Canon Law

§1. Secundum probatum Ecclesiae morem, sacerdoti cuilibet Missam celebranti aut concelebranti licet stipem oblatam recipere, ut iuxta certam intentionem Missam applicet.§2. Enixe commendatur sacerdotibus ut, etiam nulla recepta stipe, Missam ad intentionem christifidelium praecipue egentium celebrent.

§1. According to the approved custom of the Church, any priest celebrating or concelebrating Mass is permitted to receive an offering made so that he may apply the Mass for a particular intention.§2. Priests are earnestly urged to celebrate Mass for the intention of the faithful, especially those in need, even when no offering has been received.

In Memento: An intention with no offering is booked exactly the same way as one with an offering, and nothing on the screen marks it as lesser.

Christifideles stipem offerentes ut ad suam intentionem Missa applicetur, ad bonum conferunt Ecclesiae atque eius curam in ministris operibusque sustinendis ea oblatione participant.

The faithful who give an offering so that Mass may be applied for their intention contribute to the good of the Church, and by that offering share in her care for the support of her ministers and works.

In Memento: Offerings are recorded as a contribution to the parish. Nothing in the product calls one a price, a fee, a total or a cost.

A stipe Missarum quaelibet etiam species negotiationis vel mercaturae omnino arceatur.

Every appearance of bargaining or commerce is to be kept entirely away from offerings for Masses.

In Memento: No cart, no checkout, no total, no urgency. Payment never gates a request, so an intention is accepted before money is mentioned. Online offerings go by direct charge into the parish's own account, so the money never touches a Memento balance and we never take a portion. Our own plans are priced by the size of a parish, never by the Mass.

Distinctae applicandae sunt Missae ad eorum intentiones pro quibus singulis stips, licet exigua, oblata et acceptata est.

Separate Masses are to be applied for the intentions of those for whom an individual offering, however small, has been given and accepted.

In Memento: Each intention is its own record attached to one Mass, and the Mass shows how many it already carries before anyone promises a family a date.

Qui obligatione gravatur Missam celebrandi et applicandi ad intentionem eorum qui stipem obtulerunt, eadem obligatione tenetur, etiamsi sine ipsius culpa stipes perceptae perierint.

Whoever is bound to celebrate and apply a Mass for the intention of those who gave an offering remains bound by that same obligation, even if the offerings received have been lost through no fault of his own.

In Memento: The register is append only. A record is never deleted, so an obligation cannot quietly disappear along with the money that came with it.

Si pecuniae summa offertur pro Missarum applicatione, non indicato Missarum celebrandarum numero, hic supputetur attenta stipe statuta in loco in quo oblator commoratur, nisi aliam fuisse eius intentionem legitime praesumi debeat.

If a sum of money is offered for the application of Masses without the number of Masses being stated, that number is to be reckoned from the offering established in the place where the donor lives, unless it must lawfully be presumed that he intended otherwise.

In Memento: The amount given and the number of Masses requested are separate fields, so a parish records what was actually handed over and decides the count itself.

§1. Sacerdos plures eadem die Missas celebrans, singulas applicare potest ad intentionem pro qua stips oblata est, ea tamen lege ut, praeterquam in die Nativitatis Domini, stipem pro una tantum Missa faciat suam, ceteras vero in fines ab Ordinario praescriptos concredat, admissa quidem aliqua retributione ex titulo extrinseco.§2. Sacerdos alteram Missam eadem die concelebrans, nullo titulo pro ea stipem recipere potest.

§1. A priest celebrating several Masses on the same day may apply each to the intention for which an offering was given, on the condition that, except on Christmas Day, he keeps the offering for one Mass only and hands the rest over to the purposes laid down by the Ordinary, though some recompense on an outside title is allowed.§2. A priest concelebrating a second Mass on the same day may not receive an offering for it on any title whatever.

In Memento: The stipend ledger counts by the local calendar day, because that is what the canon means by a day. It counts Masses for the second paragraph and offerings for the first, which are different questions, and it warns before either would be breached. Concelebrated Masses record which priest holds the offering.

§1. Concilii provincialis aut conventus Episcoporum provinciae est pro universa provincia per decretum definire quaenam pro celebratione et applicatione Missae sit offerenda stips, nec licet sacerdoti summam maiorem expetere; ipsi tamen fas est stipem sponte oblatam definita maiorem pro Missae applicatione accipere, et etiam minorem.§2. Ubi desit tale decretum, servetur consuetudo in dioecesi vigens.§3. Sodales quoque institutorum religiosorum quorumlibet stare debent eidem decreto aut consuetudini loci, de quibus in §§ 1 et 2.

§1. It belongs to the provincial council, or to the meeting of the bishops of the province, to lay down by decree for the whole province what offering is to be made for the celebration and application of Mass, and a priest may not ask for more; he may, however, accept for the application of a Mass an offering freely given that is larger than the one laid down, and also a smaller one.§2. Where no such decree exists, the custom in force in the diocese is to be kept.§3. Members of any religious institute whatever must also abide by the same decree or local custom spoken of in §§1 and 2.

In Memento: The parish enters its own customary offering and can change it. Memento never sets an amount, never suggests one, and never requires that what is given match it.

Nemini licet tot stipes Missarum per se applicandarum accipere, quibus intra annum satisfacere non potest.

No one may accept so many offerings for Masses to be applied by himself that he cannot satisfy them within a year.

In Memento: Undated intentions sit in a visible pool rather than in someone's memory, so a backlog is a number on a screen instead of a discovery.

Si certis in ecclesiis aut oratoriis Missae petuntur celebrandae numero plures quam ut ibidem celebrari possint, earundem celebratio alibi fieri licet, nisi contrariam voluntatem oblatores expresse manifestaverint.

If more Masses are asked to be celebrated in particular churches or oratories than can be celebrated there, they may be celebrated elsewhere, unless the donors have expressly made a contrary wish known.

In Memento: Intentions a parish cannot hold can be forwarded, and the family's own stated wishes travel with the record.

§1. Qui celebrationem Missarum applicandarum aliis committere intendat, earum celebrationem quam primum sacerdotibus sibi acceptis committat, dummodo ipsi constet eos esse omni exceptione maiores; integram stipem receptam transmittere debet, nisi certo constet excessum supra summam in dioecesi debitam datum esse intuitu personae; obligatione etiam tenetur Missarum celebrationem curandi, donec tum susceptae obligationis tum receptae stipis testimonium acceperit.§2. Tempus intra quod Missae celebrandae sunt, initium habet a die quo sacerdos easdem celebraturus recepit, nisi aliud constet.§3. Qui aliis Missas celebrandas committunt, sine mora in librum referant tum Missas quas acceperunt, tum eas, quas aliis tradiderunt, notatis etiam earundem stipibus.§4. Quilibet sacerdos accurate notare debet Missas quas celebrandas acceperit, quibusque satisfecerit.

§1. Whoever intends to entrust to others the celebration of Masses to be applied is to entrust it as soon as possible to priests acceptable to him, provided he is satisfied that they are beyond all question; he must pass on the whole offering received, unless it is certain that the amount beyond what is due in the diocese was given out of regard for the person; he also remains bound to see to the celebration of the Masses until he has received word both that the obligation was accepted and that the offering was received.§2. The time within which the Masses are to be celebrated begins on the day the priest who is to celebrate them received them, unless it is established otherwise.§3. Those who entrust Masses to others are without delay to enter in a book both the Masses they received and those they handed on, noting the offerings as well.§4. Every priest must accurately note the Masses he accepted to celebrate and those he has satisfied.

In Memento: The forwarding queue records what was sent, to whom, and with how much, and stays open until the return confirmation is entered. Both sides of the transfer are written into the register, because the canon asks for both.

Omnes et singuli administratores causarum piarum aut quoquo modo obligati ad Missarum celebrationem curandam, sive clerici sive laici, onera Missarum quibus intra annum non fuerit satisfactum suis Ordinariis tradant, secundum modum ab his definiendum.

Each and every administrator of pious causes, and anyone otherwise bound to see to the celebration of Masses, whether cleric or lay, is to hand over to his Ordinary the Mass obligations that have not been satisfied within a year, in the manner the Ordinary lays down.

In Memento: Outstanding obligations are reportable by age, so what is approaching a year can be found before it passes one.

Officium et ius advigilandi ut Missarum onera adimpleantur, in ecclesiis cleri saecularis pertinet ad loci Ordinarium, in ecclesiis institutorum religiosorum aut societatum vitae apostolicae ad eorum Superiores.

The duty and the right of seeing that Mass obligations are carried out belongs, in the churches of the secular clergy, to the local Ordinary, and in the churches of religious institutes or societies of apostolic life, to their Superiors.

In Memento: The register exports in a form a chancery can read, so the person with the duty to check is able to.

§1. Parochus necnon rector ecclesiae aliusve pii loci, in quibus stipes Missarum recipi solent, peculiarem habeant librum, in quo accurate adnotent Missarum celebrandarum numerum, intentionem, stipem oblatam, necnon celebrationem peractam.§2. Ordinarius obligatione tenetur singulis annis huiusmodi libros per se aut per alios recognoscendi.

§1. The pastor, and the rector of a church or other pious place where Mass offerings are customarily received, are to keep a special book in which they accurately record the number of Masses to be celebrated, the intention, the offering given, and the celebration once completed.§2. The Ordinary is bound to examine these books each year, either himself or through others.

In Memento: This canon is the reason the product has the shape it does. The register is that book. Nothing is ever hard deleted, every change records who made it and when, and the whole thing exports for the annual review.