Paying For Mass?

[BG45]

I'm not sure if this is true, but does one have to pay to have a Mass said for a dead individual? If so, how is this not the abhorrent practice of Simony?

[CatherineM]

[quote name='BG45' post='1830425' date='Apr 9 2009, 11:10 PM']I'm not sure if this is true, but does one have to pay to have a Mass said for a dead individual? If so, how is this not the abhorrent practice of Simony?[/quote]

There are a number of canons written about how priests are to receive funds to say masses for the intentions of the faithful. This is because we had a time in church history when Simony was a big problem.

[quote]Canon 945 §1 In accordance with the approved custom of the Church, any priest who celebrates or concelebrates a Mass may accept an offering to apply the Mass for a specific intention.
§2 It is earnestly recommended to priests that, even if they do not receive an offering, they
celebrate Mass for the intentions of Christ’s faithful, especially of those in need.

Canon 946 The faithful who make an offering so that Mass can be celebrated for their intention,
contribute to the good of the Church, and by that offering they share in the Church’s concern for
the support of its ministers and its activities.

Canon 947 Even the semblance of trafficking or trading is to be entirely excluded from Mass
offerings.

Canon 948 Separate Masses must be applied for the intentions of those for whom an individual
offering, even if small, has been made and accepted.

Canon 949 One who is obliged to celebrate and apply Mass for the intentions of those who made an offering, is bound by this obligation even if the offering received is lost through no fault of his.

Canon 950 If a sum of money is offered for the application of Masses, but with no indication of the number of Masses to be celebrated, their number is to be calculated on the basis of the offering prescribed in the place where the donor resides, unless the donor’s intention must lawfully be presumed to have been otherwise.

Canon 951 §1 A priest who celebrates a number of Masses on the same day may apply each
Mass for the intention for which an offering was made, subject however to the rule that, apart
from Christmas Day, he may retain for himself the offering for only one Mass; the others he is to transmit to purposes prescribed by the Ordinary, while allowing for some compensation on the ground of an extrinsic title.

§2 A priest who on the same day concelebrates a second Mass may not under any title accept an offering for that Mass.

Canon 952 §1 The provincial council or the provincial Bishops’ meeting is to determine by decree, for the whole of the province, what offering is to be made for the celebration and application of Mass. Nonetheless, it is permitted to accept, for the application of a Mass, an offering voluntarily made, which is greater, or even less, than that which has been determined.

§2 Where there is no such decree, the custom existing in the diocese is to be observed.

§3 Members of religious institutes of all kinds must abide by the decree or the local custom
mentioned in §§1 and 2.

Canon 953 No one may accept more offerings for Masses to be celebrated by himself than he
can discharge within a year.

Canon 954 If in certain churches or oratories more Masses are requested than can be celebrated
there, these may be celebrated elsewhere, unless the donors have expressly stipulated
otherwise.

Canon 955 §1 One who intends to transfer to others the celebration of Masses to be applied, is to transfer them as soon as possible to priests of his own choice, provided he is certain that they are of proven integrity. He must transfer the entire offering received, unless it is quite certain that an amount in excess of the diocesan offering was given as a personal gift. Moreover, it is his obligation to see to the celebration of the Masses until such time as he has received evidence that the obligation has been undertaken and the offering received.

§2 Unless it is established otherwise, the time within which Masses are to be celebrated begins
from the day the priest who is to celebrate them receives them.

§3 Those who transfer to others Masses to be celebrated are without delay to record in a book
both the Masses which they have accepted and those which they have passed on, noting also the offerings for these Masses.

§4 Each priest must accurately record the Masses which he has accepted to celebrate and those
which he has in fact celebrated.

Canon 956 Each and every administrator of pious causes and those, whether clerics or lay
persons, who are in any way obliged to provide for the celebration of Masses, are to transfer to
their Ordinaries, in a manner to be determined by the latter, such Mass obligations as have not
been discharged within a year.

Canon 957 The duty and the right to see that Mass obligations are fulfilled belongs, in the case of
churches of the secular clergy, to the local Ordinary; in the case of churches of religious institutes or societies of apostolic life, to their Superiors.

Canon 958 §1 The parish priest, as well as the rector of a church or other pious place in which
Mass offerings are usually received, is to have a special book in which he is accurately to record
the number, the intention and the offering of the Masses to be celebrated, and the fact of their
celebration.

§2 The Ordinary is obliged to inspect these books each year, either personally or through others.[/quote]

Every church and priest is different in how these things are handled. Many large churches have a set amount because of the demand. Smaller churches not so much. I have had priests say masses for me on many occasions without needing to pay them. It is kind of like putting a coin in the box next to the candle stand when saying a prayer for someone. It's an acknowledgment of gratitude. When we think of Simony today it is usually about the sale of relics.

[quote]Canon 1190 - It is strictly forbidden to sell sacred relics.[/quote]


Furthermore, when it comes to funerals, there are canons to make sure even the poor are allowed a proper burial.

[quote]Canon 1181 The provisions of Canon 1264 are to be observed in whatever concerns the offerings made on the occasion of funerals. Moreover, care is to be taken that at funerals there is to be no preference of persons, and that the poor are not deprived of proper funeral rites.[/quote]