What Is the Great Amen at the End of the Eucharistic Prayer?
Near the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest raises the paten and chalice, and the people reply, “Amen.” It may sound like a routine response, but this is one of the congregation’s most significant acclamations.
What happens just before the Amen?
The priest proclaims the doxology, a solemn act of praise beginning “Through him, and with him, and in him”. The prayer is addressed to the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit. It concludes the Eucharistic Prayer, the centre and summit of the celebration.
This is not a second consecration or a private prayer detached from the people. The priest proclaims the prescribed text, and the congregation confirms it through its own acclamation.
Why call it the “Great” Amen?
Amen is our word of assent: we receive and affirm the prayer that has been offered. Here the entire assembly adds its “yes” to the great prayer of thanksgiving and praise.
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (no. 79h) identifies the people’s acclamation as the conclusion of the doxology. Singing it can help the response stand out, but its importance does not depend on the tune or its length.
Making your response personal
Think of everything you have brought to Mass: gratitude, disappointment, requests and hope. Let this Amen be your conscious assent to the prayer of the Church rather than a mechanical response after a long passage.
You do not have to memorise every liturgical formula. It is enough to know that the Church praises the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit, and that your voice belongs to that prayer.
Put it into practice
At your next Mass, say the Great Amen deliberately as your own “yes” to God.
Prayer
Father, receive our thanksgiving through Jesus Christ in the unity of the Holy Spirit. May our Amen become a life of love each day. Amen.
