Distracted at Vigils by the thought, how often we say "Amen" in the course of the day. It is such a beautiful affirmation of consent and trust and faith. It concludes every collect, every prayer; it makes an emphatic end to many psalms; it is the only word even half-way adequate to express our faith in the Holy Eucharist. Said or sung, whispered or pronounced only in the silence of our hearts, "Amen" punctuates the course of the day. It is Herbert's "heaven in ordinarie . . . something understood": a whole litany in a little.