Mass Intentions

Beginning on March 1 each year, Mass intentions are accepted for Masses that will be offered on our campus from April 1 - February 28/29 of the following year. This is our "open session."

Mass intentions are:

• Accepted on a first-come, first-served basis
• Limited to five requests per family, per open session, to be accommodated at St. Alphonsus
• Not limited, in regard to the number of  requests that can be sent to other priests

Once a date for a Mass intention is scheduled on our campus , parish staff confirms the date with the requestor. If a Mass intention is sent out, there will only be a confirmation of the priest’s acceptance to fulfill the intention.  No date will be available for the actual Mass.

You may not reserve a date for future open sessions.

“The tradition of offering Masses for others, particularly the dead, originates in the very early Church. Inscriptions discovered on tombs in Roman catacombs of the second century evidence this practice”  —- Father William Saunders

Praying for the living and the dead is an essential spiritual practice and great act of charity. The most powerful prayer we have is the Mass. Each celebration of the Eucharist is for all those present and for the particular intentions and needs of all the Church. 

Anyone may request a Mass intention for a loved one who is either deceased or living, which is typically offered with a small stipend ($10.00). At Mass, the priest applies special graces from God upon that intention. This is an ancient Catholic practice, and we are all invited to exercise it when appropriate. 

Every Sunday and other holy days of obligation, our pastor, by virtue of his office, must guarantee that a Mass is offered for the people of his parish. This requirement is otherwise known as Missa Pro Populo or “Mass for the People” (canon 534). One Pro Populo Mass is scheduled on each holy day of obligation, and on Sundays at St. Alphonsus, this intention is scheduled at either 8:00 am or 10:30 am Mass.

Historically, the purpose of offering a Mass stipend for a particular Mass intention has been twofold:

• The money that a priest received for saying his daily Mass for a specific intention was essentially his source of income (in some poorer countries that is often still the case).
• By giving a stipend, the person requesting the Mass made a sacrificial offering of his or her own.

“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” (canon 946). 

In the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana, the customary offering set by the Bishop is $10.00.

All parishes have a finite number of Masses to which an intention may be assigned. Once that limit is met, additional Mass intentions are often transferred to another priest. When these intentions are sent out, the accepting priest signs documentation and returns it to the originating parish. He has now accepted the offering and the obligation to fulfill this particular Mass intention. 

When a Mass intention is sent out, take comfort in knowing that it will still be offered, and that people will pray for your loved ones in other locations within our diocese or somewhere else in the world. The same graces from God are received whether a Mass intention is offered here at St. Alphonsus Liguori Parish or elsewhere.

• St. Alphonsus Liguori Parish sponsors a Mass intention on the first anniversary of death for parishioners and their immediate family members. This Mass is scheduled on a weekend proximate to the actual date of death.

• Our parish transfers Mass intentions to a variety of individual priests, as well as to The Bishop’s Chapel Fund. The bishop's office receives Mass intentions from parishes with an overabundance of requests and distributes them to other parishes in our own diocese that are in need of Mass intentions.
   
• Masses for the repose of the souls of our four former pastors are offered each year by the parish, continuing our dedication to those who contributed to our extraordinary parish history.

• Mass cards are available in the parish office. They may be sent by a parishioner requesting a Mass intention or by the office staff.  General cards and cards with specific date lines are available for both the repose of a soul and special intentions of the living.

• The parish office is required to maintain strict record keeping and accounting of all Mass intention requests, offerings collected, and money paid to celebrants. These duties are routinely audited by the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana.