MASS INTENTIONS
HOW TO OBTAIN A MASS INTENTION/MASS CARD AT SAINT JOHN VIANNEY
Mass intentions/Mass cards are scheduled online by clicking the below button. By clicking the button below, you will easily be able to find open dates, schedule/reserve Masses, input where the mass card should be sent, and pay the stipend fee. As customary, your intentions reserved online will appear in the bulletin for that week and be announced during that Mass.
As a general reminder, we ask for a $15 stipend for weekday Masses and $30 for Sunday Masses or Holy Day's of Obligation which is payed electronically directly after you schedule your Mass online.
If you have questions about scheduling a Mass intention online, please contact the Parish Offices at 610-642-0938.
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WHAT IS A MASS INTENTION?
When a priest celebrates Mass each day, he offers each celebration of the Eucharist for a particular person, or intention. By doing so he applies special graces from God upon that person or intention.
Similar to how we are able to intercede for others by our personal prayers, the Church is able to intercede for us through the celebration of the Mass. However, since the Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian life” the Mass possess a power that our personal prayers do not.
When the faithful request a “Mass Card” or “Mass intention,” they are asking that the priest make their intention his own for that specific Mass. This practice grew within the Church over time and is now a long-established tradition.
For the Mass card or Mass Intention, the faithful gratuitously offer a stipend (usually $15-$20). The offer is not for the Mass itself (which is free), but for the purpose of supplying the things necessary for the Mass and for the priest’s support.
The Code of Canon Law sums the practice of Mass cards by saying:
“In accord with the approved practice of the Church, any priest celebrating or concelebrating is permitted to receive an offering to apply the Mass for a specific intention” (Can. 945 §1).
Furthermore, “The Christian faithful who give an offering to apply the Mass for their intention contribute to the good of the Church and by that offering share its concern to support its ministers and works” (945 §2).