A little bit about stipends…

Offering a stipend to a priest so that he will remember a particular intention of a member of the faithful is a longstanding custom in the Roman . All of the priests here at St. Monica are available for this and more than likely they are praying for someone’s particular intention every time they have a Mass. The stipend offering in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis is $10.00 and is intended to commit the priest to celebrating the Mass. The stipend is simply an offering; Masses can be offered free if the person desiring the intention is unable to offer any stipend.

The intention for a Mass is mostly to pray for the repose of the soul of a person who has died, but can also be for a special intention or a private one. The stipend is offered for the priest to add this intention to his own personal intentions. A priest may have other intentions in addition to the one the stipend is offered for. Additionally, the priest does not have to know the person for whom the Mass is offered as long as he is celebrating the Mass according to the intention of the donor.

There can be some confusion about how all this works at St. Monica, below are some guidelines to help you. If there are any questions don’t hesitate to call our office (317-253-2193, opt 2) and speak to one of our Administrative Assistants. Here are the guidelines:

1. Universal Church discipline as contained in the Code of Law

(Canons 945-958) of the 1983 Code of is what regulates the offerings made for the celebration of Mass.

2. As your Pastor, I am obliged to apply one Mass for the people (pro populo) entrusted to me on each Sunday and on each (Code of Canon Law, 534). Take consolation in the fact that every weekend and Holy Day of Obligation a Mass is offered for all of you who are members of St. Monica . 3. The amount of the Mass offering is specified by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis as ten dollars ($10.00) per Mass. These monies are deposited in a separate account of our parish called the Mass Stipend Account. 4. The precept of Canon 948 is to be maintained always: “Separate Masses are to be applied for the intentions for which an individual offering has been made and accepted.” In accord with the of the Congregation for the Clergy of 1991, a priest cannot gather together several different intentions for which an individual offering has been made and satisfy them with a single Mass. In other words there is only one intention that includes the offering of a stipend per Mass. 5. Offerings for Masses that cannot be celebrated at St. Monica parish within one year will be forwarded to the Missions Office of our Archdiocese. Thus, priests in the missions who lack Mass offerings (see Code of Canon Law 953, 956) will offer these Masses. 6. A priest can place restrictions on how many intentions he is willing to take from a particular individual, or exclude intentions that are of questionable piety. 7. To request a Mass Intention you can contact the Parish office by phone 317-253-2193, opt 2 or email ([email protected]). 8. Mass intentions are on a first come, first served basis. We will try to accommodate requests for specific dates, but this is not always possible. 9. Choosing a specific date for your Mass intention does not guarantee that a Mass will be celebrated on that day. If for unforeseen circumstances a cancellation occurs, the intention for that Mass will be reschedule to the next available opening. 10. The Mass intentions are listed in the bulletin and are available on the for the priest celebrant. In our desire to offer comfort to families who request the intention we often mention it in our petitions, however this is not always the case. Please respect that the priest has prayed for your loved one and added them to his intentions, whether they are mentioned by name or not.