The Meaning of the Words “Amen” and “Alleluia” in Catholic Liturgy and Scripture
(Baonghean.vn) - Amen or a-men is a word used in the first scriptures of Judaism. In Christian worship rituals, amen is used as a conclusion to prayers and hymns.
1. Amen:Is a Hebrew word used in the Liturgy and the Bible.of the Church.
In the Liturgy:The word Amen is used to end a long or short prayer with the wish that God will accept that prayer and grant us what we desire.
In addition to the desire to have the above prayer answered, Amen also means “yes, certainly” - This meaning is used when the priest, deacon or eucharistic minister raises the Host or the cup of the Lord's Blood and says “The Body of Christ” or “The Blood of Christ” and the communicant says Amen, meaning “yes, this is the Body or Blood of Christ”.
So before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, we must say Amen with this meaning to profess our belief that Christ is truly present in the form of Bread and Wine.
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In the Bible:In John 3:3 Jesus said: “Truly (Amen) I say to you (Amen) unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”Amen in this sentence means “It is true, it is so.”
In the Book of Revelation we read the following:“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God's creation.” (Rev 3:14).This verse shows that Christ is the Amen, the True Word of God.God spoke and through that WORD God created all things.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, verse 1065, also states: “Jesus Christ is the Amen. He is the Amen of God's love for us.He also summarizes and completes our Amen to the Father…”.
2. Alleluia:Also a Hebrew word taken from the Old Testament, the original transliteration into Western languages (English, French, Italian, Spanish...) is Hallelujia, but because in these languages, people cannot read the H sound, they are only used to reading it as Alleluia as we have heard from the past until now.
This word means “Praise to God.” In the Church’s liturgy, the word Alleluia is used to express jubilation and thanksgiving to God. In the Book of Revelation, Alleluia is used to refer to the joyful shouts of the angels:“Then I heard what sounded like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven shouting:Hallelujah!Our God is salvation and glory and power.” (Rev 19:1)
