Amen

The word amen (/ˌɑːˈmɛn/ or /ˌeɪˈmɛn/; Hebrew: אָמֵן, Modern amen, Tiberian ʾāmēn; Greek: ἀμήν; Arabic: آمين‎, ʾāmīn ; "So be it; truly") is a declaration of affirmation found in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. It has been generally adopted in Christian worship as a concluding word for prayers and hymns. Common English translations of the word amen include "verily" and "truly". It can also be used colloquially to express strong agreement, as in, for instance, amen to that.

Pronunciation

In English, the word amen has two primary pronunciations, ah-men (/ɑːˈmɛn/) or ay-men (/eɪˈmɛn/), with minor additional variation in emphasis (the two syllables may be equally stressed instead of placing primary stress on the second). The Oxford English Dictionary gives "ɑː'mɛn, eɪ'mεn".

In anglophone North America the ah-men pronunciation is used in performances of classical music, in churches with more formalized rituals and liturgy and in liberal to mainline Protestant denominations, as well as almost every Jewish congregation, in line with modern Hebrew pronunciation. The ay-men pronunciation, a product of the Great Vowel Shift dating to the 15th century, is associated with Irish Protestantism and conservative Evangelical denominations generally, and is the pronunciation typically used in gospel music.

Amen!

Amen! is the second album by singer and actress Della Reese. The album was her second record for Jubilee Records, and her first of many records dedicated solely to sacred and spiritual material. The album features background vocals by the Meditation Singers, which she had been a part of in the early ’50s. The album also features vocals by the then unknown singer Laura Lee, who had incidentally replaced Reese in the group, when she left in 1953.

The album was released on Compact Disc, alongside her 1959 album What Do You Know About Love?, for the first time in 2008, by Collector’s Choice.

Track listing

Amen.

Amen. is a 2002 German, Romanian and French film directed by Costa-Gavras.

Plot

The film Amen. examines the links between the Vatican and Nazi Germany. The central character is Kurt Gerstein (Ulrich Tukur), a Waffen-SS officer employed in the SS Hygiene Institute, designing programs for the purification of water and the destruction of vermin. He is shocked to learn that the process he has developed to eradicate typhus, by using a hydrogen cyanide mixture called Zyklon B, is now being used for killing Jews in extermination camps. Gerstein attempts to notify Pope Pius XII (Marcel Iureş) about the gassings, but is appalled by the lack of response he gets from the Catholic hierarchy. The only person moved is Riccardo Fontana (Mathieu Kassovitz), a young Jesuit priest. Fontana and Gerstein attempt to raise awareness about what is happening to the Jews in Europe but even after Fontana appealing to the pope himself, the Vatican makes only a timid and vague condemnation of Hitler and Nazi Germany.