Schedule a Mass Intention

Here are 3 good reasons to schedule a Mass intention:

1. Ginnaz prayers (Incense prayers) offered in conjunction with the Holy Mysteries for the deceased are traditionally done in the Maronite Church, especially in the Middle East.  Offering the prayers and incense is usually done around the time of death, and offering bread is done around 40 days after death with the second offering of a Mass for the deceased.  Contact the church office or pastor to schedule these memorials for you loved one.

2. Just as we pray for others here on earth, we are encouraged by the Church to pray for souls who may be in purgatory. Why? We are all in need of grace to come into the perfection of charity. We cannot enter heaven if we have not been completely cleansed of sin and all punishment due to sin. cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church 1031 and 1472.

Since the Mass is the “source and summit” of the Christian Life, we naturally look to that Holy Sacrifice of Christ, containing the perfect prayer, to offer for our deceased relatives and friends who may still need the help of our prayers. Priests are under a strict obligation to remember in a special way the person for whom the Mass is being offered. The intention for the Mass is listed in the bulletin.

We can’t really speak of “time” since the deceased person has entered eternity, but we can speak in terms of “final purification” before entrance into heaven. We believe that a Mass offered for a departed relative or friend may help hasten that final purification which he/she may still be undergoing in purgatory.

3. The great Doctor of the Church, St. Anselm, declares that a single Mass offered for oneself during life may be worth more than a thousand celebrated for the same intention after your death. The merit of the Masses we have offered for ourselves during life will obtain for us a higher degree of glory in Heaven, since we have made the meritorious sacrifice of offering the stipend for the Mass. After death, this is impossible for us.

Masses offered during our life will go before us, to either cancel our debt – whole or in part, of the punishment due for our sins; thus, it may greatly shorten our Purgatory.

Masses offered for us during our life can help us obtain the great grace of a happy and holy death. The most beautiful gift one can give to another person is a Spiritual Bouquet of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. No material gift can ever compare to or equal the Infinite Value of the Holy Mass.

Especially efficacious is having the Holy Sacrifice offered for hardened sinners and those who are dying.

Masses may be offered in reparation for the outrages, offenses and blasphemies against Christ in the Holy Eucharist, and insults to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Masses may be offered in thanksgiving for our blessings, family, health and answer to prayers is very pleasing to the Most Blessed Trinity.

Masses for our departed loved ones and all the Holy Souls in Purgatory is a great act of charity, efficacious and meritorious.

Do not delay, then, to have Masses offered for yourself and your family, living and dead, TODAY, NOW! Use the Infinite Treasure of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass NOW! Do not leave it to the uncertain future and to those who survive you.

So what are you doing for our dear deceased loved ones? Who do you miss the most? Who do you wish you could have done more for in their life? Who hurt you? Who helped you the most spiritually or temporally? Have a Mass offered for them! The Council of Trent tells us, “The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Perpetual Sacrifice, is the greatest of all suffrages for the Holy Souls.”
We have an opportunity to help our deceased loved ones and our missionaries spread the Gospel and bring the Eucharist to God’s beloved poor. And what a marvelous time to do this spiritual work of mercy! The Eucharist is the source and summit of all Christian life. Let us be missionaries of the Eucharist for the holy souls languishing in Purgatory.