Q.  Why don’t we say “Amen” at the end of the Our Father at Mass?
– Vincent in Springfield

The short answer appears to be, “We’ve always done it that way” in the Roman rite. Before I attempt a more satisfactory answer, I should say that the farther back we go in the history of liturgy, the less we are able to learn with certainty. We know that the Our Father has been recited at Mass, both in the East and the West, since Apostolic times. However, the earliest documents we have are fragmentary, and the most enlightening are of a later date than we would like. To learn what was done in a particular age is often difficult enough; to learn why it was done “this way” rather than “that way” is often a fool’s errand. In my answer, I can only discuss the Roman rite. To discuss the various Eastern rites or even the non-Roman Western rites, such as the Mozarabic or Ambrosian, would lead us too far afield.

The Our Father appears in many places throughout the Roman rite, but always in one of two ways: said silently, with an “Amen” or said aloud, without. The former appears often enough in the traditional Roman rite but not in the new. The latter appears in both. In the new rite, the prayer is said aloud in unison. In the traditional rite, the prayer is ordinarily said by the priest and completed sed libera nos a malo, “but deliver us from evil,” by the people (or the choir or altar boy on their behalf). I consulted several noted liturgical writers (Fortescue, Amalarius, Durandus, Gihr, and Guéranger) but was unable to find the reason behind this. What I did find, however, may interest you.

The word “Amen” is of Hebrew origin. It is usually defined as “so be it,” which makes it a fitting end to a prayer, begging God to grant the petitions we have just made. After the collect at Mass, the faithful say “Amen” to affirm and adopt the prayer the priest has offered on their behalf. However, “Amen” is also a simple affirmation. At Communion time, when the priest says, “The Body of Christ,” and we answer, “Amen,” we do not mean “May it be done so,” but, “It sure is!” Likewise in the Gospels, when Christ says, “Amen, Amen dico vobis,” we might translate that, “Truly, truly, I tell you.”

There is one final use of “Amen” which may not have occurred to you. In the traditional Latin Mass, after the people have completed the Our Father with sed libera nos a malo, the priest adds under his breath, “Amen.” The meaning here is unique, for the priest, as mediator between God and man, gives God’s “Amen,” as if to say, “Knowthat your prayers are heard.” Gihr points out that this “Amen” was not brought into the rite until probably after the 11^th century, and that earlier witnesses to the Roman rite do not have it.  In the 13^th century, Durandus of Mende writes in his exhaustive work on the Roman liturgy that this is not the priest’s “Amen” to the people’s petition but the Father’s “Amen” to the petition of priest and people.

I hope that you have found this answer interesting, though I fear that it has been a very long way of saying, “I don’t know.” I invite you, at the Our Father, to unite your heart not only with the priest and the faithful gathered around you, but also with the Christians who from the beginning and down through the centuries have recited this prayer at Mass. But do not stop there. Unite your heart, as well, to the future generations, who shall, perhaps in time of persecution, also unite in offering the Lord’s Prayer while our dear Lord himself lies sacrificed on the altar, until the time when Christ “shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a great voice and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds” (Matt. 24:31).

• Father Jason Stone is pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle in Decatur.