Article IV: On the Obligation from Stipend

373. The obligation of celebrating arises from a handed-over stipend. - A stipend is a sum of money or another thing estimable by price, which is given to a priest for support, with the charge of offering the sacrifice to a determinate end. That obligation is of commutative justice: it arises from an onerous unnamed contract, do ut facias, by which, on the one hand, the priest, having accepted the stipend, is bound from justice to celebrate for him who furnished the stipend, so that if he does not do so, he is bound to restore; and on the other hand, when with the promise of a stipend the priest has celebrated for someone, this person is bound from justice to pay the stipend.

That contract is not one of buying and selling a sacred thing, and simoniacal, but licit: for the stipend is not given as the price of the Mass or of labor intrinsic to it and inseparable from it, but only for the support of the priest, that he may be able to carry out his ministry. For a) a painter is said to paint a church gratuitously, even if colors and other things necessary for painting are given to him, indeed also support itself; - b) just as wax, bread, wine, and sacred vestments can be required from the faithful, so also the support of the priest who is necessary for the sacrifice of the Mass; - c) for priests can live from the priesthood, because it is said, I Cor. IX, 13-14: Do you not know that those who work in the sanctuary eat the things that are of the sanctuary, and those who serve the altar share with the altar? So also the Lord ordained that those who announce the gospel should live from the gospel; since He had said: For the worker is worthy of his food..., of his wage (Matt. X, 10; Luke X, 7); whence also in the Old Law priests were fed by the victims; - d) surely no one is bound to deliver himself gratuitously to the service of others (I Cor. IX, 7); therefore priests can live from the offerings of the faithful; but if they deliver themselves to the particular service of one person by applying Mass to him, they can require from him a particular offering; - e) with which agrees the universal practice of the Church, approved by its authority: Council of Trent, sess. 22, de obs.; Council of Constance, sess. 8, prop. 25; Pius VI in the condemnation of prop. 54 of the Synod of Pistoia; and can. 824, § 1: "According to the received and approved custom and institution of the Church, it is permitted to any priest celebrating and applying Mass to receive an alms or stipend."

It is confirmed from the origin of the stipend, which is in the offerings of the faithful. In the primitive Church, within the solemnities of Masses, the faithful gave their offerings, namely bread and wine, at the altar, from which priests took the things necessary for the sacrifice offered for all; the things which remained over yielded partly to clerics and partly to the poor. Afterwards, besides bread and wine, for the use of priests and clerics, other things were offered as alms: oil, milk, honey, fruits, incense, then also coins. From this it came about that they also offered coins before Mass, and those offering asked that the sacrifice itself be offered specially for them. From the seventh century the custom was introduced of celebrating thus for particular faithful persons to a special intention; in the twelfth century the use of stipends is universal.

374. Corollaries. - From the aforesaid it follows:

1. Not only a poor but also a rich priest can accept a stipend, as universal practice bears: for everyone can live from his office, and the worker is worthy of his wage; nor is he himself, but he who asks for the sacrifice, bound to furnish the things necessary for it.

2. On the day of the Nativity of the Lord, three stipends are licitly accepted, because the whole which the priest receives on that day and on other days does not exceed the sustenance necessary for the whole year; in itself this would also be licit on the commemoration of all the departed, or in bination, unless the Church prohibited it in order to restrain cupidity. Whence can. 824, § 2: "But as often as he celebrates several times in a day, if he applies one Mass from a title of justice (i.e., from office, benefice, or stipend), the priest, except on the day of the Nativity of the Lord, cannot receive an alms for another, except some remuneration from an extrinsic title."

3. Beneficiaries who from a foundation are bound to celebrate Mass on certain days, but not to apply it, can accept a stipend from another to whom they apply it: for in this case the stipend of the foundation is given on account of extrinsic labor, or an office undertaken toward the parish, church, or chapel.

375. Quantity of the stipend. - The title of the stipend is the support of the priest, not indeed of one whole day, for in the rest of the day he can also preach, teach, and do similar things; nor precisely support for the time of the Mass alone: for celebration impedes the priest for a great part of the day from many other works by which he could seek his livelihood; wherefore St. Alphonsus says that support for half or a third part of the day suffices.

Since food, clothing, habitation, books, and other things necessary for priests, just as also money itself, are not always of the same value, and since circumstances of places and times vary, the stipend also varies. But just as the price of things can be taxed by civil authority, so also the Supreme Pontiff, and the Bishop in the diocese, can determine the quantity of support to be given and the quantity of money corresponding to it; which determination is presumed right unless it contains evident injustice; whence it effects that priests cannot require more, nor the faithful, against the will of the priest, give a lesser stipend for a celebrated Mass, without acting unjustly. But if a legal taxation is lacking, the stipend is determined by custom. Hence can. 831:

"§ 1. It belongs to the Ordinary of the place to define the manual offering for Masses in his diocese by decree, issued, as far as possible, in a diocesan Synod; nor is it licit for a priest to require a greater one.

"§ 2. Where a decree of the Ordinary is lacking, the custom of the diocese is to be observed.

"§ 3. Even religious, although exempt, must stand, concerning the manual offering, by the decree of the Ordinary or by the custom of the diocese."

To require beyond the just stipend is simony, at least of ecclesiastical law (can. 730).

376. Observations. - 1. A Bishop cannot prohibit priests from accepting a greater stipend spontaneously offered (S. C. C., Jan. 16, 1649); but he can prohibit a lesser one from being accepted, lest the sacrifice of the Mass become cheapened (S. C. C., July 16, 1689). Hence can. 832: "It is right for a priest to accept a greater offering voluntarily offered for the application of Mass; and, unless the local Ordinary has prohibited it, also a lesser one."

2. A priest can require a greater stipend for extraordinary labor and for a title extrinsic to the Mass, for example for a long journey, a later hour, chant, a determinate day, etc.; unless this is already owed from elsewhere. Not, however, for a spiritual emolument, for example for celebration at the altar of a miraculous image; whence can. 918, § 2: "For Masses to be celebrated at a privileged altar, a greater alms for the Mass cannot be required under pretext of the privilege."

3. It is licit to make an agreement concerning the stipend of Masses, but according to the taxation or custom: for since it is given from justice, nothing prevents it from being brought into an agreement; nevertheless scandal is to be avoided in such agreements, as much as possible.

377. The quality and quantity of the obligation from stipend. - From a stipend there arises the obligation of celebrating the sacrifice according to the intention of him who gives the stipend. The obligation is of justice, because the priest and the faithful person enter into a true contract, in which on the one hand the faithful person furnishes the stipend so that Mass may be celebrated, and the priest on the other hand accepts the stipend with the burden of celebrating the sacrifice. The obligation, even of saying one Mass, is from its genus grave, because the gravity here is to be measured not from the stipend but from the spiritual fruit, the privation of which is a notable harm.

This is clear from the insistence with which the Church in many decrees urged the grave obligation, and from the fact that authors today now commonly teach this; - unless perhaps the number of Masses to be said to the altogether same intention is great, or unless the stipend is so slight that the Mass is judged to have been promised gratuitously, because a simple promise, in itself and unless someone intended otherwise, does not oblige under grave sin.

Hence in the case in which one Mass has been omitted, the grave obligation remains of applying it as soon as possible, if the end can still be obtained, or of warning the offerer and returning the stipend. And one who has omitted to apply a Mass in fitting time is bound from justice to restore the stipend; nevertheless the obligation of restoring is not grave unless the stipend constitutes matter at least relatively grave.

378. The mode of fulfilling the obligation. - The obligation contracted from a stipend can be considered:

1. As to the person. Speaking in itself, the priest can satisfy by himself or through another; but if the giver bears this with difficulty, nevertheless there does not seem to be a grave obligation of celebrating by himself, because satisfaction is made as to substance even through another.

From can. 838: "Those who have a number of Masses concerning which they may dispose freely, can assign them to priests acceptable to themselves, provided that it is well established to them that these are beyond all exception or are commended by the testimony of their own Ordinary"; nevertheless in that case "they are held by the obligation until they have obtained testimony of the obligation accepted by the same priests and of the stipend received" (can. 839).

A fortiori it is licit to hand over Masses to be celebrated to the Ordinary.

2. As to number: The priest is bound to celebrate and apply as many sacrifices as he has accepted stipends, even if they are slight (can. 828), because the one giving the stipend asks for a certainly valid application, indeed a Mass reserved to himself, to the exclusion of others if the application made to these should harm him.

Hence one who has done otherwise is bound to reparation if it is still possible, and otherwise to restitution. Cf. Urban VIII, June 21, 1625; and propositions 8 and 10 condemned by Alexander VII.

3. As to time: The priest is bound to celebrate at the time explicitly or implicitly determined (can. 834).

Hence a) he who accepted a stipend that he might celebrate on a certain day, for example on a determinate feast, is bound to celebrate on that day; b) a Mass requested for an urgent necessity, for example for one in agony, for winning a lawsuit soon to be judged, for one recently deceased, for a happy childbirth, for avoiding danger, must be celebrated as soon as possible and in useful time; c) if a great number of Masses is handed over to the same priest at the same time, or if the one handing them over knows that the priest is bound to many other Masses, then he is deservedly judged to consent to a longer delay; on the contrary if a great number is handed over to a community of many priests; d) those who offer stipends in places where, on account of a great concourse, many stipends are offered, are judged to consent to delay; e) but if the time is determined in no way, the priest is bound to celebrate within a moderate time, according to the greater or lesser number of Masses; f) if the offerer has expressly left the time of celebration to the judgment of the priest, the priest will be able to celebrate them at the time which pleases him more, but at least within a year to be computed from the time of reception. Thus according to the norm of can. 834 and 835.

The S. C. C., May 11, 1904, interpreted a moderate time thus: "within a month for one Mass, and a semester for 100 Masses, and another longer or shorter space of time, more or less long, according to the greater or lesser number of Masses," for example, a month for 3 or 4 Masses, 40-45 days for 10, 2 months for 20, 3 for 40, 4 for 60, 5 for 80, 6 for 100, a year for 200 (S. C. C., Feb. 27, 1905). This taxation, although the Code abstained from proposing it, nevertheless furnishes a prudent rule from which one should not depart much. But it is to be taken not mathematically but morally, and it is to be understood with respect to individual offerers, not cumulatively with respect to all. The time is to be computed from the moment at which the Masses are received, whether from the donor, or from the one handing them over, or even from the Ordinary, unless something else is established (can. 837), i.e., unless something else has been agreed upon either explicitly or implicitly, as if an urgent cause is present, or the time has been expressly determined, or the one transmitting adds a condition.

A notable delay is a grave sin: it obliges to restitution if the cause of celebrating has ceased; if it remains, the priest is bound to compensate by spiritual goods (as by prayers, fasts, indulgences) the spiritual harm which perhaps followed from the delay.

4. As to place and quality and other circumstances. If the offerer has expressly determined some circumstances in the celebration of the Mass, the priest, accepting the alms, must stand by his will (can. 833).

The priest, if he cannot or will not observe the circumstances, must warn the offerer about this; and if that person does not contradict, he is not bound to the circumstances. If he has celebrated while not observing the circumstances, in grave matter he must supply the defect. Nevertheless he is not bound to restore the stipend, unless the circumstance was intended by the offerer as a condition without which not.

Hence a) when someone accepts a stipend that he may celebrate in such a place, for example at the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in such a chapel, he is bound to celebrate there; nevertheless the omission of this circumstance generally is not gravely culpable, and is excused by a reasonable cause, nor of itself does it induce the burden of restitution; the omission of the same circumstance in many Masses of the same donation would more easily be grave, provided the circumstance had been stipulated for a grave reason.

b) One who by a stipend is bound to celebrate at a privileged altar does not satisfy at another altar, unless he enjoys the personal privilege of an altar, nor does he satisfy by applying another plenary indulgence, because the deceased does not gain this so certainly (S. C. Indulg., May 2, 1852). But if from an error committed in good faith he has not satisfied, he is bound in compensation to apply another plenary indulgence to the deceased (S. C. Indulg., Feb. 22, 1847, and July 24, 1885).

c) One who is bound to say a votive Mass does not satisfy by applying the Mass of the day, unless a legitimate impediment excuses; nevertheless this defect of itself does not exceed venial sin.

d) If a faithful person asks for a Mass for a deceased person, the priest satisfies by a Mass of the saint and is not bound to say a Mass of requiem, unless it was expressly requested; similarly one who must apply for the living satisfies by a Mass of requiem, unless another was expressly asked for. The offerer is presumed to seek only the application, not the rite (can. 833).

e) If a Mass is asked in honor of some mystery of Christ, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or of a Saint, satisfaction is made by the Mass of the current day, unless a votive Mass is expressly asked; although it is more advisable, as far as possible, to satisfy by a votive Mass (S. C. R., June 13, 1899).

f) If a faithful person asks for a sung or solemn Mass, the priest applying a low Mass validly applies, but does not perfectly satisfy (S. C. P. F., June 8, 1844), and therefore he is bound to celebrate a sung or solemn Mass, which nevertheless he does not owe to this faithful person, but can apply to another.

g) If thirty Gregorian Masses are asked, Mass is to be celebrated without interruption for thirty continuous days for one and the same deceased person, though it is not necessary that it be celebrated by the same priest. They are called Gregorian because, as the S. C. Indulg. declared, March 15, 1884, it is piously and reasonably believed that the souls for whom they are applied are specially helped by them on account of the intercession of St. Gregory, so that they may be liberated from purgatory. It is essential that the Masses be celebrated without interruption through thirty continuous days, the last three days of Holy Week excepted (S. Off., Dec. 12, 1912).

Hence that circumstance gravely obliges. Whence he who voluntarily interrupted the tricenary is bound to repeat the series; but if involuntarily, whether he is bound so to supply, they dispute. Several deny it, because the priest is not judged to have willed to oblige himself to this, nor the one offering the stipend reasonably to require it; nevertheless they advise applying a plenary indulgence to the deceased in compensation.¹ But they speak too confidently, for the whole matter depends upon the intention of the one bestowing the stipend; and there are among those bestowing, especially in certain regions, some who strictly require certainly valid execution of the contract. Whence in practice it seems rather, for caution, that recourse must be had to the Sacred Penitentiary;² nevertheless some judge that it also suffices that the one interrupting take care that one Mass be celebrated at a Gregorian altar in the City, or at some other altar which is privileged after the manner of the Gregorian, because they think that in this way the same assistance of St. Gregory is obtained.

¹ Thus, for example, Marc, Aertnijs-Damen, Prummer, Cappello.

² Thus Vermeersch, Th. M., III, n. 278, which Cappello also holds, o. c., n. 769.

379. Corollaries. - Hence the following dispositions are easily understood:

A. "It is never licit:

1. To apply Mass according to the intention of him who, an alms having been offered, is going to ask for the application, but has not yet asked, and to retain the alms afterwards given for a Mass previously applied (unless the offerer, having been warned, ratifies it, as we said in n. 353, 3);

2. To receive an alms for a Mass which is owed and applied by another title;

3. To accept a double alms for the application of the same Mass;

4. To receive one alms for the celebration alone, another for the application of the same Mass, unless it is certainly established that one offering was made for celebration without application," can. 825.

B. "As many Masses are to be celebrated and applied as stipends, even slight ones, have been given and accepted," can. 828. But if, without the priest's knowledge, a stipend lower than the tax has been handed over and the offerer is unknown, the priest can put it into the box of alms for Masses to be celebrated or hand it over to the Ordinary of the place.

C. "Although the alms of Masses already received have perished without the fault of him who is burdened with the charge of celebrating, the obligation does not cease," can. 829. For by handing over, the stipend has passed into the ownership of the priest; but the thing perishes to its owner.

D. "If someone has offered a sum of money for the application of Masses, not indicating their number, this is to be reckoned according to the alms of the place in which the offerer was staying, unless it must legitimately be presumed that his intention was otherwise," can. 830, for example if he asked about the diocesan tax, or was accustomed to give another stipend.

E. "It is licit for no one to receive so many burdens of Masses to be celebrated by himself that he cannot satisfy them within a year," can. 835. But it is licit if the offerer manifestly consents to this (can. 841, § 2), or if the Masses are to be celebrated through others (can. 836).

F. "In churches in which, on account of the peculiar devotion of the faithful, alms for Masses flow in such a way that all the Masses cannot be celebrated there in due time, let the faithful be warned, by a tablet placed in an open and obvious place, that the offered Masses will be celebrated either there, when it can conveniently be done, or elsewhere," can. 836.

380. Special prohibition of any negotiation or trafficking with Mass stipends. - Can. 827 prescribes: "From the offering of Masses any even appearance of negotiation or trafficking is altogether to be kept away"; by which words not only negotiation or trafficking itself, but also those things which bear their appearance, i.e., appearance or founded suspicion, and cooperation in all these things, are prohibited (S. C. C., May 11, 1904). This prohibition is grave from its genus.

One conducts negotiation or trafficking with Mass stipends:

1. Who, by means of stipends collected or accepted for that end, conducts some commerce, for example of books or sacred utensils, namely by handing over merchandise for stipends, so that from the difference of the stipends, or even from the sale of the merchandise alone, he may receive profit.

Nevertheless it is not prohibited: a) for booksellers or merchants to commit Masses to be celebrated for themselves and their deceased to a priest, and to hand over to him books or utensils for the stipend;

b) for priests to accept wine, oil, grain, and other things for Masses to be celebrated or celebrated, or to pay a debt, provided that the appearance of negotiation is kept away;

c) for rectors of churches and seminaries or moderators of pious works to accept stipends spontaneously offered and to ask priests to pay the Masses gratuitously, turning over the alms to the aforesaid works;

d) for assistant vicars or other priests living in the house of a pastor to cede to him, for food and service, the alms of a daily Mass, whether low or sung.

These are not negotiations, but payments or donations.

2. Who collects or accepts stipends so that, by transmitting Masses to be celebrated for a lesser stipend, or from the exchange of money, he may receive profit. Hence can. 840, § 1: "One who transmits manual offerings of Masses to others must transmit the accepted offerings entire, unless either the offerer expressly permits something to be retained, or it is certainly established that the excess above the diocesan tax was given in consideration of the person."

For from the intention of the offerer, the whole stipend in itself is destined to the celebrant, nor therefore can a part be retained for pious uses.

Whence he who retains part of the stipend sins against justice and is bound to restore to the celebrant.

Nevertheless:

a) It is not illicit to retain part: 1. if the offerer expressly permits it; 2. if it is certainly established that the richer stipend was given in consideration of the person, for example by reason of special friendship, necessity, gratitude, recompense, etc.; 3. if the priest to whom celebration is committed spontaneously remits part of the stipend; 4. if the greater alms pertains to parochial rights, which are called stole fees, as in funeral or nuptial Masses, because these belong to the pastor; 5. if someone has an indult granted after 1904; 6. if it is a matter of founded Masses which could not be celebrated in due time, unless the mind of the founder stands in the way. For concerning these can. 840, § 2, holds: "In Masses after the manner of manual ones (namely founded Masses which could not duly be applied), unless the mind of the founder stands in the way, the excess is legitimately retained and it is enough to remit only the manual alms of the diocese in which the Mass is celebrated, if the rich alms takes the place in part of the dowry of a benefice or pious cause."

b) Nor is it illicit to commute the intentions of Masses, even if the stipends are unequal, as if Peter today celebrates according to the intention of Paul, and Paul tomorrow according to the intention of Peter; or Paul in Peter's church according to the intention of the absent Peter, and Peter according to the intention of Paul: such an agreement is only concerning mutual service to be rendered.

c) It is not illicit to retain from the stipend for the expenses of transmission or administration, provided that not more is retained than is necessary for expenses (S. C. C., Feb. 25, 1905); but the same does not hold for the expenses of altars, vestments, lights, wine, hosts, unless the church is very poor (Innocent XII, Const. Nuper, Nov. 23, 1697, VII), in which case the Ordinary can grant that a moderate offering be required, which it belongs to him to define in such a way that it is lawful for no one, not even exempt religious, to require a greater one (can. 1303, § 2 and 3).

381. Practical notices. - 1. Can. 837: "One who has Masses to be celebrated through others should distribute them as soon as possible, with due regard for the prescription of can. 841; but the lawful time for their celebration begins from the day on which the priest who is to celebrate received them, unless something else is established," as was said in n. 378, 3.

2. Can. 841: "§ 1. All and individual administrators of pious causes, or those in any way obliged to fulfill the burdens of Masses, whether ecclesiastics or laymen, near the end of each year, should hand over to their Ordinaries, according to the mode to be defined by these, the burdens of Masses to which satisfaction has not yet been made.

"§ 2. But this time is to be understood in such a way that in Masses after the manner of manual ones, the obligation of depositing them runs from the end of that year within which the burdens ought to have been fulfilled; but in manual ones, after a year from the day of the burden undertaken, saving a diverse will of the offerers."

Indeed thus, unless it is a matter of a smaller number of Masses which are to be said shortly.

3. Can. 842: "The right and office of watching that the burdens of Masses be fulfilled pertains, in churches of seculars, to the local Ordinary; in churches of religious, to their superiors."

4. Can. 843: "§ 1. Rectors of churches and of other pious places, whether secular or religious, in which alms for Masses are accustomed to be received, should have a special book in which they accurately note the number of Masses received, the intention, the alms, and the celebration.

"§ 2. Ordinaries are held by the obligation, at least once each year, of reviewing books of this kind, either by themselves or through others."

5. Can. 844: "§ 1. Ordinaries of places also and religious superiors who commit Masses to be celebrated to their own subjects or to others, should soon record in order in a book the Masses which they have received with their alms, and take care according to their powers that they be celebrated as soon as possible.

"§ 2. Indeed all priests, whether secular or religious, must accurately note which intentions of Masses each has received, and to which he has made satisfaction."