Perpetual enrollment meaning

  • Thread starter Thread starter giuseppe96
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
G

giuseppe96

Guest
My friend recently received a perpetual enrollment card for her recently deceased brother from a family friend; in the Benedictine Monks of Hingham MA. Does this mean that his name will be mentioned at every Mass until the end of time? I’m confused as to how this works.
 
Last edited:
What confuses me is this: are all of these names verbally mentioned in the Mass and LOTH? If so, how can they mention an increasing number of names? If not, how can they possible remember all of those names?
 
It is very nice that you do that. But it sounds like a racket…a real rainmaker for the Church. I guess it doesn’t bother me so much that they are charging people who are willing to pay. But who prays for those people and souls whose loved ones can’t afford to pay up?

I recently went to a local Catholic church and had a mass card sent to a Catholic family who had just lost a loved one (friend of mine). I asked if there was a charge, and they said no. Was I remiss in not making a donation? It didn’t even occur to me, since there really is no cost associated with mentioning someone’s name at a mass that is going to be said anyway. Yikes. I hope I didn’t breach ettiquette.
 
you answered a question I had. I wondered about prayers for my dad who was Baptist. I’ll have to do this. Can non-Catholics be the Mass Intention at my local parish?
 
Thank you so much for the informative link and the post. You gave me clarity on this issue.

All I can say is “wow”. It doesn’t sit at all favorably with me, the “system” that is. I still am concerned about the poor who are related to poor. Who pays on their behalf? Also, it just all seems silly to me. God hears all prayers, right?

In any event, @(name removed by moderator), I really do appreciate the time you took to bring me up to speed on this. Thank you!
 
QwertyGirl said:
It is very nice that you do that. But it sounds like a racket…a real rainmaker for the Church. I guess it doesn’t bother me so much that they are charging people who are willing to pay. But who prays for those people and souls whose loved ones can’t afford to pay up?

I recently went to a local Catholic church and had a mass card sent to a Catholic family who had just lost a loved one (friend of mine). I asked if there was a charge, and they said no. Was I remiss in not making a donation? It didn’t even occur to me, since there really is no cost associated with mentioning someone’s name at a mass that is going to be said anyway. Yikes. I hope I didn’t breach ettiquette.
Click to expand...
We’ve been over this before on the forum.

The Church does not “charge for Masses”. However, if you are requesting that a Mass be said, you generally are asked for a suggested donation (sometimes called a “stipend”). it’s generally pretty low IMHO, like between 10 and 30 dollars per Mass depending on where you’re requesting.

The stipend is intended for the support of the priest saying the Mass. A priest can say a Mass for multiple intentions but can only keep one stipend per Mass.

The donation is voluntary. The Church does not refuse to say a Mass for a poor person who has no money to pay. (So in your case, they said the Mass anyway even though you didn’t give the donation.) However, I myself have money to cover the stipend for the Masses I request and I feel it’s my duty to the Church to provide the donation if I am requesting that a priest say a Mass. I’m sorry if you think it’s a “racket”, but I basically see it as a charitable donation and I do not mind giving any parish where I worship, or any monastery or mission that’s willing to say a Mass for me or a loved one or a deceased person I know, a donation, just like I didn’t mind giving the priest and deacon a donation when they did services at my husband’s funeral, and I don’t mind contributing to church building funds, etc. Furthermore, since like I said I have the money, I feel that my donation enables them to keep going and maybe say those Masses requested by the person who has no money for a donation or decides they just don’t want to give one. So maybe I even choose to give more than is asked in support of my Church.

if somebody has such a hangup about the Church that they dismiss a voluntary donation as a money-making racket then they just have a problem, period, in my book.

Catholic missions and religious orders rely a lot on the Mass stipends to support themselves and their work. My 20 dollar stipend probably goes a long way to buy food and shelter in a place like India, so I often request the Masses from CNEWA. I also have a few religious orders that I particularly like to support in this way.

So no, it’s not a “racket” and it’s kind of insulting that term to be used IMHO. No one is breaking my arm to give them that money. The contribution is also tax-deductible. And you yourself had a Mass said without you needing to donate any money.
 
Last edited:
I completely agree. I have requested Gregorian Masses for my spouse, each of my parents and parents-in-law, and several other friends who died who were either very close to me or died in some kind of bad circumstances. I want to feel like I have done all I can do for their souls. I am okay with contributing to the Church and missions anyway so why not do the donation in the context of arranging for the Masses in order to maximize the benefit.

For people who are not so close to me, I can just have a single Mass said or do an enrollment. I just enrolled a person yesterday (without saying anything about it) in the Redemptorist perpetual enrollment. The person was a distant acquaintance of mine but a good friend to a number of people I know better. He passed away over Easter weekend. He had a substance abuse problem and his family decided that any services would be private so there was no wake or funeral, which made a lot of his friends unhappy as they didn’t have a chance to say Goodbye. Having Masses said for his soul, anonymously, is a way to say Goodbye without going against the family’s wishes or causing any upset and it may help him to get to Heaven. Why wouldn’t a good Catholic do this?
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the additional information. I truly didn’t mean to offend. I was looking for an explanation as to how and why it worked the way it does.

To me, it just seems distasteful to assign a fixed dollar amount to the service of praying for someone. I understand it is a donation, but it really isn’t presented as an optional donation. I have done some further checking and other churches in the area hold steady to what they charge and they don’t waiver from it. For the Church who did mine for free, it may have been because I also provided a check directly to them for their funeral ministry support shortly after I attended my friend’s funeral there. I am not sure.

I don’t have issue with anyone making a donation to the church of their choice. That is a great thing to do, and necessary, if churches and their ministries are going to continue to exist. It is just the linking of it to specific prayer for specific individuals that I see as problematic.
 
Last edited:
More often than not, the people reserving masses at my parish tend to be very devout people with fixed incomes or limited means. The sacrifices they make are extremely important to them. I am pretty sure that God recognizes their sacrifices and piety. I believe that these are the prayers he listens closest to.

Knowing our parish priest, I am sure that money goes straight into the church. He is a prayerful man, and I am sure he is remembering them in his daily prayer.

I say an extra prayer for the people the mass is reserved for. If it is reserved by someone I am close with or someone who has limited means, I always give them extra prayer.

Instead of focusing on the cost, perhaps you could focus on praying for the people who reserve masses that live on limited or fixed incomes. It may be a good way to see the good in something that is leaving a sour taste in your mouth.

Your extra prayer may be the one that makes the difference. Remember it was so important to the people that they are making a sacrifice to honor their intention.
 
No, the organization can not “sell” masses.
If you can’t pay they will remember your loved ones just the same.
The offering is a courtesy.
It’s not a money making racket
 
Churches need to be maintained and utility bills paid. Priests have got to eat too. But yes, it should be taken in the spirit of a recommended donation, not a charge.
 
Last edited:
If the parishes are presenting this as “must pay X dollars or no Mass for you” then that is a failure of parish administration to make clear that there is no “charge” for the Mass.

Another consideration for parishes is that they have relatively few Masses available and there is often a preference for parishioners’ families or intentions. Therefore, if you were calling parishes you didn’t belong to, you might get less receptivity. That is why the CNEWA missions and some religious orders are a good option because they have many priests available to say Masses and the ones working in impoverished areas likely really need the donations.

The Redemptorist website I was on very clearly said “Suggested Donation” when listing the Mass stipends. I’m sure if someone was needy and wanted a Mass said by them but couldn’t pay, one could call them up and explain the situation and likely get a Mass. Their office staff has been easy to work with when I’ve had to call about other matters. It’s only 20 dollars for the perpetual enrollment though, so it’s within the budget of many if not most to make the donation.
 
Last edited:
I’m not CajunJoy but some of the websites I use to request various types of Masses online are as follows:

Catholic Near East Welfare Association CNEWA.org (a favorite of Pope Francis from what I hear)

Seraphic Mass Association seraphicmass.org

Redemptorists (who are responsible for “Our Mother of Perpetual Help”, one of my “favorite Marys”) redemptorists.net

Salesians (St. John Bosco’s order) salesianmissions.org OR donboscowest.org (Western US)

Marians of the Immaculate Conception (they promote the Divine Mercy devotion in the USA) http://www.marian.org/mass/

Vincentians - Priests and Brothers of St. Vincent de Paul - Our Lady of Angels Association (I like to use them because they are located where my mother grew up) ourladyofangels.net

Society for the Propagation of the Faith (which Venerable Fulton Sheen promoted) will also say Masses for you, but as of now I think you have to mail the donations in and can’t just do it online. I was just about to mail them a request. propagationarchny.org

I may have used others besides this as I like to spread the requests (and the donations) around.

I’ve also had a few Masses said for immediate family at my local parishes.
 
Last edited:
QwertyGirl said:
Thank you so much for the informative link and the post. You gave me clarity on this issue.

All I can say is “wow”. It doesn’t sit at all favorably with me, the “system” that is. I still am concerned about the poor who are related to poor. Who pays on their behalf? Also, it just all seems silly to me. God hears all prayers, right?

In any event, @(name removed by moderator), I really do appreciate the time you took to bring me up to speed on this. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Many parishes have such books (for perpetual remembrance) and most do not charge any money for enrollment.

My parish has such a book. The only requirements are that the person is deceased (it’s not the place to write petitions for the living, we do that elsewhere) and the name is not already in the book (there’s no point in writing the same name more than once). We don’t ask for any donations or stipends.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top