Mass Intentions
Any Catholic may offer up the Mass in which he or she participates for any good intention. This is a genuine exercise of the baptismal priesthood of the faithful. It is a longstanding tradition in the Church because the Church considers the Mass as the greatest possible prayer of intercession insofar as it is the perfect offering of Christ to the Father by making present the paschal mystery of his death and resurrection. Because of the particular role of the priest as mediator between God and man, acting "in persona Christi" when offering the holy sacrifice of the Mass, it is usually considered that special graces may be obtained when he applies the Mass to a particular intention.
The faithful generally make an offering, called a stipend, to the priest in order to apply the Mass to a specific intention. (See Pope Paul VI's letter "Firma in Traditione" of June 13, 1974). The offering of a stipend is also a means whereby Catholics may contribute to the upkeep of the clergy, and the Church in general. However, so as to maintain the sacredness of the Mass, the Church regulates the practice of offering in canons 945-958 of the Code of Canon Law.
The person who has offered the stipend has not "bought a Mass," a thing which is patently impossible. What happens is that the priest commits to celebrate a Mass according to the intentions of the person making the offering. This intention is most often to recommend the soul of a deceased person but may also be for the personal intentions of the living.
The priest's intention is essentially a spiritual and internal act through which he commends the intention to God in a particular way even though he is free to offer up any number of other personal intentions. He does not necessarily have to know the person for whom he is offering up the Mass. In most cases — for example, it is enough for him to know that an intention was requested and he celebrates the Mass according to the intention of the donor.
Because the intention is essentially a spiritual act, its publication neither adds nor subtracts from its efficacy. Indeed, publicly announcing the intention is done for the comfort of the living and not for the benefit of the deceased. Provided this is understood, there is usually no difficulty in making some form of announcement. But there are a few official rules regarding this aspect.
Some parishes are content with posting a notice on its weekly bulletin. Others prefer to announce the intention before Mass begins or during the general intercessions. Any one of these solutions is possible. It is not liturgically correct however, to insert the name in the Eucharistic prayer, as this option is reserved to Masses for the dead such as funerals. Sometimes, mishaps can occur, such as when a priest forgets to read out a name or cannot find it. In this case it is enough that he celebrated according to the intention of the donor. If, on the other hand, he reads out the wrong name, and consequently celebrates the Mass for a different intention, then the parish will seek to remedy the situation by offering an alternative celebration at a suitable time.
I hope this will shed some light on the subject concerning Public Proclamations of Mass intentions. Blessings! Fr. Alex
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Intenciones de la Misa