Did You Know?

While often referred to as a "fee," it is really a gift or offering rather than a payment, as it is not possible to “pay for a Mass” – because the Mass has infinite value beyond human calculation. In former times, the stipends offered for the celebration of Sacraments (Baptisms, Weddings, Masses) constituted a Priest’s income. This led to some abuses – multiplication of Masses to increase income, etc. and at the Council of Trent (1545-1563), it was legislated that a Priest could only receive a stipend for one Mass each day – except on Christmas, when 3 stipended Masses could be offered! Some Missionary Societies and Shrines very much depend upon Mass stipends donated by the Faithful, especially in poor countries. The customary amount for Mass stipends is usually determined by the Diocese – and varies widely across the Country and the world. For many years in the Diocese of Tucson the stipend/ offering for a Mass was $5.00. A few months ago the Diocese raised the stipend for a Mass to $10, and we will be following that guideline going forward. (NO – you don’t have to come in and pay an additional $5 for a Mass for which you have already made an offering!) Our Priests typically celebrate more than one Mass a day – especially on the weekends. No matter how many Masses are celebrated (for pastoral necessity), the Priest can only receive the stipend for one Mass per day and there can only be one stipend offered for a given Mass. This is not the same as the Intentions for a Mass. Again, because the Mass is infinite there can be multiple intentions in a Mass – as when the Faithful are invited to pray for their own “special intentions”, or someone asks the Priest to remember a certain person or intention in the Mass he is going to celebrate. (“My sister is going to have surgery today, can you remember her in this Mass?”) The Priest can add those intentions, but not an additional offering. When we see in the bulletin – or hear during the Mass multiple intentions announced this is simply a courtesy extended for the Faithful. Because many people who ask for a Mass to be celebrated for a particular person or need are told, “the Mass already has been stipended” but want to make an offering of some kind, a gift can be received but those additional gifts go into a Fund which is used to pay a stipend to visiting Priests, for gas, travel, etc. The Mass – or any Sacrament – is not ‘for sale’ and offerings connected with those Sacraments are strictly gifts – not fees.