Section — Bucceroni, Institutions of Moral Theology
Useful Time for the Celebration of Manual Masses
The terms established are: one month for one Mass, a half-year for one hundred Masses, or another longer or shorter space of time according to the greater or lesser number of Masses; in such a way nevertheless that it is lawful for no one to assume so many Masses that he himself probably cannot satisfy them within a year from the day of the obligation undertaken, always preserving the will of the offerers, whether explicitly or implicitly demanding a shorter time or conceding a longer one. Paragraphs Iam vero, 1, 2, 3.
No one can seek and accept more Masses than he can probably celebrate within the established terms of time, whether by himself or through Priests subject to him. Therefore the collection of Masses made by a private person so that they may then be distributed among various Priests, although poor, is prohibited. And "by himself": nevertheless it is not prohibited to accept Masses so that someone may hand them over to the Ordinary or Prelate, or to accept them not so that he himself may celebrate them, but so that he may hand them over to another, the offerer having been warned about this matter. Paragraph Iamvero, 1.
A month is established for one Mass indefinitely, and therefore whether it is a question of Masses for the living or for the departed. If it is not a question of the recently departed, to defer them for a week seems to be only a light sin. For one Mass, or for several, which are not given by one and the same offerer, but by several: namely, for each one then the useful time will be one month from the day of acceptance. Therefore, if in that time the Priest could not celebrate all, he is bound to warn the offerers, unless the will of the offerers is otherwise established. Paragraph 2; Sacred Congregation of the Council, February 27, 1905.
A half-year is established for one hundred Masses, namely if they are accepted from one and the same offerer. It seems only light if someone were to defer a few of them, four or five, for a brief time, for three or four weeks. There are those who extend the brief time to five weeks. Paragraph 2.
From the fact that the Decree assigns a month for one Mass as the useful time, and a half-year for one hundred, various Authors assign variously the time for another number of Masses. But since for several Masses, one hundred in number, a half-year is assigned, that is, 180 days for 100 Masses, evidently the Sacred Congregation assigns 14 or 15 Masses for each month, that is, a Mass to be celebrated almost every other day. Hence the useful time, more or less as it is said by the same Sacred Congregation, can easily be determined for another number of Masses. And thus it seems possible to deduce that for two hundred Masses the useful time will be an entire year, for three hundred a year and a half, etc. Paragraph 2.
The Archbishop of Lviv of the Ruthenians proposed the following computation to the Sacred Congregation: namely, that up to ten Masses one month be established; for the first and second month, twenty Masses celebrated; and for each subsequent twenty Masses one month always be established successively, and thus for one hundred, six months are had. The Sacred Congregation neither approved nor reproved it, but answered: the matter is left to the discreet judgment and conscience of Priests, according to the Decree and the rules handed down by approved doctors. Sacred Congregation of the Council, February 27, 1905.
But it is lawful for no one to assume so many Masses that he himself probably cannot satisfy them within a year from the day of the obligation undertaken, always nevertheless preserving the contrary will of the offerers, who either demand a shorter time for the celebration of Masses, whether explicitly or implicitly because of some urgent cause, or concede a longer time, or spontaneously give a greater number of Masses. Paragraph 3.
Therefore, if three hundred Masses are offered to someone by the same offerer, which he himself could not satisfy except within a year and a half, he is bound to warn the offerer; but he can simply accept them if he can and wishes to celebrate them within a year. But if six hundred Masses are offered by the same offerer, it is evident that then the offerer is altogether consenting to the delay of celebration beyond a year, since all cannot be celebrated in one year by one and the same Priest. On the contrary, the offerer can implicitly demand a shorter time for the celebration of Masses because of some urgent cause, for example if it is a question of Masses for the recently departed, which under grave obligation must be celebrated at least within a month, and which, for example, are offered to a regular Prelate of some monastery, namely so that they may be celebrated by the regulars of that monastery as soon as possible.