The Distribution and Transmission of Masses

I. To what extent someone must or can distribute or transmit Masses you may gather from these points:

1. One who has Masses to be celebrated by others should distribute them as soon as possible, with the prescription of canon 841 remaining firm; but the legitimate time for their celebration begins from the day on which the priest who is going to celebrate them received them, unless something else is clear (canon 837). There is question, for example, of the administrator of a pious cause, of an executor of a testament, of an heir. Let them distribute the Masses as soon as possible, lest the celebration be delayed too much.

2. Those who have a number of Masses of which they may freely dispose can give them to priests acceptable to themselves, provided they know well that these priests are above every exception or are recommended by the testimony of their own Ordinary (canon 838).¹ It is said to priests; hence it is not lawful to hand them over, for example, to booksellers, etc. Nevertheless nothing prevents their being handed over to a priest who distributes them among other priests. They can also be handed over to priests who live or are staying in another diocese,² since the Code does not distinguish and requires only that the priest be above every exception, that is, truly trustworthy, or recommended by his own Ordinary, that is, the Ordinary of the one accepting, although perhaps he is living in another diocese. Moreover, the disposition of some provincial councils, by which it is forbidden for stipends to be sent to another diocese without the permission of the Ordinary, is sustained only - unless a privilege is added³ - with respect to founded Masses, Masses after the manner of manual Masses, or manual Masses given with regard to a pious cause.⁴ From these things you may deduce what the local Ordinary can do in this matter.

3. All and individual administrators of pious causes, or persons bound in any way to fulfill Mass burdens, whether clerics or laypersons, at the end of each year should hand over to their Ordinaries, according to the manner to be defined by these Ordinaries, the Mass burdens for which satisfaction has not yet been made. This time, however, is to be taken in such a way that in Masses after the manner of manual Masses the obligation of depositing them runs from the end of that year within which the burdens ought to have been fulfilled; but in manual Masses, after a year from the day the burden was undertaken, with the different will of those offering preserved (canon 841, §§ 1 and 2). Namely, those offering manual stipends can grant that the Masses be delayed more than a year.

¹ Cf. Sacred Congregation of the Council, 17 July 1655.

² By these provisions the decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council (22 May 1897, Acta Sanctae Sedis, vol. 40, p. 344), by which stipends could not be transmitted to priests residing outside the diocese except through their Ordinary, or at least after he had been heard and had consented, was removed. Likewise the decrees which prohibited the direct transmission of Masses to Oriental priests seem to have been removed.

³ A privilege of this kind was granted for a time to the bishops of Holland.

⁴ Sacred Congregation of the Council, 19 February 1921.

II. Those who hand over to others for celebration Masses received from the faithful or in any way committed to their trust are held by the obligation until they have obtained testimony from them of the obligation accepted and of the stipend received (canon 839). Thus positive law does not extend itself more broadly; but with natural law considered, one would not be immune from obligation if he transmitted a Mass whose obligation of celebration he himself had undertaken, and afterward learned that the celebration of the Mass was being neglected (cf. n. 224).

III. One who transmits Masses is bound to transmit the stipend, as follows:

1. One who transmits manual Mass stipends to others must transmit what has been accepted in full, unless either the offerer expressly permits something to be retained, or it is certainly clear that the excess above the diocesan tax was given in consideration of the person (canon 840, § 1). Thus, per se, the celebrant has the right to receive the whole stipend, and indeed either in its own species, or, if the priest who is going to celebrate consents, in an equivalent,¹ for example in books. Likewise, even without the consent of the celebrant, if there is question of vicars living in the pastor's house, the excess of the common stipend can be given to them in board and service.² Finally, as regards the same vicars, the custom can be sustained that they always celebrate according to the intention of the pastor, who grants them board and service, while they receive a determined pension from the treasury of the church or from the pastor.³

One who transmits a manual offering can retain something: 1. when the offerer expressly permits it; 2. when it is certain that the excess above the diocesan tax was given in consideration of the person, for example because the one to whom the Mass was offered is poor, or a relative, friend, or even pastor of the offerer;⁴ 3. if the excess of the customary tax pertains to stole fees, as if there is question of a nuptial or funeral Mass.⁵ In other cases the one who is going to celebrate has the right to the whole stipend. Nothing, however, prevents him, by yielding his right altogether spontaneously, from leaving the offering or part of it to the one transmitting. But now, just as before, it seems illicit to ask the one who is going to celebrate to yield the stipend or part of it. For, considering the Constitution of Benedict XIV Quanta cura,⁶ where a request of this kind is called an execrable abuse, and canon 827, it must be doubted whether the old law has been changed. In doubt, however, one must not depart from the old law (canon 6, 4).

2. In Masses after the manner of manual Masses, unless the mind of the founder stands in the way, the excess is legitimately retained, and it suffices to remit only the manual alms of the diocese in which the Mass is celebrated, if the ample alms takes the place in part of the endowment of the benefice or pious cause (canon 840, § 2). Whether or not the added condition has place is to be gathered: 1. from the tables of the foundation themselves, when they expressly testify that the whole annual fruit of the foundation was designated as stipend; 2. from the nature of the benefice to which the foundation is annexed, namely if all or the greatest part of the revenues of the benefice consist in these stipends; 3. from custom, when more ample stipends have always been held as a part of the revenues; and 4. from an authentic declaration of the Ordinary.⁷

¹ The decree Ut debita prescribed that stipends were to be handed over in full and in their own species (article 9).

² Sacred Congregation of the Council, 25 February 1905, in the Breda case, ad I (Acta Sanctae Sedis, vol. 38, p. 15); 25 February 1910, in the Luxembourg case (Acta Apostolicae Sedis 1910, p. 203).

³ Sacred Congregation of the Council, in the Breda case, ad III (Acta Sanctae Sedis, loc. cit.); 10 January, in the Montesson case (Acta Apostolicae Sedis 1920, p. 70).

⁴ Cf. Sacred Penitentiary, 6 April 1742 (Collectio, n. 336); Sacred Congregation of the Council, 31 January 1880.

⁵ Cf. Sacred Congregation of the Council, 25 July 1874 (Collectio, n. 1422); 11 May 1888.

⁶ 30 June 1741.

⁷ N. K. Stemmen, 1918, p. 9; Aertnys-Damen, II, n. 212.

Corollary I. At the request of either party it is lawful to exchange intentions, while the unequal stipend is retained, if this is done so that offices are exchanged;¹ otherwise, if it is done principally for the sake of taking profit.² The reason for the former is that every base gain is absent. The reason for the latter is that illicit gain does not seem to be absent; cf. canon 827 (St. Alphonsus, VI, 322, doubt 4).

Corollary II. One who by office has care of distributing stipends can demand a moderate payment from those to whom the Masses are distributed (St. Alphonsus, VI, 322, doubt 8). And generally, one who transmits Masses can deduct expenses of administration and transfer.³ Administrators of churches, however, cannot retain part of the stipend for the expenses of altars, servers, light, wine, hosts, etc., unless the church is pressed by poverty⁴ (St. Alphonsus, 322, doubt 5). Nor is it lawful to subtract anything from the manual alms which the faithful are accustomed to hand over to more celebrated shrines, in order to provide for their dignity and ornament.⁵

Corollary III. One who unduly retains part of a stipend sins against strict justice, and therefore is bound to restitution from the same virtue, as follows:

1. An executor of a testament who retains part of the sum to be expended in Mass stipends certainly violates strict justice. The same, according to the Constitution of Benedict XIV Quanta cura, § 1 sq., must be said of those who collect stipends for this end: that Masses be celebrated elsewhere, where stipends are smaller.

2. There is dispute about others; but with St. Alphonsus (VI, 322, doubt 1) it seems altogether to be affirmed. For ownership of the stipend is not acquired except according to the intention of the giver. But the intention of the giver seems to be that the one who fulfills the burden also receive the stipend. Objection. Nothing prevents the recipient of the stipend from fulfilling the burden through another. Response. Granted; but from the intention of the one giving the stipend, in other words, by force of this contract, that other person who fulfills the burden seems to receive a right in the stipend given. From what has been said, against some authors it is also deduced that the stipend must be restored to the celebrant, not to the one giving the alms (St. Alphonsus, VI, loc. cit.).

¹ For example, a missionary occupied with spiritual exercises takes upon himself the Mass and intention announced for the sixth hour, so that a chaplain, a sufficiently sick old man, may be able to celebrate; and he hands over to this chaplain his own intention to be discharged, without any discussion about exchanging stipends.

² For example, someone has a Mass with an ample stipend to be celebrated today. But, hindered unexpectedly from celebrating, he summons another priest and proposes to him, who has a smaller stipend, that the Masses be exchanged, namely so that he himself takes upon himself the other priest's intention to be discharged on the following day.

³ Sacred Congregation of the Council, in the Breda case, 25 February 1905, Mens est.

⁴ Constitution of Innocent XII, Nuper, ad VII.

⁵ Decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council Ut debita (article 11).

2. In a certain religious community the father procurator was accustomed at the beginning of each month to distribute Mass intentions among the fathers dwelling in the same community. The same procurator received the stipends of these Masses abundantly, so that there were never lacking to him Masses to be distributed. Since at the beginning of some month a certain father forgot to go to the father procurator, and to ask from him new Masses to be celebrated, nevertheless he celebrated according to his intention. Hence the question was raised whether for that Mass the father procurator could retain a stipend from those already accepted, or whether a Mass had to be celebrated again.

R. It seems that the father procurator can retain the stipend for that Mass; nor does another seem to have to be celebrated. The reason is that that Mass was said for a certain and determinate intention. For that father knew both that the procurator had Masses with himself to be distributed, and that it was his will that they be said by the fathers dwelling in that community. There is added the authority of Francis Sylvius, Op. tom. 5. Orat. 11., which is the first on anticipated Masses, Concl. 2. He resolves almost the same case, and says: "He who celebrates in anticipation according to the intention of one who is accustomed to have Masses to be commended to others, that is, before he has either been requested by him or has himself reminded him, does not act badly, and can receive the stipend from him without scruple." And for this same opinion he cites Reginald, Rodriguez, Fagundez, and Aragonius, who writes thus concerning the preceding assertion: Therefore these things are certain, and I judge that no one can doubt concerning them; in which way Peter Navarra also speaks, apud Sylv. l. c. - Claude La Croix affirms the same, l. 6. n. 220: "I can," he says, "apply a Mass for him whom I know in fact wishes to ask a Mass from me, although he has not yet asked. Except if I knew that he wished to ask for some effect toward which the sacrifice would not yet help"; and he cites Pasq. and Sylvius. - And below, answering the question: "Whether he satisfies who celebrates for him whom God knows will first give the stipend," after bringing forward doctors on each side he says: "It must be said with the common opinion that such an application is always made illicitly, and often also invalidly." Illicitly indeed because of the special prohibition made by Clement VIII; often invalidly, because often at that time the intention of the petitioner does not yet exist; indeed, often neither does the motive or cause of asking. And he adds, n. 222: "All the opposite things are in the chaplain of whom Burgh speaks. Nevertheless Vasq., Rayn., and Avers. admit that Mass can be read for one actually dead, for whom afterward a Mass will first be requested, with a stipend offered, because thus it is usefully offered for that determinate person, already in need and capable of the whole fruit." - G. 337. 345. 346., I. M. 618.

12. All, however bound to fulfill burdens of Masses, whether ecclesiastics or laymen, at the end of any year must hand over to their own Ordinaries the burdens of Masses which they have not yet satisfied. For founded Masses or Masses annexed to some benefice, the obligation of depositing them runs from the end of that year within which the burdens ought to have been fulfilled. But for manual Masses the obligation of depositing them begins after a year from the day of the burden undertaken, if it is a question of a large number of Masses; for these certainly the obligation is to hand over those remaining Masses, not yet celebrated, at the end of the year, to their own Ordinaries.

For if it is a question of a smaller number of Masses, or of a diverse will of the offerers, the prescriptions of the preceding article 3 remain preserved. Cf. n. 10. For they must be celebrated within the time established by law: within a month, within six months, or within the shorter or longer time established by the offerer, without the Priest being able to retain them for an entire year. Hence, if he himself cannot celebrate them, he must take care that they be celebrated by others in due time, although the obligation of handing them over to the Bishop before the elapsed year is not had. Paragraph 4.

13. Therefore all those who have not satisfied the obligations undertaken after the elapsed year established by this article 4 are held by the obligation of handing over uncelebrated Masses to the Ordinary, that is, to their own Ordinary: Regulars to the Regular Superior, seculars to the Bishop. If a Priest handing over these Masses to the Ordinary would be left without Masses, authors teach that he can retain some Masses for himself, for example fifteen or twenty; but it is better to warn the Ordinary concerning this matter.

14. The preceding prescription obliges of itself under grave sin. For concerning the observance of all these things, the conscience of all whom it concerns is gravely burdened. Paragraph Super. Against transgressors of the preceding article 4, the Bishop can proceed in particular, all things to be observed having been observed, with censures.

15. Those who have an overflowing number of Masses, concerning which it is lawful for them freely to dispose, can assign them, besides to the Ordinary or to the Holy See, also to Priests well-disposed to themselves, provided these are certainly and personally known to them and above every exception. Paragraph 5. "Those who have an overflowing number of Masses": those namely who are not in delay as regards the celebration of Masses. For these, after the elapsed year, must hand them over only to the Ordinary, according to the preceding article 4. Therefore others, who have free disposition of Masses and who during the year have not been negligent in seeing to their celebration, can hand them over to other Priests also to be celebrated.

16. Those who have handed over Masses with their alms to the Ordinary or to the Holy See are relieved from every obligation before God and the Church, namely after they have handed over the Masses and alms. Paragraph 6. To the Ordinary, or to the Holy See, or to the Superiors General of Orders or Religious Congregations. Sacred Congregation of the Council, February 27, 1905.

But those who have handed over to others to be celebrated Masses received from the faithful and entrusted in any way to their faith, whether from the commission and handing over of the faithful, or from a testament or legacy, whether from the offerer himself or from his mandatary, executor, or anyone else, are held by the obligation until they have obtained proof of the celebration performed, whether by written document for the external forum, or only by living voice for the internal forum. Paragraph Qui vero.

17. Therefore the obligation of obtaining proof affects those who have handed over to others to be celebrated Masses received from the faithful, or in any way entrusted to their faith. Therefore it does not affect others who commit their own Masses to others to be celebrated. The former, if the alms are lost and the Mass is not celebrated from any cause even fortuitous, are bound to supply from their own goods and to satisfy the Masses. Paragraph Qui vero.

18. Diocesan Ordinaries will immediately enter in order into a book the Masses which, from the disposition of the preceding articles, they will gather, with the respective alms, and will take care, according to their strength, that they be celebrated as soon as possible, in such a way nevertheless that manual Masses be satisfied first, then those which are after the likeness of manual Masses.

But in distribution they will observe the rule of the Decree Vigilanti, namely: "they will first distribute the intentions of Masses among priests subject to themselves whom they know to need them; then the others they will commit either to the Holy See, or to other Ordinaries, or also, if they wish, to priests outside the diocese, provided they are known to themselves and above every exception," the rule of article 6 always remaining firm concerning the obligation until they have required from the priests proof of the celebration performed. Paragraph 7. Cf. n. 6.

"Diocesan Ordinaries": it is a question of Ordinaries of places; but evidently, by proportionate reason, the same is to be understood concerning Ordinaries of Regulars. Therefore in the present article 7, under the name of Ordinaries come also Regular Prelates for their respective subjects. Sacred Congregation of the Council, February 27, 1905.

19. Manual Masses are first to be satisfied: those namely which the faithful request to be celebrated, with a manual stipend offered, to whomever or in whatever way they hand over this stipend, whether by short hand or in testaments, provided they do not constitute a perpetual foundation, or one such and so long-lasting that it must be held as perpetual. Paragraph Declarat. Moreover, by the present Decree there are counted among manual Masses those which indeed burden the patrimony of some private family in perpetuity, but are constituted in no church, which Masses can be satisfied anywhere by any priests at the judgment of the father of the family. Paragraph Pariter.

20. After manual Masses, those which are after the likeness of manual Masses are to be satisfied. These, from the present Decree, are those which, constituted in some church or annexed to benefices, cannot be applied by the proper beneficiary or in the proper church, from this or that cause; and therefore either by law or with an indult of the Holy See must be handed over to other Priests so that they may be satisfied. Paragraph Ad instar.

21. "They will first distribute among Priests subject to themselves, then the others... or also, if they wish, to priests outside the diocese." As regards those first Priests, an obligation indeed is imposed on Bishops; but no strict right arises from this for Priests, as the matter is evident of itself; for otherwise Bishops would be obliged from strict justice to prefer those priests in the distribution, and consequently to make them indemnified if they passed them over. Certainly from the Decree a certain simple mandate made to Ordinaries is drawn out: "they will distribute," and nothing else.

22. The Ordinary must take care that, insofar as can be done, stipends accepted from various benefactors be handed over to various priests, so that the Masses may be celebrated within the due time. Sacred Congregation of the Council, February 27, 1905; namely within the time established by this Decree Ut debita, just as Masses entrusted by particular offerers. It then suffices that the Priests celebrate according to the mind of the Ordinary, who nevertheless must form the intention for the individual offerers, according to the rules handed down by approved authors of moral theology. Nevertheless it would be better if the prescribed intentions are made known to the priests. Sacred Congregation of the Council, February 27, 1905. But when stipends are received from the hand of the Ordinary, the useful time by concession of the Holy See begins from the day on which the Priest receives them from the Ordinary, not from the day on which the faithful first handed them over. Sacred Congregation of the Council, February 27, 1905.

23. Bishops also are bound to hand over Masses to Priests known to themselves and above every exception. And besides, they themselves also remain obligated concerning the celebration of the Masses until they have required from the Priests proof of the celebration performed.

24. But if diocesan Bishops and Regular Prelates hand over Masses to be celebrated to other Bishops or Regular Prelates, they remain free from any other obligation, even if they hand them over to Superiors General of Religious Congregations. Sacred Congregation of the Council, February 27, 1905.

371. QUESTION 8. Can a priest entrust a Mass to another to be celebrated while giving him a smaller stipend than he himself accepted?

Reply. Negatively. The reason is that, on account of the appearance of base gain, the S. Congregation of the Council prohibited this by a Decree approved by Urban VIII and confirmed by Innocent XII, in which the following is contained: The Church, wishing to remove every damnable gain, prohibits a priest who has undertaken to celebrate a Mass with a certain alms from entrusting the same Mass to another to be celebrated while retaining for himself a part of the alms for that Mass. Hence Alexander VII also condemned the following proposition expressed under no. 9: After the Decree of Urban, a priest to whom Masses to be celebrated are entrusted can satisfy through another by giving him a smaller stipend and retaining another part of the stipend for himself. Indeed, Benedict XIV, in the Encyclical Letter Quanta cura of June 30, 1741, condemns with the penalty of suspension incurred by the very fact and reserved to the Apostolic See a priest who, collecting stipends of a greater value for Masses to be celebrated according to the custom or statutes of places, arranges for the Masses to be celebrated there, or in places where smaller stipends are given, while retaining a part for himself. - See St. Lig., no. 321.

Except: 1. Unless the excess of the stipend was given in consideration of the person, friendship, poverty, gratitude, or kinship. 2. Or if the other priest remits the excess entirely of his own accord and without being asked. - St. Lig., ibid., etc., and others commonly.

271. 6. Surplus Masses to be handed over to others. In recent years the Sacred Congregation of the Council has issued many provisions concerning the manner in which a priest can hand over to others the Mass stipends he has accepted. The principal provisions are these:

a) Founded, quasi-manual, and manual Masses are distinguished.³⁹⁰

Founded Masses are those whose stipends are received from the revenues of foundations and which are to be celebrated in perpetuity in some determinate church or at a determinate altar, for example, certain chaplaincies. We do not now treat of these here, since the conditions imposed by the testator must be diligently observed, and no one except the Supreme Pontiff can dispense from them.

Quasi-manual Masses are those which are indeed founded in some church or annexed to some benefice, but which can licitly, by law or by an indult of the Holy See, be handed over to other priests to be said elsewhere.

Manual Masses are those which the faithful request to be celebrated after offering a manual stipend. It matters little whether the stipends were given from hand to hand or proceeded from a testamentary disposition, provided, however, that the money handed over does not constitute a perpetual foundation to be discharged altogether in a determinate place. Likewise counted among manual Masses are those which indeed burden the patrimony of some private family in perpetuity but are not established in any church. These Masses can be discharged anywhere by any priests at the discretion of the family.³⁹¹

b) "It is lawful for no one to assume more Masses than he himself probably cannot satisfy within a year from the day the obligation was undertaken, yet always without prejudice to the will of the offerers," who can either grant a longer time or require a determinate shorter time.³⁹² At the end of the year, however, surplus Masses must be handed over to the Ordinary. Cf. what was said above concerning this matter, and especially concerning the manner in which the year or time within which the priest must discharge surplus Masses of this kind which he has received is to be computed.

³⁹⁰ Code of Canon Law, c. 826.

³⁹¹ Ibid.

³⁹² Decree Ut debita, May 11, nn. 3 and 4.

272. c) A priest who has surplus Masses can transmit them: a) to the Ordinary or to the Holy See, and then by the very act of handing them over he is freed from every obligation before God and the Church;³⁹³ b) to other priests, provided that it is established for him that they are "above every exception," that is, truly worthy or commended by the testimony of their own Ordinary.³⁹⁴ In this case, however, the first priest is not freed from the obligation undertaken until he has obtained from the other testimony of the accepted obligation and of the stipend received.³⁹⁵

He who wished to send stipends to priests of an Eastern rite had to do this through the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith or to apostolic delegates for the priests of their district.³⁹⁶ Nevertheless, it is lawful to send stipends to the East to priests of the Latin rite, with the same clauses which must be observed in transmission to another priest in the West. Hence stipends can be sent directly to delegates, vicars, and prefects apostolic; likewise religious priests can send stipends to their confreres living in the East; but if they wish to send them to religious of another regular institute, it is safer to hand them over to the superior general of the same institute residing in the West.

Since nothing special has been established in the Code of Canon Law concerning the transmission of stipends to Eastern priests, the decisions just indicated no longer seem to have preceptive force, but only directive force.

³⁹³ Decree Ut debita, May 11, n. 6.

³⁹⁴ Thus the Code of Canon Law, c. 838, which therefore somewhat mitigated the decree Ut debita. A bishop cannot prohibit a priest from sending stipends for manual Masses outside the diocese; it is otherwise with founded or quasi-manual Masses, or with Masses offered not to some priest but to some sanctuary subject to the jurisdiction of the bishop. Sacred Congregation of the Council, February 19, 1921 (Acta Apostolicae Sedis XII, 230).

³⁹⁵ Code of Canon Law, c. 839.

³⁹⁶ Sacred Congregation of the Council, May 22 and September 9, 1907.

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."

VIII. A beneficiary, when he is compelled to celebrate through another, can lawfully afford the accustomed alms, although he himself perceive a greater one from the benefice, as the Sacred Congregation determined. In those Masses therefore which they call manual, it is forbidden to celebrate through others, a lesser stipend being conferred than was accepted. When a man commits a Mass to be celebrated to a priest instructed with singular uprightness, a greater stipend being conferred, he ought not to celebrate through another, even the whole stipend being conferred. Several other little questions some raise here, which savour of trafficking and bring in disgust.

Caius, a Catholic, by will left his houses to Titius, a missionary priest in England, on the condition that in perpetuity twenty Masses should be celebrated each year for the repose of his soul. The annual rents arising from the houses then easily exceeded twenty pounds sterling, and so Titius gladly accepted the legacy. Within a few years, however, because of the dilapidation of the houses and because the neighborhood had become less respectable, Titius sorrowfully received scarcely a tenth part of the former sum each year. Hence he reduced the number of Masses to eight, so that one Mass remained for five shillings, the diocesan rate; indeed, he sent some to his friend Lucius to be celebrated, who gladly accepted half a crown for each Mass. Hence it is asked:

1. What are manual and funded Masses?

2. To whom does it belong to accept and reduce obligations of Masses?

3. Is it lawful to transfer to another the obligation of celebrating a Mass while retaining part of the stipend?

4. What is to be said of the case?

1. What are manual and funded Masses?

The distinction is explained in the decree S. C. C., Ut debita, May 11, 1904: “ The Sacred Congregation declares that by manual Masses in the present decree are understood and held all those which the faithful ask to be celebrated for an offered manual stipend, to whomever or in whatever manner they hand over this stipend, whether by direct hand or in wills, provided that they do not constitute a perpetual foundation, or one of such kind and so long-lasting that it ought to be regarded as perpetual.”

2. To whom does it belong to accept and to reduce the burden of Masses?

The Fourth Council of Westminster (d. X n. 11 says): “ Let the rectors of churches of the secular clergy remember that the right of imposing burdens of Masses upon churches, whether they are temporal or perpetual, belongs to the Bishop alone; and that burdens already imposed can neither be changed nor diminished without the Holy See having been consulted.” The consent of the bishop (or of the regular prelate for Religious) is not required for the validity, but only for the lawfulness of the transaction.¹

1 Gasparri, De Eucharistia, vol. i, n. 561.

3. Is it lawful to transfer the burden of saying Mass to another while retaining part of the stipend?

No, as a general rule. The decree Ut debita says: “ It is decreed that the stipend assigned by the faithful can never be separated from the celebration of the Mass, nor diverted to other things or diminished, but must be handed over to the celebrant in full and in its own kind.” In certain cases, however, it is not unlawful to retain part of the stipend, as, for example, when more than the ordinary sum has been given out of friendship, or other special reason, when the priest who says the Mass without being asked voluntarily foregoes part of the stipend, or when there is question not of manual but of funded Masses in the strict sense annexed to a church.²

2 Lehmkuhl, vol. ii, n. 281, 11th edition.

4. The case. Titius went beyond his powers when he accepted the legacy without the consent of the bishop, as is clear from what was said above. Titius still further exceeded his authority when he reduced the number of Masses to be said on account of the reduction of income from the property. He should have recourse to the Holy See, say what he has done, and ask what he is to do in the matter in future. Under the circumstances he did not do wrong in getting his friend Lucius to say some of the Masses for half-a-crown, which is commonly given as a stipend for Mass by the poor in England. No definite sum had been apportioned by the testator for the celebration of each Mass.

Caius, a priest, wrote to Titius, likewise a priest and the author of a theological book, and asked that a copy of the said book be sent to him. The author sent the book and at the same time wrote that the best manner of paying the price would be for Caius to celebrate five Masses, for he had more intentions than he could satisfy, and those five had already been in his hands for two months. Caius, however, doubts whether it is lawful for him to buy the book in this way; indeed, he thinks that Titius has offended against the decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council of May 11, 1904. Hence it is asked:

1. How is it shown that it is lawful and honorable to accept stipends for Masses?

2. What did the Sacred Congregation of the Council determine on May 11, 1904, concerning the doubts to be treated in the case?

3. What is to be said of the case?

1. How is it shown that it is lawful to receive stipends or Masses?

The Mass is not sold for the stipend, but the priest undertakes to say a Mass for the intention of the person who asks for it. But it is only right and proper that one who occupies himself for the benefit of another, should receive his support or part of it from him for whose benefit he labors. A soldier fighting or training to do so for his country’s defence has a right to be supported meanwhile at his country’s expense. In the same way the stipend is given to the priest for his support by one who benefits spiritually by the priest’s celebration of Mass.

2. What did the S. C. C. decree May 11, 1904, bearing on the points in the case?

The decree S. C. C., Ut debita, contains the following: “ Almsgiving of the Mass can never be separated from the celebration of the Mass, nor be exchanged or diminished for other things, but must be handed over to the celebrant in full and in its own kind;” furthermore, “ to sell or buy books, sacred utensils or any other things and to enter into associations (as they call them) with newspapers and periodicals by means of Masses is unlawful and altogether prohibited. This, however, is valid not only if it is about Masses to be celebrated, but also about Masses already celebrated, whenever it passes into use and habit and tends to the benefit of some commerce.”

3. The case. Caius would seem to have interpreted the decree too strictly The decree indeed, forbids trading with stipends for Masses, and as a general rule prescribes that the whole stipend received for a Mass is to go to the priest who says the Mass. It is specially forbidden for booksellers to collect intentions for Masses and get them said by priests who receive books instead of the stipends. However, Titius did none of these things. He had some Masses to be said for stipends, and he was at liberty to ask Caius, if he knew him to be an honest priest, to say some of those Masses. Caius was indebted to Titius for the price of the book. It was lawful to square accounts without the necessity of sending money backwards and forwards. Fr. Lehmkuhl says: “Only if [a priest]

has surplus stipends not deliberately collected or who entrusts Masses to be celebrated to other priests with the right to the full stipends, but they, moved by another consideration, buy periodicals from him, it will be lawful to balance the account of what was given and received.”¹

1 Casus Conscientiae, vol. ii, n. 223.