received, but Jesus Himself. So too at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, we are giving assent to all that has happened during this key section of the celebration of the Mass. We affirm that we have just encountered the most important part of the Mass, and that all that has been done in the Eucharistic Prayer is for God’s glory.
As we know, throughout the Eucharistic Prayer, it is the celebrant who is doing all of the verbal praying. The rest of the faithful actively participate through listening and uniting your hearts to the sacrifice taking place. It is really only at this point of the Eucharistic Prayer where everybody (except the priest, of course) is called to respond. The Great Amen belongs to the congregation – it is your part of the Eucharistic Prayer! We want to make our response count. We want it to be a proclamation of faith and praise. Sure, maybe we are not confident with our signing voice, but we should try to do our best to be intentional about our response here. It is one single word, but how powerful that word can be when it is backed up by a deep faith in the person making that proclamation.
As we come to the conclusion on our reflections on the Eucharistic Prayer (though I may do a few more follow-up topics related to this part of the Mass), I invite us all to consider how intentionally we have been approaching this most important part of the celebration of the liturgy. The entire Mass is important, to be sure, but the Eucharistic Prayer is the pinnacle of the Mass. We stand to gain so much more from the Mass by our full, active, and conscious participation in the Eucharistic Prayer. To the extent that we do this from the beginning of the prayer, we will be eager as it comes to a close to offer our part with a joyful and faithful expression of the Great Amen.
Father Alford