Application of the Mass and Remittance of the Stipend to the Ordinary

Title

Creator

Alonso, Bernabe

Identifier

Cases and Queries

Language

English

Source

Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas XLII (473) August 1968

Year

1968

Subject

Mass (Canon law)

Fees, Ecclesiastical

Mass stipends

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

[Indult Masses are celebrated “ad intentionem Ordinarii”. Now, if a wedding is celebrated in that Indult Mass, should the intention be applied for the Ordinary’s or for the couple’s intention which they had not explicitly expressed, being ignorant of the fact, although interpretatively supposed with the Mass stipend being included in the wedding fee? Now, the law says that in case the stipend were applied in the Mass, it must be sent to the Curia. But would it be right to celebrate another Mass on some other day of the week or on any other free day ad intentionem Episcopi in lieu of that indult Mass, retain the stipend and report this Mass to the Curia among the indult Masses without stipend?]

Fulltext

AND •QUERIES^ APPLICATION OF THE MASS AND REMITTANCE OF THE STIPEND TO THE ORDINARY Indult Masses are celebrated “ad intentionem Ordinarii”. Now, if a wedding is celebrated in that Indult Mass, should the intention be applied for the Ordinary’s or for the couple’s inten tion which they had not explicitly expressed, being ignorant of the fact, although interpretatively supposed with the Mass stipend being included in the wedding fee? Now, the law says that in case the stipend were applied in the Mass, it must be sent to the Curia. But would it be right to celebrate another Mass on some other day of the week or on any other free day ad intentionem Episcopi in lieu of that indult Mass, retain the stipend and report this Mass to the Curia among the indult Masses without stipend? 1. The fees set down for the celebration of weddings are differ ent from the stipend established for the application of the Mass; and although it is advisable that when a wedding is solemnized the Mass be applied to the intention of the spouses, yet it is not necessary to do so. In determining the fees for weddings, the competent authority may decree that the amount fixed include the stipend for the application of the Mass or may provide that when the spouses ask for the application of the Mass they should add the amount set down as stipend. In the query propounded (whose place of origin we .do not know), if we have understood it well, there seems to be stated that the fee for the celebration of the wedding includes the stipend for the appli cation of the Mass “for the couple’s intention which they had not expli citly expressed, being ignorant of the fact, although interpretatively sup posed with the Mass stipend being included in the wedding fee.” 597 In such a case, the celebrant should apply the Mass to the inten tion of the spouses, even though they should not have expressly asked for it because they are ignorant of the fact that the stipend for the application of the Mass is included in the fee they have paid. Otherwise, the celebrant should apply the Mass for the intention of the Ordinary, unless he expressly is asked the application for the intention of the spouses giving him the corresponding stipend. 2. When the Mass was applied for the intention of the spouses be cause its stipend was included in the total fees paid for the celebration of the wedding (or because they expressly asked for it. adding the cor responding stipend), the stipend received should be remitted to the Ordinary, and the practice suggested in the query is not licit; that is to sav, retain it and inform the Curia of a Mass celebrated “ad inten tionem Episcopi”, which in fact is applied on a dav when the priest has no intention committed. Canon 824 decrees in Par. 2: “Whenever he celebrates more than one Mass on a given day, if he applies one Mass under title of Justice, the priest may not receive stipend for the others, save on the day of the Nativity of Our Lord”. The obligation that the Parish priest has to apply the Mass “pro populo” on fixed days is an obligation of justice, established by eccle siastical law, and the dispensation granted for some of those days, more than an exemption, is a commutation of the obligation, authorized by the Holy See, in order to be able to attend to the needs of the dio cese. This is also the end for which in cases of bination, although a stipend has been received for a Mass,1 it is authorized to apply the other Mass for the intention of the Bishop or for the intention of the person offering the stipend, which must be remitted to the Curia. It would not do to adduce the reason that the Curia would al ways receive the same aid, applying the Mass some other day, because the law, that prohibits the celebrant to receive a stipend when he should apply the Mass “pro populo” or has to binate and has already received a stipend for the other Mass, binds him always; the indult to apply “ad intentionem Episcopi”, or receiving a stipend that is to be re598 mined to the Bishop, is not meant to enable the celebrant to receive an alms, but so that it be received for the needs of any pious cause of the diocese. • Bi-rnabi-: Ai.onso, O.P. ANTICIPATION OF LAUDS Some years ago, there was a debate among priests whether Lauds could be advanced together with the Matins on the pre vious afternoon of the Office. At that time, many believed that Matins could be advanced but not Lauds. As the prohibition to advance Lauds appeared only in the L’Osservatore Romano, and not in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, some authors now opine that both Matins and Lauds be prayed in advance. What is your opinion on the matter? You arc actually referring to a declaration of the Sacred Congre gation of Rites dated 28 December 1960, which appeared in L’Os servatore Romano, 30 December 1960. According to this declaration : a) anticipation of matins in choir, in common and in private is “technically and exclusively” permitted by No. 144 of the new code of rubrics; b) No. 145 of the same new code “technically and exclusively sti pulates that the recitation of lauds in choir and in common can take place only in the early morning, that is, without any anticipation; reci tation in private, which also may not be anticipated, is fittingly per formed during the same time of the morning”. Though this appeared only in L’Osservatore Romano, and did not, therefore, carry the force of an “official” answer to a doubt, nonethe less it was an acclaration given by a competent office, with this end in view: “lest uncertainty remain in a matter directly pertaining to the public prayer of the Church”. Personally I have no knowledge of authors, who, as you say, opine that both Matins and Lauds may be prayed in advance. In which case they would certainly be going against the spirit of that law in

pages

596-598

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