AMEN, ALLELUIA, HOSANNA - do you know what you say? | Memorial of Saint Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and Saint Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr
We hear these three words, we recite them in every Eucharist. They are part of the dialogue with the celebrant. They are of foreign Hebrew origin. What do they mean and why the Church uses them so willingly in the liturgy?
"Amen" in the language of its origin means: surely, truly, really. In the liturgy, it is a form of solemn approval and the shortest way of professing faith.
"Amen" most often appears as an answer in the prayer dialogue between the celebrant and the community. The faithful thus confirm the prayers offered in their name by the priest. That is why we hear "amen" at the end of various prayers, hymns such as Glory to God or I Believe in God. This final "amen" means that we all identify with what we hear.
We say the most important "amen" at the time of receiving Holy Communion.
Before giving us the Eucharistic Bread, the priest presents it, saying: "the body of Christ". This announcement draws attention to the fact that the meeting with Christ himself is about to take place. Receiving the Body of Christ, with "amen", we confess our faith in the miracle of transubstantiation. This short "amen" confirms that "it is so," "I believe it."
The chant of Alleluia was widely known and used in the Jewish religion. It was a cry of joy, triumph and victory, always attributed to God. The very word "hallelujah" means the same as “praise Jahwe." (hebr. הַלְלוּיָהּ hallelujah, or halelu-Jáh – praise Yahweh). From the beginning of Christianity, the acclamation of Alleluia was associated with the liturgy of the Word of God. Alleluia before the Gospel signals that in a moment Christ himself will turn to us with his message. The Alleluia in the Holy Mass for the Dead is especially significant. This one word wants to shout the hope that the risen Christ is the guarantee that our death also leads to resurrection.
It is understandable why the singing of the Alleluia is so strongly emphasized in the liturgy of the Easter Vigil. The Alleluia chanting three times before the Gospel, and the addition to the words for sending the faithful, clearly announces that salvation did not stop at Golgotha, but that it is the destiny of a Christian.
After the preface we sing twice " Hosanna in the highest ". Hosanna - this Hebrew word implies a plea for help. We recognize in this invocation both the expression of the humble plea that the creature makes to the Creator, and the simultaneous expression of the praise that belongs only to God. "Hosanna" also means paying homage. It is especially noticeable in the biblical event of Palm Sunday, when we hear "Hosanna in the highest", "Hosanna to the Son of David".
"Amen", "hosanna" "hallelujah" belong to the everyday religious language. These words are always placed in the structure of dialogue and recitation. On the part of the participants of the Holy Mass, the above words are an expression of our faith.
Memorial of Saint Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and Saint Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr
Pontian came from the Roman family of Calpurnia. He became the bishop of Rome on July 21, 230. His pontificate coincided with the continuation of the schism related to the election of the antipope, Hippolytus. Pope Pontian introduced to the liturgy: The Confiteor - I confess ..., Dominus vobiscum - the Lord be with you and singing psalms. The Roman synod presided over by Pontian reaffirmed the excommunication of the Greek philosopher and theologian Origen, proclaimed by the Councils of Alexandria in 230 and 232.
In 234, the emperor broke with religious tolerance and began persecuting the Christians. He sent Pope Pontian and Antipope Hippolytus along with other clergymen to quarries in Sardinia. Pontian was the first pope who abdicated, probably to allow the election of his successor, on September 28, 235, which is the first date accurately recorded in the history of the papacy in the 4th-century in the Liberius Catalog. Reconciled with Hippolytus, Pontian died in exile in October 235.The body of Pontian was brought to Rome and buried by Pope Fabian. Pontianwas buried in the new episcopal catacombs of Callixtus. In 1909, in the catacombs of St. Callixtus, in the "crypt of the popes", the tomb of St. Pontian with the inscription: "Pontian, bishop, martyr" was fund
Hippolytus was probably born in Rome, although other sources say that he came from Asia Minor or Greece. Photius in his work the Library says that he was a disciple of Saint Irenaeus of Lugdunum (Lyons). The deposit of holy faith he received from Polycarp of Smyrna one of the Apostolic Fathers. Under Pope Zephyrinus, Hippolytus was a presbyter in the Roman church and already then, he became famous for his preaching and the accuracy of theological arguments. Origen had the opportunity to listen to his homily.
Saint Hippolytus of Rome is an example of how unusual the paths to holiness are. He was an exceptionally widely read church writer and theologian, and in addition, for ten years he acted as ... presiding bishop of the schism (he is even called the antipope), which was an opposition to the pontificate of the three canonized popes. Throughout his life, he was devoted to the Church, but he was too zealous. He belonged to a group of rigorists who made it difficult for repentant and heavy sinners to return to the church unity. At the end of his life, he was arrested for relentlessly proclaiming the Gospel of Christ and sent into exile with the then reigning Pope Pontian, where he reconciled with the Vicar of Christ and gave his life for the Faith.
In the Christian world, at that time, the heresy of Monarchianism was prowling, extended by the anti-trinitarian sect of a Sabellius (hence Sabelizanism). The saint struggled with this threat as a bishop, and it also caused his difference with the Bishop of Rome - he accused the Pope Saint Callixtus of supporting heretics and, according to some legends, was elected an anti-pope, and his seat was to be in Portus near Rome. Hippolytus continued his opposition to two more popes - Saint Urban I and Saint Pontian. This difference, which, moreover, is not well described in the sources, however, was not the essence of Hippolytus' attitude. He was a caring shepherd of his faithful and a church writer whose writings were read by the Christian West for centuries. Unfortunately, most of his works have not survived. He wrote exegetical and apologetic texts and polemics, dealt with the Roman liturgy (in the book The Apostolic Tradition), and even history - he wrote a chronicle of the world, which was used by other writers. During the persecution of Septimius Severus, the treatise On Christ and Antichrist was written, containing a description of the end of the world.
Saint Hippolytus himself was condemned to exile and died along with Pope Saint Pontian during the persecution under Maximinus Thrax. They were sent together to Sardinia, where Hippolytus reconciled with Pontian the Bishop of Rome, and both boldly blessing the name of the Lord Jesus Christ were killed by the Gentiles.
The liturgical memorial of the saint is celebrated on the day of the anniversary of the transfer of the body, which took place on August 13, 236. In the 16th century, a statue of Hippolytus was found in the cemetery in Via Tiburtina, which on the back contained the list of his writings. During the pontificate of Blessed Pius IX, the relics were transferred to the Lateran Palace.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george