Question Corner: Is it ever acceptable to say something other than ‘amen’ when receiving Communion?

Q: Is it ever acceptable to say something other than “amen” when receiving Communion? Would “thank you,” “he’s alive” or even “hallelujah!” ever work? (Indiana)

A: The short answer is no, the one and only appropriate response when receiving holy Communion is to say “amen” after the priest or Eucharistic minister says “the body of Christ.”

As we read in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal — the “instruction book” for how Mass is to be celebrated — at the time when Communion is given to the faithful: “the Priest raises the host slightly and shows it to each, saying, The Body of Christ. The communicant replies, Amen” (161).

Although the General Instruction of the Roman Missal does go on to give some minor variations of this exchange, it never lists any other communicants’ responses besides “amen,” nor does it envision or provide for alternative responses as a possibility.

There are a few reasons why we should “stick to the script” when receiving Communion.

Very practically, if we get too creative in our responses, in some places that could cause the Eucharistic minister to question whether we are Catholic and thus whether we are prepared and permitted to receive holy Communion.

But on a deeper level, the word “amen,” while difficult to translate into English exactly, means something along the lines of: “I agree,” “so be it” or “this is true.” When the minister presents the host to the one receiving Communion with the words “the body of Christ,” by saying “amen” the communicant is professing his or her belief in the doctrine of the Real Presence. Or in other words, the communicant is stating that he or she does indeed believe that the host is truly, literally the body of Christ.

And it would seem that at the time of Communion, a moment where the communicant is about to interact with Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament in a very immediate and intimate way, an expression of belief in the Real Presence is what is actually called for at that instant. That is, reception of holy Communion is a less appropriate moment to express other sentiments, even otherwise good and pious sentiments like a belief in Christ’s resurrection.

Finally, and most foundationally, it’s important to remember that Mass is not a Catholic’s private prayer, but is rather the cornerstone of the Church’s liturgy. (Other kinds of liturgy include the celebration of the sacraments and the Liturgy of the Hours.)

Unlike private or devotional prayer wherein we pray to God personally in our own voice, liturgical prayer is the voice of the Church herself. The Catechism of the Catholic Church expresses this beautifully in paragraph 1071: “As the work of Christ, liturgy is also an action of his Church. It makes the Church present and manifests her as the visible sign of the communion in Christ between God and men.”

Because the liturgy is the official, public prayer of the Church, it can only be changed or added to by the Holy See in Rome — by the pope’s own authority — or in some well-defined and limited circumstances, by the diocesan bishop or the local bishops’ conference.

As the Vatican II document “Sacrosanctum Concilium” tells us that “no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority.” Taking this to its logical conclusion, it would follow that a lay member of the faithful is likewise prohibited from inventing new responses for their reception of a sacrament.

That all being said, even while we are obligated to say the instructed “amen” response when receiving Communion, there is still room for expressing ourselves more personally to Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal calls for a “period of sacred silence after Communion,” when the communicants who have just received can prayerfully offer the thoughts of their own hearts to the Lord.

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