Mass Intention Mistake

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Nelka

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A few months ago I requested a Mass intention for my wife for this month. It appeared in the newsletter today but has RIP after her name.

Firstly my wife is a little bit anxious as it must be strange seeing your name with those letters after it but does this change the Mass intention spiritually?

I better inform the priest that she is still alive too.

😊

Thanks.
 
That happened to me to. I requested a Mass be said for someone who is still living but when the person’s name was listed in the bulletin, it had a picture of a cross next to their name which indicated the person was deceased. Since the the Mass intentions are listed in a week in advance, I just contacted the church office and advised them of the error. Obviously, it was too late to correct it for the bulletin but the priest was verbally informed of the error and when it was time for the Mass, the priest said the right thing, that the Mass was for so and so and not for the repose of their soul.

Mark
 
Nelka said:
A few months ago I requested a Mass intention for my wife for this month. It appeared in the newsletter today but has RIP after her name.

Firstly my wife is a little bit anxious as it must be strange seeing your name with those letters after it but does this change the Mass intention spiritually?

I better inform the priest that she is still alive too.

😊

Thanks.
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When one requests a Mass for a person who is alive, one does well to formulate the request as “For the intentions of [Name].” This formulation tells the priest that the person is alive just as “For the repose of the soul of [Name]” tells him that the person is dead.

I receive far more requests to offer Mass for people who are deceased than for people who are alive and while some pre-printed request forms have a place to indicate if the person is living or deceased, some do not. Moreover, a Mass intention can pass through several hands; the last person handling it and putting it in a bulletin may have had no contact with the person who originally requested the Mass.
 
Nelka said:
A few months ago I requested a Mass intention for my wife for this month. It appeared in the newsletter today but has RIP after her name.

Firstly my wife is a little bit anxious as it must be strange seeing your name with those letters after it but does this change the Mass intention spiritually?

I better inform the priest that she is still alive too.

😊

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Although an error in print was made, the Lord knows the intention of the Mass.
 
Don_Ruggero said:
When one requests a Mass for a person who is alive, one does well to formulate the request as “For the intentions of [Name].” This formulation tells the priest that the person is alive just as “For the repose of the soul of [Name]” tells him that the person is dead.

I receive far more requests to offer Mass for people who are deceased than for people who are alive and while some pre-printed request forms have a place to indicate if the person is living or deceased, some do not. Moreover, a Mass intention can pass through several hands; the last person handling it and putting it in a bulletin may have had no contact with the person who originally requested the Mass.
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In addition to this, sometimes it happens by habit that a Mass intention is printed “for deceased” simply because that’s the more common request.

It’s a typing error that can happen even if the request is made properly.

I’ve done it myself a few times :o

In some places it’s customary to type a little cross in front of the name of the person when the Mass is for the deceased:
Sunday 7:00 AM Mass for +John Doe req. by Jane Doe

With modern typefonts on computers, some have nice crosses.

It easily happens on computers because if the preparer is just typing over that section from last week’s saved bulletin, it can be a very easy mistake to make.
 
Dorothy said:
Although an error in print was made, the Lord knows the intention of the Mass.
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Absolutely 👍

Hopefully, the priest will catch it (if he knows the person, this is especially likely) but even if the priest does not know, God does know, and that’s what really matters.
 
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